Whereas the BC College of Physicians and Surgeons has developed standards and guidelines for opioid prescriptions, recognizing the public health crisis associated to prescription opioid misuse, including the significant potential for addiction and overdoses; And whereas in response to the opioid crisis in the United States, Veterans Affairs hospitals began publicly reporting on opioid prescriptions, which has led to a nearly 50 collective decrease in opioid prescriptions in those hospitals across the country between 2012 and 2017: Therefore be it resolved that the provincial government be requested to publicly release anonymized opioid prescription rates, by community, for all health regions in British Columbia, in a manner similar to that of Veterans Affairs hospitals in the United States, recognizing the impact of public reporting on reducing opioid prescription rates.
Ministry of Health Government is aware of the increasing public interest in the use of controlled prescription drugs that are at risk of misuse or diversion and also recognizes the impact of public reporting on reducing such risk. Ministry of Health staff have completed a 201718 British Columbia Controlled Prescription Drug Atlas the Atlas, a report containing aggregated utilization for two drug classes of controlled prescriptions: opioids and benzodiazepines. It includes information on dispenses, patients, prescribers and pharmacies and compares controlled prescription drug use across local health areas. The Ministry of Health is working through the approval process to achieve public release of the Atlas.