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Report on the Review of Sales Transactions for Oxycodone-based Products in Atlantic Canada (Retail Pharmacies only)

July 2005

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Fact Sheet - Misuse and Abuse of Oxycodone-based Prescription Drugs

Table of Contents

Note to Readers

The following report is based on information contained in sales transactions submitted to the Office of Controlled Substances (OCS) by Atlantic retail pharmacies. As part of this project, four levels of quality assurance were completed at the OCS to ensure completeness of information and error-free data entry. When compiling all of this information, however, the Office has not been in the position to proceed with quality control verifications on recorded data submitted by pharmacies.

List of Appendices

List of Figures

List of Tables

SECTION 4

SECTION 5

SECTION 7

1. Introduction

Over the past few years, concerns were raised with Health Canada by various stakeholders, including members of Parliament and the House of Commons Special Committee on the Non-Medical Use of Drugs, concerning the abuse of prescription drugs. Provincial governments and authorities in the Atlantic Provinces have been especially concerned with this issue, where it has been the subject of media scrutiny and linked to increases in robberies of residences and pharmacies, and domestic violence. On December 15, 2003, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador announced the creation of a task force with the mandate to make recommendations on a comprehensive strategy for the management of OxyContin® and other related narcotics of abuse; its final report was released on June 30, 2004. In March 2004, Cape Breton Health District Authority also announced the creation of a community-based task force; its first and second interim reports were released on June 4 and September 10, 2004.

On April 6, 2004, the Drug Strategy and Controlled Substances Programme (DSCSP) of the Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch (HECSB) of Health Canada jointly organized with HECSB Regional Office in the Atlantic Region a meeting on the Prescribing and Usage of Controlled Substances in the Atlantic Region, particularly with respect to Oxycodone. The meeting was made up of provincial licensing authorities of pharmacy and medicine, as well as provincial government representatives of the Atlantic Provinces. The meeting provided a forum to discuss the potential abuse of prescription drugs, specifically oxycodone, and formed a foundation for future collaboration among stakeholders. Following the meeting, the Office of Controlled Substances (OCS) initiated a special project entitled "Review of Sales Transactions for Oxycodone-based Products in Atlantic Canada." The purpose of the project was to establish baseline information from retail pharmacies regarding the use of oxycodone-based products in the four Atlantic Provinces.

The project consisted of collecting and reporting on the volume of sales transactions that occurred between January 1 and June 30, 2004. The project's scope covered 21 products, four provinces, 43 "prime" medical specialties, and four professions: physician, veterinarian, dentist and pharmacist. On June 18, 2004, the OCS, through Circular Letter 906, asked 651 Atlantic retail pharmacies to provide it with customized sales transactions reports for the period concerned. All retail pharmacies submitted their report, for a total of 92,538 transactions.

The following Report on the Review of Sales Transactions for Oxycodone-based Products in Atlantic Canada shows the project's findings at regional and provincial levels. For each level, to preserve objectivity, findings are presented in descending order: from the highest volume of transactions to the smallest.

2. Limits to the Interpretation

Readers who wish to interpret, extrapolate or benchmark the report's findings should exercise caution. The report does not take into consideration the following variances: the variance of health profiles of populations, the variance within Pain Management Protocols, and the variance between official monographs of various products. This limits the interpretation of findings, as follows:

  • The variance of health profiles of populations may have an impact on the interpretation of findings because this factor could justify what may otherwise seem, in terms of volume of transactions, as abnormal consumption and prescribing profiles.

  • The variance within Pain Management Protocols limits the interpretation of the findings because it may influence the prescribing of one medication over another, which could justify what may otherwise seem, in terms of volume of transactions, as abnormal consumption and prescribing profiles.

  • The variance between official monographs of various products limits the interpretation of the findings because management of the same medical condition with different oxycodone-based products will not require the same amount of tablets to achieve similar results. An example is short-acting versus long-lasting tablet formulations. This could justify what may otherwise seem, in terms of quantity of products, as abnormal consumption and prescribing profiles.

