'We’re going to have more bodies piling up': Sask. plan to alter methadone formula is risky, user says
The Saskatchewan government plans on changing its methadone formula for patients being treated for opioid addiction — something frontline workers warn could cause people to resort back to taking illicit drugs.
Rob McCarroll says he became addicted to opioids in his late teens while he was treated for two separate brain tumours.
He’s been working to overcome it through methadone treatment for the past three decades.
In 2014, while McCarroll was living in Vernon, B.C., the province changed its methadone formula, which he says pushed him back to street drugs as he began feeling withdrawal symptoms.
“It’s horrible to have to go back to sticking needles in your arm, getting up in the morning and the first thing you do is having to go out searching for drugs,” he told CTV News
Drug users and experts in B.C. say the methadone formula switch in 2014 contributed to the province’s opioid crisis.
McCarroll left B.C. to move to Saskatchewan in 2017 to continue his methadone treatment.
“I didn’t want to become a statistic,” he said.
However, Saskatchewan plans on making a similar change to its formula.
The Ministry of Health said Methadose, a pre-mixed formulation, and Metadol-D will eventually replace the compounded methadone currently available at pharmacies.
McCarroll is asking the province to reconsider.
“We’re going to have more bodies piling up because this stuff, it doesn’t do what they promise it will, it doesn’t take away the cravings,” he said.
McCarroll said on methadone he would be able to take one dose in the morning and wouldn’t need to take a second dose until the next night, whereas, on Methadose, he would start getting antsy after 14 hours.
In 2020-2021, 3,534 people received methadone for opioid agonist therapy, according to the Ministry of Health.
It said the new formulations are safer.
TIMING 'COULDN'T BE WORSE'
However, Prairie Harm Reduction Executive Director Jason Mercredi said it will put extra pressure on agencies like his.
“If their cravings are going up and they’re going to relapse, that’ll likely mean they’re going to turn back to street drugs and that could mean a death sentence at this point in time,” he said.
Mercredi also questions the timing of the formula change.
“I think the timing couldn’t be worse to be honest. We’re still in the middle of COVID-19, but then on top of that, the overdose crisis is ramping up month over month,” he said, adding that local street drugs are becoming more contaminated and deadly.
Peter Butt, a consultant in addiction medicine at the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA), said while having a consistent formula makes sense from a quality assurance and cost perspective, people who are already on the methadone treatment should be given the option to stay on it.
“It can destabilize people when the medication that frankly their life has become reliant upon to avoid relapse and all the problems that go with that that they’ve experienced in the past, they do not want to go back there,” Butt said.
“This leads to anxiety when there’s a change and really the whole ritual of receiving the medication and being on it and having the same bottle, the same type of medication on a consistent basis.”
Butt said the transition needs to be carefully thought out as Methadose and Metadol-D can have different effects on people.
He said people who depend on these treatments also need to be consulted.
“We want to feel comfortable and medicated properly, and I don’t think that’s too much to ask,” McCarroll said.
METHADOSE USED ACROSS CANADA
The Ministry of Health said compounded methadone will be available to patients who are severely allergic to Methadose or Metadol-D.
It said all Canadian provinces have introduced Methadose and that it will be working with other jurisdictions to learn from their experiences.
“As part of the transition, patient and prescriber education is being developed to provide some guidance on how to address these potential concerns. We will monitor the transition to identify and respond to any issues,” the Ministry of Health said in a statement to CTV News.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Health Canada to change sperm donor screening rules for men who have sex with men
Health Canada will change its longstanding policy restricting gay and bisexual men from donating to sperm banks in Canada, CTV News has learned. The federal health agency has adopted a revised directive removing the ban on gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, effective May 8.
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer denied bail after being charged with killing Canadian couple
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
LeBlanc says he plans to run in next election, under Trudeau's leadership
Cabinet minister Dominic LeBlanc says he plans to run in the next election as a candidate under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's leadership, amid questions about his rumoured interest in succeeding his longtime friend for the top job.
Grandparent scam suspects had ties to Italian organized crime, police allege
A group of suspects that allegedly defrauded seniors across Ontario and other parts of Canada using a so-called emergency grandparent scam appear to have ties to 'Italian traditional organized crime,' according to an investigator involved in the OPP-led probe.
Sports columnist apologizes for 'oafish' comments directed at Caitlin Clark. The controversy isn’t over
A male columnist has apologized for a cringeworthy moment during former University of Iowa superstar and college basketball’s highest scorer Caitlin Clark’s first news conference as an Indiana Fever player.
Trend Line Anger, pessimism towards federal government reach six-year high: Nanos survey
Most Canadians in March reported feeling angry or pessimistic towards the federal government than at any point in the last six years, according to a survey by Nanos Research.
BREAKING B.C.'s short-term rental regulations include $10K daily penalties for Airbnb, other platforms
Short-term rental platforms that violate B.C.'s pending regulations can face administrative penalties of up to $10,000 per day, officials announced Thursday.
Closing arguments heard in trial for Sask. dad accused of abducting daughter
Closing arguments were heard Thursday morning in the case of Michael Gordon Jackson, the Saskatchewan man accused of abducting his daughter in 2021 to keep her from getting a COVID-19 vaccine.
Cat found on Toronto Pearson airport runway 3 days after going missing
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.