FROM THE REGISTRAR’S DESK
A plan to fight the
biggest drug safety
crisis of our time
T
Rocco Gerace, MD
Registrar
The strategy puts
patient and public
safety at the forefront
by ensuring safe
and appropriate
opioid prescribing by
physicians
he opioid epidemic
has been described as
the biggest drug safety
crisis of our time. It has
exacted a catastrophic toll on our
communities, with an escalating
number of overdose deaths.
A whole host of reasons have
contributed to this crisis – socio-
economic factors, availability of
illicit drugs, increased strength of
illicit drugs, and a lack of services to
support chronic pain, mental health
and addiction.
But it is well-meaning prescribing
that has given this crisis much of its
fuel. As physicians, we must bear
a measure of ownership for this
problem. And we also must be part
of the solution.
At our most recent meeting in
May, Council discussed at length
how the College could most ef-
fectively be deployed against this
epidemic. By the end of our discus-
sion, we had committed to a multi-
pronged strategy that put patient
and public safety at the forefront
by ensuring safe and appropriate
opioid prescribing by physicians.
How will we advance our efforts
to ensure appropriate prescribing?
We will ensure you have the
information you need to prescribe
safely. Our Prescribing Drugs
policy will be updated to include
elements of the recently released
Canadian Guideline for Opioids for
Chronic Non-Cancer Pain (see page
24). These guidelines address much
more than just dosage amount; they
also include guidance about how to
taper and what to do before initiat-
ing opioid therapy, such as ensuring
the patient knows what to expect.
Most significantly, perhaps, the
guidelines state that physicians need
to stem the tide of prescribing and
not so readily start new patients on
opioids.
Because it informs the standard
of practice, the recently released
national guideline is important
information for physicians. But
we believe that if you have access
to other pieces of critical informa-
tion, it will also help inform your
prescribing.
Having real-time access to patient
medication profiles is such an ex-
ample. The Ministry of Health has
said that real-time Narcotics Moni-
toring System (NMS) data will be
available to physicians by the end
of 2017. Should the College require
physicians to access this informa-
Issue 2, 2017 Dialogue
9