Pubdate: Fri, 30 May 2014
Source: Nanaimo Daily News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2014 Nanaimo Daily News
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1608
Author: James Keller
Page: B2

INJUNCTION ALLOWS ADDICTS TO KEEP USING PRESCRIBED HEROIN IN PROJECT

Five people filed a lawsuit alleging that Ottawa had violated their
charter rights

VANCOUVER - A group of addicts in Vancouver who were part of a
clinical trial examining the use of prescription heroin have won a
temporary injunction that will allow them to continue accessing the
drug at least until a court challenge is heard.

The ruling, issued Thursday by a B.C. Supreme Court judge, is the
second time in recent months that courts have interfered with Ottawa's
attempt to rein in the medical use of otherwise illegal drugs.

Five people filed a lawsuit last fall alleging the federal government
had violated their charter rights by denying access to prescription
heroin to treat their addictions.

Those patients received the heroin during a clinical trial, but once
they left the trial last year, their doctors asked for approval under
a special Health Canada program to continue prescribing the drug.

Health Canada initially granted the approvals, but Health Minister
Rona Ambrose quickly introduced new regulations to stop such
approvals. The patients who were approved have not received any more
prescription heroin and subsequent applications have been rejected.

A B.C. Supreme Court judge issued an injunction exempting the patients
from the updated regulations until the case goes to trial, likely next
year.

Joseph Arvay, a lawyer who is representing the patients, said the
federal government's decision was not based on scientific research
that has shown prescription heroin is an effective treatment for
patients suffering from severe addiction.

"What was fundamentally wrong with the minister's decision is failing
to understand that heroin treatment is a treatment, and it's not just
providing the addicts with a drug of their choice," Arvay told a news
conference Thursday.

"It (prescription heroin treatment) gives them an entry into the
health-care system that they don't otherwise have. They're dealt with
by social workers and psychologists, and people help them to deal with
all the ramifications of their addictions."

The plaintiffs in the case all took part in clinical trials conducted
by Providence Health Care, which operates St. Paul's Hospital in
downtown Vancouver and is also involved in the lawsuit.

The first trial, the North American Opiate Medication Initiative, or
NAOMI, took place in Vancouver and Montreal between 2005 and 2008. It
compared the effectiveness of pharmaceutical-grade heroin, known as
diacetylmorphine, and oral methadone. Two of the plaintiffs were NAOMI
participants.

The Study to Assess Longer term Opioid Medication Effectiveness, or
SALOME, began in 2011. The study is comparing the effectiveness of
hydromorphone, a synthetic drug approved for use to control pain, and
pharmaceutical heroin in treating severe addiction. All five
plaintiffs took part, exiting the program last year.

Doctors applied to Health Canada for special permission to prescribe
heroin to 21 former study participants, including the five plaintiffs.

The updated regulations weren't retroactive, but the patients who were
already approved still could not get the prescription heroin because
the supplier didn't want to distribute the drug to the patients until
the legal questions were cleared up.

Arvay said the injunction means all patients who have participated in
the clinical trials can now apply to Health Canada for special access
if their doctors believe prescription heroin will benefit them.
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