Toxicology backlog delaying drug overdose test results

British Columbia's opioid crisis is putting pressure on the scientists who investigate potential overdose deaths, according to the medical director of the province's toxicology centre.

Dr. Wes Schreiber, the medicaldirector for the provincial toxicology centre, saidthe volume of testing increased 30 per cent in 2016, as illicit drugdeaths in B.C. increased 78 per cent.

Tests taking longer

"The volume of testing went up so much that we've gotten behind a bit on some of the work. So, it's taking longer for things to come through,"Schreiber toldOn the Island hostGregorCraigie.

Even with the backlog, Schreiber said, expedited testing for suspected overdose deaths is usuallydone withintwo to three days.

However, relatives of Jeffrey Canuel,whose bodywasfound near a park bench in Vancouver last week, said the B.C. Coroner's Service informed them that toxicology tests to determine why he died might not be available for months.

• One week after death of Jeffrey Canuel, his family waits for answers

Canuel, 26, wasfound at the corner of CambieStreet and SecondAvenue after a night out with friends March 5.

Schreiber said establishing cause of death is important for public health reasons, such as tracking an epidemicbut also for very personal ones.

"Everybody who dies is, or was, part of a family, and family members and friends want to know, why did my friend or why did my family member die?" he said.

As his lab works to clear the backlog, the spread of stronger fentanyl-like opioidsposesan added challengefor toxicologists.

"We are probably encountering drugs that we don't usually detect with our current instruments," he said. For now,equipment needs to be recalibratedto detect new substances that enter the illicit drug market.

The toxicology lab expects delivery of a new instrument in about a month that will allow faster identification of drugs such as carfentanilwhich is described as 100 times more powerful than fentanyl.

"We should be able to measure these compounds and get really a fuller picture of what drugs people are being exposed to," hesaid.

More staff and instruments needed

To reduce the backlog, the toxicology service has also rehired a retired technologist and asked the B.C. government for additionalstaffing and instruments.

Schreiber said he's seen previous waves ofoverdose deaths in B.C. when a new or more concentrated drug enters the market.

"It passes through and then you get back to more of a baseline state," he said.

But the current fentanyl crisis is different, in part because the highly concentrated opioidis mixed inwith other drugs such as methamphetamine,heroin and cocaine or is being sold as those drugs.

• Victoria pharmacy finds fentanyl in 90% of street drugs tested

"People are taking massive overdoses of fentanyl when they think they're actually taking a different drug,"he said.

With files from CBC Radio On the Island