Home / Health / Ontario Medical Regulator Proposes Safer Supply Overhaul
Ontario Medical Regulator Proposes Safer Supply Overhaul
6 Oct
Summary
- Regulator proposes limiting safer supply to opioid agonist therapy.
- An eight-week prescription limit and supervised consumption are proposed.
- Harm reduction advocates warn changes will increase overdose risks.
The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario is set to consider major revisions to its safer supply drug prescription policies. The proposed changes aim to restrict the practice by mandating that safer supply medications, such as hydromorphone, only be prescribed in conjunction with opioid agonist therapy. This therapy uses medications like methadone to treat opioid addiction.
Further proposed amendments include an eight-week time limit for safer supply prescriptions and a requirement for the drugs to be consumed under the supervision of healthcare professionals. These measures are largely driven by concerns over the diversion of prescription pills to the black market, according to the college's spokesperson.
Health Minister Sylvia Jones supports these proposed crackdowns on what her office terms 'predatory prescribing.' However, harm reduction advocates, like Lorraine Lam, express deep concern, stating the changes are dangerous and destabilizing. She fears that de-prescribing will force individuals back to unregulated street supplies, potentially escalating overdose and fatality rates.
