The latest news articles featuring BC Centre on Substance Use.
Doctors struggling to cope with growing number of overdose patients with brain damage
December 30, 2016 | CBC News
As the number of drug overdoses continues to rise in B.C., doctors are struggling to cope with the increasing number of patients facing irreversible brain damage and other long-term health issues. Since January, more than 6,000 patients have ended up in Vancouver-area emergency departments because o...
Drug crisis: More training for doctors caring for addicts
December 28, 2016 | CKNW
As the province struggles with the on-going opioid crisis, more training is becoming available to help doctors treat those dealing with addiction. Dr. Annabel Mead, who heads up the Addiction Medicine Program at St. Paul’s Hospital, says their intensive year-long program, a one of a kind in Ca...
Study backs screening heroin users for alcohol issues
December 27, 2016 | Irish Examiner
A new study of people being treated for heroin use found that some of those who also had drink issues cut their alcohol intake when screened for excessive drinking by a GP. A new study, published in recent weeks in the BMC Family Practice journal, found that alcohol screening among people receiving ...
Health Minister on the ‘desperate fight against a public health crisis’
December 21, 2016 | Merritt Herald
Health Minister Terry Lake and Kamloops-North Thompson MLA Terry Lake has posted on his Facebook page his thoughts on the overdose crisis gripping the province. With overdoses claiming 755 lives in B.C. “” and 32 in Kamloops “” to the end of November, and with November setting a reco...
Addiction experts discuss solutions to opioid overdose crisis
December 20, 2016 | The Current
According to new numbers released by the B.C. Coroners Service, November was the deadliest month on record for the province with 128 fatal overdoses “” bringing the year’s total to more than 750 deaths. The spike is being blamed on the synthetic opioid fentanyl, detected in more than 6...
