Is a simple painkiller responsible for the opioid crisis?

Today, it has been proven that OxyContin is a highly addictive painkiller. Public health specialists who have studied this issue believe it is at the root of the fentanyl crisis that has afflicted North America since the early 2000s.

In October 2021, the laboratory Purdue Pharma was ordered in the United States to pay $4.5 billion to the institutions and individuals who were victims of its deceptive practices, because it has now been proven that the Sackler family, the company’s owners, knew about the extreme addiction that its drug caused.[1]

Consequently, the company pleaded guilty before declaring bankruptcy. However, it is estimated that profits from the sale of this drug over a 20-year period would far exceed the amount of punitive damages.

The euphoric effect of OxyContin, along with easy access (despite being a prescription drug), resulted in this analgesic being used recreationally. Due to its powerful addictive properties, some users eventually turned to illegal drugs such as heroin. Then, in the early 2000s, fentanyl appeared on the scene, mainly in British Columbia and our neighbors to the south.

Up to 100 times more potent than morphine, easy to produce as it is synthetic and therefore cheaper than heroin, fentanyl almost entirely replaced OxyContin and heroin on the street. From that point on, the number of overdose-related deaths skyrocketed.[4]

• A tiny change in dosage can mean the difference between a temporary high and a fatal overdose.
• Mixing fentanyl with alcohol or other drugs multiplies the risk of death.
• Various drugs available on the street, in powder and tablet form, may contain fentanyl without the buyer or seller knowing it.[5]

Many overdoses are due to the fact that people were totally unaware their drugs contained fentanyl.

In 2020, more than 1,550 deaths in British Columbia were attributed to fentanyl, versus 900 for COVID-19. In Quebec, the situation was hardly better with 547 victims of fentanyl, according to the Institut national de la santé publique du Québec (INSPQ).

In fact, more than 20,000 overdose deaths were reported in Canada between January 2016 and September 2020. In the United States, the Trump administration even declared a health emergency in 2017 when faced with the magnitude of this crisis.

Dr. Julie Bruneau, a researcher at the Centre de recherche hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CRCHUM), believes the pandemic has worsened the situation. Follow-up and research have been more difficult. Redirecting certain services to treat COVID-19 patients, along with social isolation and the housing crisis, have made it even harder for physicians and other professionals to support this marginalized population.

Dr. Bruneau calls it a silent epidemic. She also thinks that if the same number of people between the ages of 20 and 40 had died from COVID-19 rather than an overdose, media coverage of the situation would surely be different. She implies that the lives of drug addicts might not have the same value in the eyes of the authorities and the media as those of ordinary citizens.[6]

Naloxone is a so-called antagonist treatment, capable of temporarily neutralizing the effects of opioids. Naloxone is the best (and so far the only) remedy for fentanyl overdose. It is available free of charge in pharmacies as an injection syringe or nasal spray, and should be included in the emergency kit of people at risk or their loved ones.[9]

Our pharmacogenetic assessment for pain can help your doctor determine the most appropriate treatment and the best dosage, based on your DNA. Order your kit online or call Biron Health Group customer service at 1-833-590-2713.