Dr. Christy Sutherland, medical director for PHS Healthcare, the organization that runs the program, said the goal is to meet substance users instead of offering alternatives like Dilaudid that patients may not find helpful. “The common feedback we had from patients was that they would prefer fentanyl, that we had to match what they were buying from the drug dealer to get them off that route. So we worked as a team to create a new fentanyl option for our patients and our community, “he told CBC’s On The Coast. The opioid crisis continues to be devastating in British Columbia, with an average of six people dying from illicit poisoning each day. Fentanyl is now the drug of choice, but it is increasingly being cut off with all sorts of toxic substances, including benzodiazepines and carfentanil, a much more potent analogue of fentanyl. “When we think that organized crime is cooking fentanyl in these secret laboratories and we are trying to put it in dime bags, there is no way they can make a steady dose from unit to unit. And so people do not know how much they are taking each time,” he said. Sutherland. Moms Stop the Harm walks on Hastings Street in Vancouver to mark the five-year anniversary of the BC 2021 overdose crisis. (Ben Nelms / CBC)

How the program works

The “enhanced access” program to PHS begins with a strong recruitment regime, Sutherland said, including a nurse working with the patient to determine the right dose and prescription. The patient then takes this prescription to a pharmacy, pays for fentanyl like any other medicine, takes it home and uses it according to his own schedule. The idea is that a safe and consistent provision eliminates the need to interact with the criminal world of drugs, which helps to stabilize the patient’s life. “They get their own unique prescription which is exactly the dose they need,” Sutherland said. “Think of the agony of opioid use disorder, of always being withdrawn, of always having uncertainty… Knowing that you are not going to wake up in St. “Paul’s after an overdose, after your belongings were stolen or attacked along the way.” Leslie McBain, co-founder of Moms Stop the Harm, said the program would save lives. “It’s well thought out. It’s legal. It’s regulated. There are pharmacists and doctors involved in an environment that is low barrier and does not stigmatize. I think it’s fantastic,” he said. McBain said concerns that patients would resell their prescription fentanyl were unfounded. “When a person gets what they need in a safe environment, there is no incentive to go out and sell it,” he said. “Why sell it to go get something else that is dangerous and potentially deadly?”

Sutherland said another benefit of the program is that possession of prescription fentanyl is not illegal. “This is a legal prescription. It’s labeled with your name and the contents of the prescription on a prescription vial. They also have a receipt for the prescription and have an active prescription on file at the clinic,” he said. The enhanced access program started on Thursday with a single client. Sutherland said data was being collected to evaluate the effectiveness of the program and he believed the model could be scaled up quickly to other locations in BC. “For this person who started yesterday, just the dignity and respect you get from completing a prescription and paying for it and taking it home is a lot. And so I want to treat my patients,” he said.

title: “First Ever Paid Prescription Fentanyl Program Launches In Vancouver " ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-12” author: “David Clark”

Dr. Christy Sutherland, medical director for PHS Healthcare, the organization that runs the program, said the goal is to meet substance users instead of offering alternatives like Dilaudid that patients may not find helpful. “The common feedback we had from patients was that they would prefer fentanyl, that we had to match what they were buying from the drug dealer to get them off that route. So we worked as a team to create a new fentanyl option for our patients and our community, “he told CBC’s On The Coast. The opioid crisis continues to be devastating in British Columbia, with an average of six people dying from illicit poisoning each day. Fentanyl is now the drug of choice, but it is increasingly being cut off with all sorts of toxic substances, including benzodiazepines and carfentanil, a much more potent analogue of fentanyl. “When we think that organized crime is cooking fentanyl in these secret laboratories and we are trying to put it in dime bags, there is no way they can make a steady dose from unit to unit. And so people do not know how much they are taking each time,” he said. Sutherland. Moms Stop the Harm walks on Hastings Street in Vancouver to mark the five-year anniversary of the BC 2021 overdose crisis. (Ben Nelms / CBC)

How the program works

The “enhanced access” program to PHS begins with a strong recruitment regime, Sutherland said, including a nurse working with the patient to determine the right dose and prescription. The patient then takes this prescription to a pharmacy, pays for fentanyl like any other medicine, takes it home and uses it according to his own schedule. The idea is that a safe and consistent provision eliminates the need to interact with the criminal world of drugs, which helps to stabilize the patient’s life. “They get their own unique prescription which is exactly the dose they need,” Sutherland said. “Think of the agony of opioid use disorder, of always being withdrawn, of always having uncertainty… Knowing that you are not going to wake up in St. “Paul’s after an overdose, after your belongings were stolen or attacked along the way.” Leslie McBain, co-founder of Moms Stop the Harm, said the program would save lives. “It’s well thought out. It’s legal. It’s regulated. There are pharmacists and doctors involved in an environment that is low barrier and does not stigmatize. I think it’s fantastic,” he said. McBain said concerns that patients would resell their prescription fentanyl were unfounded. “When a person gets what they need in a safe environment, there is no incentive to go out and sell it,” he said. “Why sell it to go get something else that is dangerous and potentially deadly?”

Sutherland said another benefit of the program is that possession of prescription fentanyl is not illegal. “This is a legal prescription. It’s labeled with your name and the contents of the prescription on a prescription vial. They also have a receipt for the prescription and have an active prescription on file at the clinic,” he said. The enhanced access program started on Thursday with a single client. Sutherland said data was being collected to evaluate the effectiveness of the program and he believed the model could be scaled up quickly to other locations in BC. “For this person who started yesterday, just the dignity and respect you get from completing a prescription and paying for it and taking it home is a lot. And so I want to treat my patients,” he said.