BC braces for arrival of powerful painkiller W-18

published on March 2, 2016 by Nick Eagland in The Star Phoenix

Drug experts fear BC won’t be ready to deal with the devastating impact of the powerful painkiller W-18 when it inevitably hits the province’s streets.

Already, health officials and first responders are scrambling in response to a surge in overdoses from the potent, synthetic opiate fentanyl, which was detected in 146 illicit drug deaths in 2015, up from 91 in 2014, according to BC Coroners Service data.

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Dr. Keith Ahamad, a clinician scientist at the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, also said harm reduction through naloxone is important, but not the solution to W-18.

“A huge component of the problem, really, is untreated opiate-use disorder, and without a real concerted effort to engage with this population in an evidence-based way, we’re really … missing the boat here,” he said.

“Right now we have a treatment system in British Columbia that’s operating outside of best evidence-based guidelines. We have a physician population here that (is) not appropriately trained to both recognize and diagnose, and to treat addiction, in an evidence-based way.”