Naturopathic doctors say they’re ‘ready’ to fight toxic drug crisis but await approval from B.C.
Hundreds of naturopathic doctors in B.C. are enrolled in training programs to treat opioid addiction as they await a response to a request from the province to prescribe a safer supply.
The BC Association of Naturopathic Physicians, a voluntary professional association, sent a letter to Jennifer Whiteside, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, in November 2022, calling for medicines and opioids to be more safely supplied to drug addicts. Requested authority to prescribe agonist therapy.
The association reiterated its call on Thursday (February 15).
“As primary care professionals, we are ready, available, and have an excellent safety record when it comes to prescribing. We are calling on the state government to prevent us from helping patients in need. We are calling for barriers to be removed,” Association President Vanessa Lindsay said in a statement.
She noted that British Columbia has a severe shortage of health-care workers who can prescribe medicines to people who buy them from unregulated and harmful markets.
A November 2023 report by the BC Coroner’s Death Investigation Committee estimates that 225,000 British Columbians are using uncontrolled substances. Of these, 115,000 have been diagnosed with opioid use disorder, but only 4,331 are on safer supplies.
Both this report and a review of B.C.’s Safer Supply Program, commissioned by provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and released on February 1, will save lives as the toxic drug crisis continues to worsen. It points to alternative medicines as one of the major tools that can be used. .
Also read: British Columbia’s top doctor calls for more access to safe medicines for people who need them
Related article: B.C. rejects experts’ calls for non-prescription access to safer drug supply
Last year, 2,511 people died from toxic drugs in British Columbia.
Lindsey said Thursday that naturopathic doctors also want to be part of the response.
“BCND hopes the provincial government will agree and give us the opportunity to make the most of our skills and training before this crisis claims more lives.”
Naturopathic doctors in B.C. have been allowed to prescribe certain drugs since 2009, and the association says more than 85 per cent of the 700 certified doctors have done so since then. Lindsay argued that they already have experience in this type of work and could easily transition to safer supply formulations.
She said 250 of her members are enrolled in the BC Substance Use Center’s provincial opioid addiction treatment support program. The program aims to train health care workers to diagnose people with opioid use disorder, help create care plans, and write prescriptions.
The Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions directed Black Press Media to the Ministry of Health for comment, saying Health Canada controls who can prescribe opioid agonist treatment. British Columbia’s Ministry of Health said Health Canada would consider expanding the number of medical professionals who can prescribe safer supplies only if other provinces make similar proposals.
