Manitoba’s lack of drug-overdose data called coverup

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This article was published 09/03/2023 (946 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Critics are calling on the Stefanson government to release data on drug overdose deaths in a timely manner, saying its refusal to do so is an “embarrassment.”

Meantime, the government countered that it is not “refusing” to release data and that it will do so in a few weeks.

On Wednesday, the Free Press asked the province for updated numbers on fatal drug overdoses. The province said it would only share 2021 data and that it would not share preliminary 2022 numbers.

The office of the chief medical examiner, which had released monthly overdose death numbers, including up until July 2022, is now referring requests for the data to the province.

Critics question why the government won’t release preliminary numbers and why existing finalized data is 14 months old. Provinces such as British Columbia have released statistics for January 2023.

“It’s an embarrassment,” said Thomas Linner, director of the Manitoba Health Coalition. “It is hard to believe that this government is taking the overdose crisis seriously when all of its actions demonstrate the opposite.”

Linner said the province should release as much data about the toxic drug crisis as possible, for the safety of people who use drugs and for those who advocate for them.

He questions why it takes so long to finalize numbers.

“If the problem is that you don’t have enough resources dedicated to this problem… dedicate more resources to this problem,” he said.

In an email Thursday, Glen Cassie, the province’s media engagement manager, said the province is not “refusing” to provide the data, and that it will be posted “once it is final — in a few weeks.”

“That is not refusing to release it, that is saying once it is reviewed for accuracy it will be posted,” Cassie wrote in an email to the Free Press.

It remains unclear what data will be considered “final” when released in a few weeks.

The lack of timely reporting has been on critics’ radar for a while.

Last year, the NDP critic for mental health and addictions, Bernadette Smith, put forward a private member’s bill that would have required the province to report on deaths and drugs in a timely manner.

The Fatality Inquires Amendment Act (Overdose Death Reporting) has been reintroduced in the current legislative session.

Smith’s father and brother died from drug overdoses, in 2002 and 2022, respectively.

“I know first-hand how devastating this is and how much information we need shared,” Smith said.

Smith said people who use drugs need to know what’s in the supply and the public needs to know the scope of the crisis, information that the province has.

She said if the NDP comes into power after this year’s election, it will make fatal overdose data public as it becomes available.

In the meantime, Moms Stop the Harm has made public 2022 preliminary data that was provided to it by the office of the chief medical examiner. It shows there were 377 deaths between January and November 2022. In 2021, there were 424 deaths, though that number is still preliminary and is up from a previous count of 407. In 2020, there were 371 deaths, up from 199 in 2019.

Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont called the government’s actions “shameful.

“This amounts to a coverup, wanting to sweep the deaths of hundreds of Manitobans under the rug.”

Lamont added the lack of data is just one issue. He wants to see the province focus more on harm reduction, alongside the recovery and treatment approach the Stefanson government favours.

“These are preventable deaths, that’s the most tragic thing,” he said. “Having spoken to people whose family members have died, there are lots of things we can, and should, be doing to make sure that people aren’t dying from overdoses.”

katrina.clarke@freepress.ca