Click on the links below to view the latest news stories from leading media outlets highlighting ODPRN research and scientists.
Americans will feel the pain in their medicine chest when their antibiotics, vaccines, and prescriptions suddenly jump in cost by 25 per cent, said Mina Tadrous.
February 21, 2025 | Edmonton Journal | News Article
Mental health advocates urge Ontario leaders to address opioid crisis hitting construction industry
According to researchers at the ODPRN, 60% of people who died from opioid toxicity were employed and one third of those worked in the construction industry.
February 18, 2025 | Ontario Construction News | News Article | Associated Research
Overdose crisis deepens in Northern Ontario: A community on edge
Research from the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network and Public Health Ontario indicates that the number of overdose deaths involving multiple substances has surged. Dr. Tara Gomes, an epidemiologist and a co-author of the report, emphasized the troubling trend. “Now, the most common situation is that opioids and stimulants together are contributing to death,” she stated.
January 22, 2025 | The Manitoulin Expositor | News Article | Associated Research
City, construction sector partner to launch ‘Tailgate Toolkit’ addiction recovery program
The Ontario Drug Policy Research Network published a report in 2022 that found from 2018 to 2020, nearly one in 13 opioid-related deaths in that province involved someone employed in the construction industry, despite the sector accounting for just 7.2 per cent of Ontario’s employed population.
January 22, 2025 | Calgary Herald| News Article | Associated Research
Evidence suggests health-care providers are missing opportunities to connect with people in vulnerable moments, researcher says. Researcher found nearly a third of people who died were in hospital in-patient wards or emergency rooms within a week of their deaths. This report was also featured in Global News and City News.
January 9, 2025 | The Toronto Star | News Article | Associated Research
Ontario’s Unconscionable Supervised Consumption Sites Shutdown
In November, the ODPN published a report, co-authored by Gomes, estimating the potential impact of closing five out of 10 in Toronto, as will happen under Bill 223. One further site, the report noted, “is likely to close after its lease expires”.
January 7, 2025 | Filter | News Article | Associated Research
Will your medication be impacted by port strike ripples? What experts say
While Canada does have stockpiles of medication and health-care supplies, these reserves are not limitless, said Mina Tadrous, a pharmacist and assistant professor at the University of Toronto’s Department of Pharmacy.
November 13, 2024 | Global News | News Article
Hundreds will lose access to safe consumption when some Toronto sites close: study
Hundreds of people will lose access to supervised consumption sites in Toronto when the province closes five of them next year, which will likely mean more public drug use and more overdoses, a new study suggests. This report was also featured in TVO Today and City News.
November 7, 2024 | The Canadian Press | News Article | Associated Research
Drug shortages seen as less likely in Canada: study
When global drug supply chain issues crop up, they are 40% less likely to result in a meaningful drug shortage in Canada compared with the U.S., according to findings in JAMA Network.
November 4, 2024 | Axios | News Article | Associated Research
Canadian provinces scaling back harm-reduction services
A November, 2023 review of opioid use amongst Ontario Indigenous people found significantly higher rates of medically prescribed opioid use among Indigenous people than among non-Indigenous people, higher rates of opioid antagonist therapy, and far higher rates of hospitalization for opioid toxicity and overdose deaths.
October 19, 2024 | The Lancet | News Article | Associated Research
Mina Tadrous recognized by Canada’s Drug Agency
Mina Tadrous, an assistant professor in the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, has received the Dr. Maurice McGregor Award for a Rising Star in Health Technology Assessment from Canada’s Drug Agency.
September 30, 2024 | University of Toronto | News Article
Meet Canada’s Outstanding Leaders in Health Technology Assessment
ODPRN founder Muhammad Mamdani and Mina Tadrous, Director of Pharmacy Practice and Pharmaceutical Policy, have been recognized with the CDA’s 2024 Recognition Awards. These awards celebrate individuals advancing the science of health technology assessment (HTA), nurturing future leaders, and enhancing Canada’s reputation for excellence in the field.
September 4, 2024 | Canada Newswire | News Article
As Canadian drug deaths rise, programs to keep users safe face backlash
Tara Gomes, principal investigator at the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network, says these initiatives save lives. “If we take away harm reduction as one of the options available to people, ultimately all I can see happen is we’re going to see more people losing their lives. And that terrifies me.”
July 24, 2024 | Reuters | News Article
Opioid overdoses are surging in Windsor-Essex. Public health is asking the community for help
According to coroner’s data posted on The Ontario Drug Policy Research Network website, in the first three months of this year, there were 25 confirmed and probable drug-related deaths in Windsor-Essex
July 12, 2024 | CBC News | News Article | Associated Research
Opioid deaths in Ontario shelters more than tripled during pandemic, study finds
A new study examining data from the Ontario coroner’s office and other sources indicates opioid-related deaths in the province’s shelters more than tripled during the COVID-19 pandemic, when compared with a few years prior.
June 18, 2024 | The Canadian Press | News Article | Associated Research
Advocates urge Ontario to boost support for supervised drug sites
A joint report released in March, led by the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network and Public Health Ontario, shows most people who died from toxic drugs had low engagement with treatment services.
June 1, 2024 | CBC News | News Article | Associated Research
Virtual clinics now prescribe safer-supply drugs as opioid crisis escalates
According to data released by the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network and Public Health Ontario (ODPRN), there’s been a 31% increase in opioid-related deaths in Ontario from January 2020 to September 2022.
May 14, 2024 | DATAC | News Article | Associated Research
Opioids responsible for one in every four deaths among young adults: study
The staggering cost of illicit drug toxicity in Canada, especially among young people, is laid bare in new research published Monday that highlights rapid increases in opioid-related deaths with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic.
April 15, 2024 | The Toronto Star | News Article | Associated Research
Ontario is in the midst of a drug crisis. These seven charts tell us who’s being hit hardest
The research highlights, among other things, the disproportionate impact that opioid overdoses are having on Black, Asian and Latin American drug users and raises questions about whether the province’s racialized communities are getting the help they need.
April 1, 2024 | The Toronto Star | News Article | Associated Research
Ontario overdose deaths reveal gap between health care system and addiction treatment, report finds
The report, published by the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network and Public Health Ontario, highlights an urgent need to make treatment services more accessible, said Tara Gomes, one of the authors.
March 5, 2024 | The Globe and Mail | News Article | Associated Research
A new study has found that only one in 18 people who ended up in hospital in Ontario after an opioid overdose were prescribed drugs known to help manage opioid use disorders in the following week —despite this mitigation strategy being recommended in Canada for years.
January 5, 2024 | CTV News | News Article | Associated Research
Archive: 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | Older