At least 146 people died of suspected opioid overdoses in Toronto in 2018, according to data from city paramedics.The tally, which includes all suspected overdose deaths that happen before paramedics arrive or while they are administering care, comes from the first calendar year’s worth of data reported by the city’s public health department.The paramedics’ reports show a decrease in overdose deaths in the second half of the year compared to the same period in 2017, but it is too early to determine if that’s part of a larger trend, said Dr. Eileen de Villa, Toronto’s medical officer of health. Toronto Public Health began monitoring paramedic reports of suspected opioid overdoses in August 2017 and publishes the data through its Overdose Information System. “While considerable work has been done, the situation remains urgent,” de Villa said. “Too many people in our community are dying from preventable deaths attributed to drugs in the illegal market which are contaminated with fentanyl and other potent substances.”The count of deaths is expected to climb once the provincial coroner’s office, which determines a person’s cause of death, releases its tally, de Villa said. Read more:Most suspected opioid overdoses are downtown, but many areas with high fatality rates are outside the core: ReportSupervised injection sites face new roadblocks in Toronto with provincial guidelinesJustin Lidstone died of an overdose. His family was gutted. We spent a year with them to understand what happenedParamedics’ numbers do not include any deaths that happen after a patient is taken to hospital, nor any paramedics determine to be accidental that the coroner later rules an overdose.Opioid deaths have increased sharply in Toronto in recent years. An average of 94 people died of opioid overdoses in the city each year between 2005 and 2013 — but that number has risen each year since, to a high of 308 in 2017 ...
|