3. Key Definitions for Interpretation

Contribution (Ctr):
Participation of a fraction of the whole, to the whole (Atlantic Region or a province), expressed in percentage. The report shows regional and provincial contributions based on volume of transactions or quantity of product (Reg Ctr Vol), (Reg Ctr Qty), (Prov Ctr Vol ) and (Prov Ctr Qty).
Oxycodone-based products:
Drugs listed (21) on Health Canada's Drug Product Database for active drugs, on May 12, 2004. Each product has its own Drug Identification Number (DIN).
Physicians:
Physicians registered with the Medical Licensing Authority of their respective province(s) in Atlantic Canada.
Practitioner:
"Means a person who is registered and entitled under the laws of a province to practice in that province the profession of medicine, dentistry or veterinary medicine, and includes any other person or class of persons prescribed as a practitioner." (Controlled Drugs and Substances Act)
Prescriber:
Practitioner who prescribed oxycodone-based products between January 1 and June 30, 2004, including practitioners without specified prime medical specialty.
Province:
In section 4.0, it is the province of the prescriber's main address. From section 5.0 to the end of the report, it is the province where the transaction occurred.
Quantity of Products:
Refers to tablets and 84 suppositories, but excludes compounded products.
Region or Regional:
Refers to Atlantic Canada and includes all four provinces.
Specialty:
Physicians' prime medical specialty as provided by IMS Health Canada (see Appendix 2). It is marked as "blank" for prescribers for which we were not able to identify their prime medical specialty (465). Please note that PHARM and DDS are professions (Pharmacists and Dentists).
Transaction:
Sales transactions for Oxycodone-based products as presented in sales reports submitted by retail pharmacies of Atlantic Canada. It also includes product transfers between pharmacies, hospitals and pharmacies, or pharmacies and medical clinics. Transaction does not cover compounded products. Please note that a single prescription may generate many sales transactions.

4. Demographics

4.1 Regional and provincial

This section presents highlights showing the regional and provincial distribution of health professionals covered by this project and related volume of transactions.

Table 1: Summary table of the number of practitioners, physicians and prescribers (regional and provincial)
Description Atlantic
CanadaTable 1 footnote 2 		NB NS NL PE Other
ProvincesTable 1 footnote 1		 UA
PopulationTable 1 footnote 3 2,344,202 751,449 938,134 516,875 137,744    
Number of Practitioners (physicians, dentists and veterinarians) 5,531 1,537 2,482 1,177 268 32 35

Number of Physicians

 4,976 1,357 2,316 1,095 208 0 0

Number of Prescribers

 2,867 997 1,042 588 176 31 33
Average Number of Prescribers per 100,000 Inhabitants 122 133 111 114 128    

Table 1 footnotes

Table 1 footnote 1

This refers to other Canadian provinces.

Return to table 1 footnote 1 referrer

Table 1 footnote 2

The column titled Atlantic Canada also includes practitioners from the United States and other Canadian provinces who generated prescriptions filled in Atlantic Canada as reported in sales reports received. This group of practitioners (US and other provinces) includes 64 prescribers who generated 3,045 transactions for oxycodone-based products.

Return to table 1 footnote 2 referrer

Table 1 footnote 3

Statistics Canada Web site, post-census estimates, October 2004.

Return to table 1 footnote 3 referrer

Figure 1 shows that:

  • Nova Scotia has the highest number of prescribers at 1,042 and has the lowest number of prescribers per 100,000 inhabitants at 111, which is lower than the regional average of 122.

  • New Brunswick has the highest number of prescribers per 100,000 inhabitants at 133.

  • Prince Edward Island has the lowest number of prescribers at 176, but the second highest number of prescribers per 100,000 inhabitants at 128, which is close to the Atlantic Canada average of 122.

  • Newfoundland has one of the lowest numbers of prescribers per 100, 000 inhabitants, at 114.

Figure 1: Number of prescribers and prescribers per 100,000 inhabitants, Atlantic Canada

Figure 1: Number of prescribers and prescribers per 100,000 inhabitants, Atlantic Canada

The project's findings confirm that General Practice (GP) and Family Medicine (FM) represent the greatest number of prescribers regionally and provincially (refer to section 6).

Table 2 shows that:

  • Prince Edward Island at 68 has an average volume of transactions per prescriber, 51% greater than the regional average at 45.

  • New Brunswick at 60 has an average volume of transactions per prescriber, 33% greater than the regional average at 45.

  • Newfoundland is close to the average at 46.

