Opioid overdose ER visits sharply rising in Ontario, new data shows
TORONTO — Opioid overdose-related visits to Ontario emergency rooms are sharply rising, the provincial government said Tuesday as it announced new measures to tackle what has been described as a national public health crisis.
The latest government data show that in April, May and June there were 1,898 such ER visits — a 76 per cent increase from the same time period last year, and a 40 per cent increase from the first three months of this year.
At least 2,816 Canadians died from opioid-related causes in 2016 — 865 of them in Ontario. It is not known how many people have died from opioid overdoses in the province so far this year, but public health officials predict the number will rise.
In June, the rate of opioid-related ER visits per 100,000 people in Ontario was 4.8 — up from 2.9 in January and 2.6 last June.