Don’t wait to act on opioid deaths, coroner warns in report on Quebec teen’s death

MONTREAL — The death of a Quebec teen who was poisoned from a synthetic opioid should raise alarm bells for authorities to do more to prevent similar tragedies.

Coroner Stéphanie Gamache issued the call this week in a report into the death of 15-year-old Mathis Boivin.

Boivin died in December 2023 after he consumed N-desethyl isotonitazene, a powerful synthetic opioid.

The teenager believed he had taken oxycodone, an opioid used for pain relief.