NS Opioid Deaths – CP

Source: The Canadian Press – Broadcast wire
Oct 28, 2016 

HALIFAX – Nova Scotia’s chief medical officer of health will give an update on the province’s response to opioid drug abuse and overdoses today.

Dr. Robert Strang says he will discuss progress that came out of a meeting of a leadership committee that is developing a strategy to deal with emerging problem.

The update comes after Strang revealed last week that 70 people died of opioid overdoses in Nova Scotia in the first eight months of 2016 _ a figure that is raising fears of a British Columbia-style crisis.

At the time, Strang said he was particularly concerned about a sudden spike of 10 deaths from the highly addictive pain killer fentanyl that occurred between Jan. 1 and Sept. 1.

Strang says there may not be widespread use of fentanyl in Nova Scotia yet, but the numbers have prompted his office to develop a proactive response to what has become a crisis in British Columbia and Alberta.

Officials in B.C. say there were 555 illicit drug deaths from January to the end of September this year, with fentanyl being detected in many of them.

(The Canadian Press)

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