Methadone, opioid prescriptions rise dramatically for Quebec seniors

Prescriptions for methadone, an opioid addiction treatment, have skyrocketed in the past five years for Quebec's seniors.

According to Quebec's health insurance board (RAMQ), 6,318 methadone prescriptions were filled for seniors in 2016, compared to 265 in 2012.

Methadone is a drug that treats opioid addiction and relieves pain.

The use of pain-relieving opioids has also gone up, with prescriptions of morphine and Hydromorphone to seniors rising 62 per cent since 2012.

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The spike in their use, particularly among seniors, some say points to a lack of options for Quebecers suffering from chronic pain.

Alternative treatments not covered by RAMQ

Jeremy Wexler, a social worker in the opiate replacement program at the Herzl Family Practice Centre in Cte-des-Neiges, said continued opioid use can have serious health repercussions, but there aren't a lot of options for pain sufferers covered by the Quebec's public health plan.

"If you're fortunate enough to have supplemental insurance you can get a massage, acupuncture, physiotherapy," Wexler told CBC Montreal Daybreak.

"But if you don't have access to that you have to deal with the pain or rely on prescriptions."

He said that compounding the problemis the factfamily doctors are under so much pressure to see a large volume of patients that they don't have the time to identify root causes of chronic pain in their patients.

"With 10 minutes it's hard to assess things like pain, addiction, anxiety. Doctors are in a difficult position if [patients] say 'I'm in pain, I need help,'" Wexler added.

Doctors in difficult position

President of Quebec's Order of Pharmacists, Bertrand Bolduc, agreed that doctors are in a difficult position when it comes to treating pain.

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He said pharmacists are there to tell patients what the risks of taking opioids are and possibly recommend other medications that don't cause addiction.

He recommended patients even be told that a degree of pain sometimes needs to be tolerated.

"It's not easy to tell patients sometimes that they should endure a bit of it," Bolduc said.

Bolduc said prescription guidelines will be published so doctors and other professionals are better trained.

He said pharmacists will also begin requiring that all prescriptions be electronic so no one can alter them.

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