Opioid overdoses killed dozens in Manitoba this year: health minister

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This article was published 22/11/2016 (3024 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba has recorded “at least” two dozen deaths from opioid overdoses in 2016 — nine confirmed to be caused by or related to fentanyl, Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen told the legislature Tuesday afternoon.

The confirmed deaths occurred in the first five months of 2016, Goertzen said.

“This number is expected to go up,” he said. “Sadly, we know as the toxicology reports come back from other overdose cases, this number will almost certainly be higher than in previous years.”

Goertzen dismissed demands from NDP health critic Matt Wiebe to declare a provincial public health emergency and to open up safe injection sites for addicts.

He did, however, agree that the situation is an emergency.

“Many (users) are unaware it is the drug they are taking, and of its deadly consequences,” he said, adding the problem does not recognize provincial borders.

“We need national action on this issue,” he said. “It is not a problem that can be legislated away.”

Wiebe told Goertzen that Manitobans can’t wait for Ottawa to act. He and other New Democrats called on Goertzen to take immediate action.

The NDP’s James Allum accused Goertzen of procrastinating: “When will he put money into harm reduction? Families are asking this government to show leadership,” he said.

Goertzen said that the province is educating first responders in the use of opioid antidote naloxone, but cautioned that the kits can’t save every life.

“We are committed to providing specialized education for service providers and parents,” the health minister said. “Having a naloxone kit is not a safety net; it can mitigate, but not eliminate.”

Wiebe said British Columbia has declared a public health emergency, which he said “opens up the flow of resources to the front lines.”

“(Naloxone kits) should be as ubiquitous as defibrillators,” he said.

Hard-core addicts will inject fentanyl in combination with other hard drugs, but a safe injection site with Naloxone and supervision available would reduce the number of deaths, he said.

On Sunday, a 22-year-old man and a man in his 30s died of suspected fentanyl overdoses in separate incidents. A 21-year-old man rescued at one scene remains in critical condition.

“Our families need action,” Wiebe said.

Police wrap up latest investigation

Winnipeg police wrapped up their day-long search of an upscale Richmond West area home Tuesday where two of the three men were found Sunday.

People living near an upscale Richmond West rental home watched in horror on Sunday as emergency personnel brought two men, at least one in obvious medical distress, out of a two-storey home at 67 Kinlock Lane.

At about 9:30 p.m., emergency crews responded to a medical distress call from the house. The two men — ages 22 and 21 — were rushed to hospital, where the 22-year-old was pronounced dead. The other remains in critical condition. Illegal drugs were found inside the home, located near the University of Manitoba, leading to speculation the dead and injured men were students.

Fentanyl is suspected but the cause of death has not yet been confirmed.

As school age children returned home late yesterday, the street was quiet and the mood sombre.

Residents said the police presence had been constant since Sunday.

“It’s scary to know this is going on. I hear that a lot of people have died from that drug so we really need to stop this. It’s getting bigger and more dangerous,” said neighbour Beatrice Canuel-Desilets

Tuesday morning, neighbours watched the police presence intensified. Along with several cruisers, they counted three fire trucks, and an ambulance. They described men in protective HAZMAT suits going into the home around 10 a.m.

Police officers posted outside the home helped neighbours maneouvre around the emergency vehicles to get in and out of nearby driveways.

“They were supernice. The police helped me back up and I heard them talking to other people and they were supernice,” Canuel-Desilets said.

By the time the crews left, the shock had worn off and while most neighbours in this ethnically diverse street declined comment, some described the house as a long-time rental.

Sometime before summer, the latest tenants, a group of about seven university-age adults who appeared to be students, moved in, they said.

Neighbours also described a lot of activity with people coming and going from the premises who did not appear to live there, raising concern among families on the street.

They’ve been left with a lot of questions about what was going on in the house.

On Sunday, police said they interviewed five other people and called in a translator for some of them.

Late Tuesday afternoon, it appeared someone had returned to the two-storey home.

The glassed-in front door was pulled shut just minutes before a visitor knocked. A small cluttered table, about the size of a card table, with three chairs, could be seen but nothing seemed out of place among the sparse furnishings. Curtains, left partly open in the window overlooking the front lawn, were gently drawn shut. No one answered the door.

“it’s very very sad, I can’t imagine for the families how hard it must be,” Canuel-Desilets said.

Winnipeg police spokesman Const. Jason Michalyshen declined to discuss what police found during the search.

“If there is something we need to seize, we’d do that. We’re not going to turn over the home (back to its occupants) until such time as we’ve executed our search warrant and have any information we need to obtain,” the police spokesman said.

Sunday’s deaths bring to at least seven likely opioid deaths in the city in just the last month alone. This does not include the suspected carfentanil poisoning of a nine-month old infant, who has recovered and been placed in care. Carfentanil is 100 times more powerful than fentanyl.

with files from Alexandra Paul

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca