B.C. ends take-home safer supply of opioids to stop criminal diversion

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But Osborne said an investigation into diversion was started by a Ministry of Health investigative unit last June.

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She said the change to the safer-supply program would be immediate for new patients, and there would be a “smooth and safe transition” for current patients.

“These medications will be taken under the supervision of a health-care worker, and that includes hydromorphone,” she told a news briefing in Victoria on Wednesday.

“This helps guarantee that the patient receives care in a safe, supportive environment, and significantly reduces the likelihood of diversion.”

The announcements came about two weeks after the release of a leaked Ministry of Health briefing for police that said a “significant portion” of opioids prescribed in B.C. were being diverted, and prescribed alternatives were being trafficked provincially, nationally and internationally.

Osborne also provided an update on an investigation into “bad actors” among pharmacies that are allegedly contributing to diversion and paying illegal kickbacks to drug users and doctors.

She said some pharmacies allegedly exploited the PharmaCare program that pays for each drug dispensation as well as witnessing customer’s drug consumption.

“I want to emphasize that we have over 1,500 pharmacies in British Columbia, and most pharmacies are providing high-quality care to people, but through these investigations we’ve received allegations of this kind of illegal activity at roughly 60 pharmacies, and we are investigating every single one of them,” she said.

The Health Ministry said in a news release that there would be “changes to fix the fee structure for pharmacies that provide prescribed alternatives.”

This would “avoid financial incentive for bad actors to offer kickbacks.”

Osborne said the government would work closely with the College of Pharmacists of B.C., “and then if the information warrants being passed on to the RCMP for criminal investigation, we’ll pass that on there.”

Osborne said that the ministry investigators began their work after “allegations, stories, anecdotes came forward last year.”

In January, the B.C. Conservatives had called on the NDP government to adopt recommendations from a group of addiction medicine clinicians who called for a pharmacist or nurse to supervise use of hydromorphone.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 19, 2025.