What happens after Canadian patients are prescribed addictive opioids in the emergency department for short-term pain? The answer from a new study is being called an “eye opener.”
The issue matters because of the overdose crisis, which has killed more than 44,000 people in opioid-related deaths since 2016, according to Health Canada. In 2023, 22 people died each day on average, the latest figures show.
While much of that harm comes from the illicit drug supply, including fentanyl, half the people with an opioid-use disorder say they were first exposed to the powerful painkillers through a legitimate prescription.
The study published Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal focuses on finding the sweet spot between minimizing unused opioid prescriptions from emergency departments — to drive down misuse — while still taking care of patients’ acute pain.
Dr. Raoul Daoust of Montreal’s Sacré-Coeur Hospital and his co-authors analyzed the results from 2,240 adults in Ontario and Quebec, half under age …