  • Nova Scotia at 30 has an average volume of transactions per prescriber, 33% less than the regional average at 45.
Table 2: Summary table of the number of prescribers for General Practice and Family Medicine, and their respective volume of transactions generated
Region and Provinces Prime Medical Specialty Number of Prescribers Volume of Transactions Avg Volume of Transactions per Prescriber
NB FM 302 17,468 58
GP 281 17,235 61
total

583

34,703

60
NS GP 446 15,851 36
FM 258 5,567 22
total

704

21,418

30
NL GP 283 13,686 48
FM 106 4,379 41
total

389

18,065

46
PEI FM 44 3,069 70
GP 45 2,954 66
total

89

6,023

68
ATL GP 1,055 49,730 47
FM 710 30,483 43
total

1,765

80,213

45

5. Volume of Transactions Distributed by Region and Province

5.1 Volume of transactions, total quantity of products, average quantity per transaction and contribution ratios

5.1.1 Regional and provincial

This section presents tables and figures showing the volume of transactions distributed geographically. This section is based on the province where the transaction occurred.

Table 3 shows that:

  • New Brunswick, with 40,458 transactions, represents 44% of the regional volume of transactions (92,538) and 42% (2,824,705) of all tablets made available regionally (6,660,877).
Table 3: Summary table of findings for Atlantic Canada
Province Population Volume of Transactions Quantity of Tablets Transactions per 100 000 Quantity per 100 000 Avg Qty per Transaction Reg Ctr Vol (%) Reg Ctr Qty (%)
NB 751,449 40,458 2,824,705 5,384 375,901 70 44 42
NS 938,143 24,828 2,061,199 2,647 219,713 83 27 31
NL 516,875 19,083 1,152,422 3,692 222,960 60 21 17
PE 137,744 8,169 622,551 5,931 451,962 76 9 9
ATL 2,344,202 92,538 6,660,877 3,948 284,143 72 100 100

5.1.2 Transactions per capita (based on 100,000 inhabitants) for Atlantic Canada

Figure 2 shows that:

  • The average number of transactions per 100,000 inhabitants for Atlantic Canada is 3,948.

  • Prince Edward Island has the highest number of transactions per 100,000 inhabitants at 5,931.

  • Nova Scotia shows the lowest number of transactions per 100,000 inhabitants at 2,647.

Figure 2: Volume of transactions and transactions per 100,000 inhabitants, Atlantic Canada

Figure 2: Volume of transactions and transactions per 100,000 inhabitants, Atlantic Canada

6. Volume of Transactions Distributed by Prime medical Specialty (Top TWO Prime medical Specialties)

6.1 Volume of transactions, total quantity of products and contribution ratios

6.1.1 Regional and provincial

Figure 3 shows that:

  • The Newfoundland and Labrador GP Prime Medical Specialty contributes the most to the provincial volume of transactions. This specialty generates 71.7% of all transactions for oxycodone-based products in the province.

Figure 3: Top two prime medical specialties' provincial contributions in volume of transactions, General Practice and Family Medicine

Figure 3: Top two prime medical specialties' provincial contributions in volume of transactions, General Practice and Family Medicine

Please note that the prime medical specialties of 465 prescribers were not easily identifiable; therefore, they have been excluded from the statistics presented in Figure 3.

7. Volume of Transactions Distributed by Product

7.1 Volume of transactions by product. total quantity of products and contribution ratios

7.1.1 Regional

This section presents a table showing the regional contributions of oxycodone-based products to the volume of transactions and quantity of products for Atlantic Canada.

Table 4: Oxycodone-based products sorted by volume of transactions,
Atlantic Canada
Product Strength (mg) Volume of Transactions Quantity of Products Avg Qty of Products
per Transaction		 Reg Ctr Vol (%) Reg Ctr Qty (%)
Endocet 5 40,406 2,976,218 74 43.7 44.7
Ratio-Oxycocet 5 10,734 792,212 74 11.6 11.9
Percocet 5 8,879 562,108 63 9.6 8.4
Oxycontin-Srt 20 8,649 590,250 68 9.3 8.9
Oxycontin-Srt 40 6,190 416,581 67 6.7 6.3
Oxycontin-Srt 10 5,850 379,607 65 6.3 5.7
Pms-Oxy-Aceta 5 2,536 162,974 64 2.7 2.4
Oxycontin-Srt 80 2,457 195,127 79 2.7 2.9
Oxy-Ir 10 1,596 136,402 85 1.7 2.0
Oxy-Ir 5 1,186 88,328 74 1.3 1.3
Oxy-Ir 20 1,067 105,336 99 1.2 1.6
Endodan 5 993 75,820 77 1.1 1.1
Percocet-Demi 2,5 875 44,504 51 0.9 0.7
Supeudol 10 450 78,348 174 0.5 1.2
Percodan 5 298 21,979 74 0.3 0.3
Ratio-Oxycodan 5 200 20,953 105 0.2 0.3
Supeudol 5 168 13,906 83 0.2 0.2
Percodan-Demi 2,5 3 140 47 0.0 0.0
Supeudol Supp 10 1 84 84    
Total   92,538 6,660,877 72 100 100

