Parent of drug-addicted teen pushes for easier access to Suboxone

An Ottawa father who raised concerns about teenage drug addiction and overdoses in Kanata is now pushing for easier access to Suboxone, a medicationthat helps addicts fight cravings and get through withdrawals.

Sean O'Leary said Suboxone has enabledhis 16-year-olddaughter Paigefight her addiction to counterfeit Percocet.

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"It's improved our family life immensely since she started taking it," said O'Leary.

In Octoberthe Ontario government made it possible for family physicians to prescribeSuboxone,following a similar move by British Columbia.

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The drug is considered safer than methadone, with fewer side effects and"significantly less" risk of causing a fatal overdose itself, according to information from the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.

O'Leary said thatfinding a doctor to prescribe Suboxonefor his daughter, however, wasn't easy.

He wasn't even familiar of what it was.- Sean O'Leary

"I justasked my doctor. I said, 'Can you prescribe Suboxone?' Andhe said, 'What's that?'" O'Leary recalled.

"So that was enough of an answer right there. He wasn't even familiar of what it was."

More education needed

Despite the changes introduced by theOntario government, Ottawa psychiatrist Elena Shurshilova saidmany doctors are still hesitant to prescribe Suboxone because they don't understand how the drug works to help treat opioiddependence.

"I absolutely believe that more physicians have to be exposed to Suboxone treatment," saidShurshilova, who treats O'Leary's daughter Paige.

She added that doctors have to be familiar with the policies surrounding Suboxone, callingit a "life-saving way of treatment."

The president of We The Parents,a not-for-profit group started by O'Leary to help young addicts, said a number of Ottawa families have been calling for easier access to the drug.

"We need more access to it, there's no doubt about it," said Steve Cody, who lost his son to a drug overdose in 2013.

While his son may not have benefited from Suboxone, Cody said it's still important to get information out about the drug and to try and help other families struggling with addiction.

The group is hoping that by speaking out, more doctors will considerprescribing it, he added.

"It's all about education, so that we can take these kids off of these drugs that are killing them, and kind of get them on a path to where they want to get into a cleaner state," Cody said.