Majority of 2018 Windsor-Essex opioid deaths occurred indoors, affected men

published on June 22, 2019 in CBC News (Windsor)

While naloxone can be used to reverse an opioid-related overdose, UBC postdoctoral fellow Geoff Bardwell says the drug is only effective if there’s someone else present who can administer it.

Bardwell’s comments shed insight on preliminary numbers found on the Public Health Ontario website sourced from the Ontario coroner’s office, stating that the majority of 2018’s 48 opioid-related deaths took place indoors, and disproportionately affected men.

“If someone’s using by themselves, there isn’t anyone who’s able to be there to reverse an overdose,” he explained, adding that these factors have led to a number of preventable deaths…