A Quebec coroner is sounding the alarm about the deadly effects of opioids after looking into the death of a Quebec man over a year ago.
40-year-old Louis Benoît Anctil died in March 2016 after taking fentanyl, methamphetamine and hydromorphone.
Anctil was being followed by a doctor for back and lower body pain after an accident. He was known for being a drug addict and a dealer of opioids that he bought in Ontario.
Anctil's pharmacist and doctor tried to make sure Anctil was taking his pain killers properly. But the doctor hadn't seen his patient for more than a year and a half at the time of Anctil's death.
Coroner Paul Dionne says accidental overdoses involving fentanyl and opioids have been going up considerably since 2005.
Dionne says the Quebec govenrment must adopt prevention and surveillance measures and recommends a better control of long-term opioid prescriptions. He's also recommending that the Quebec College of Physicians review the practice of the doctor issuing the precriptions in this case.
Dionne says he underlines and encourages the efforts of the College and the Order of Pharmacists to work together in this matter and recommends the Health Ministry support their efforts.