B.C. drug users question ‘exceptional’ availability of medicine
VANCOUVER — Drug users who didn’t respond well to a reformulated methadone treatment introduced in British Columbia four years ago now have access to a medication that may work as well as the original version for some people but advocates worry it’s available only on an “exceptional basis.”
Nearly 18,000 people were switched from methadone to Methadose in 2014. However, drug users say they weren’t consulted before the change to a medication that failed to keep painful withdrawal symptoms at bay for 24 hours.
The new option, called Metadol-D, has recently been offered to Methadose patients, though advocates are questioning why the drug that’s been around for years wasn’t made available sooner.
Dr. Christy Sutherland, who treats substance users in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, said Methadose caused substance users to become “dope sick” in about 14 hours, instead of 24 hours, leading to withdrawal symptoms that had many people seeking intravenous drugs such as heroin on the streets during a crisis fuelled by the deadly opioid fentanyl.