“It’s probably going to get worse before it gets better”: Peel sees 520% increase in opioid emergencies

According to data from Peel Public Health, the region saw 496 ED visits related to opioids in 2017 (the latest year for which complete data is available). This is not only an unsettling 96 percent increase over the 253 ED visits in 2016, but a shocking 520 percent increase from 2003 numbers. Through nine months of 2018, Peel experienced 254 ED visits related to opioids. 

Hospitalizations and deaths also increased dramatically. The number of people admitted to hospital for opioid use increased 35 percent between 2016 and 2017 (an 89 percent increase from 2003), and the number of deaths from opioid overdose increased from 23 in 2005 to 81 in 2017, a 252 percent increase. 

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While the region has been spared the most devastating effects of a North American epidemic of opioid addiction, statistics suggest the situation isn’t improving.

There were 81 opioid-related deaths in 2017, and overdoses continue to strain the region’s emergency departments.

I also took the portrait to go along with this story.

Published on June 26, 2019 in The Pointer - Brampton