7.1.2 Provincial

This section presents tables showing regional and provincial contributions of oxycodone-based products to the volume of transactions and quantity of products for each province. Provinces are presented in descending order of volume of transactions as per Table 3.

Table 5: Oxycodone-based products sorted by volume of transactions,
New Brunswick
Product Strength Volume of Transactions Quantity of Tablets Avg Qty of Tablets per Transaction Prov Ctr Vol (%) Prov Ctr Qty (%) Reg Ctr Vol (%) Reg Ctr Qty (%)
Endocet 5 25,935 1,821,748 70 64.1 64.5 28.0 27.3
Oxycontin-Srt 20 3,579 244,294 68 8.8 8.6 3.9 3.7
Oxycontin-Srt 10 2,707 173,310 64 6.7 6.1 2.9 2.6
Oxycontin-Srt 40 2,569 174,938 68 6.3 6.2 2.8 2.6
Ratio-Oxycocet 5 1,801 113,357 63 4.5 4.0 1.9 1.7
Oxycontin-Srt 80 1,082 77,508 72 2.7 2.7 1.2 1.2
Oxy-Ir 10 615 52,408 85 1.5 1.9 0.7 0.8
Oxy-Ir 5 555 41,072 74 1.4 1.5 0.6 0.6
Percocet 5 445 36,407 82 1.1 1.3 0.5 0.5
Percocet-Demi 2,5 443 18,929 43 1.1 0.7 0.5 0.3
Oxy-Ir 20 297 32,663 110 0.7 1.2 0.3 0.5
Endodan 5 282 20,303 72 0.7 0.7 0.3 0.3
Supeudol 10 48 7,801 163 0.1 0.3 0.1 0.1
Ratio-Oxycodan 5 46 4,755 103 0.1 0.2 0.0 0.1
Supeudol 5 27 2,589 96 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0
Percodan 5 23 1,973 86 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0
Pms-Oxy-Aceta 5 2 530 265 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Percodan-Demi 2,5 2 120 60 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Total   40,458 2,824,705 70 100 100 43.7 42.4
Table 6: Oxycodone-based products sorted by volume of transactions,
Nova Scotia
Product Strength Volume of Transactions Quantity of Tablets Avg Qty of Tablets per Transaction Prov Ctr Vol (%) Prov Ctr Qty (%) Reg Ctr Vol (%) Reg Ctr Qty (%)
Endocet 5 14,246 1,138,518 80 57.4 55.2 15.4 17.1
Oxycontin-Srt 20 2,264 180,229 80 9.1 8.7 2.4 2.7
Oxycontin-Srt 40 1,675 130,900 78 6.7 6.4 1.8 2.0
Oxycontin-Srt 10 1,545 125,260 81 6.2 6.1 1.7 1.9
Ratio-Oxycocet 5 1,057 97,179 92 4.3 4.7 1.1 1.5
Endodan 5 711 55,517 78 2.9 2.7 0.8 0.8
Oxy-Ir 10 636 58,531 92 2.6 2.8 0.7 0.9
Percocet 5 557 53,319 96 2.2 2.6 0.6 0.8
Oxycontin-Srt 80 455 43,486 96 1.8 2.1 0.5 0.7
Oxy-Ir 5 408 32,785 80 1.6 1.6 0.4 0.5
Percocet-Demi 2,5 406 24,473 60 1.6 1.2 0.4 0.4
Oxy-Ir 20 368 39,687 108 1.5 1.9 0.4 0.6
Supeudol 10 301 60,420 201 1.2 2.9 0.3 0.9
Supeudol 5 92 10,242 111 0.4 0.5 0.1 0.2
Percodan 5 63 6,281 100 0.3 0.3 0.1 0.1
Ratio-Oxycodan 5 44 4,372 99 0.2 0.2 0.0 0.1
Total   24,828 2,061,199 83 100 100 26.8 30.9
Table 7: Oxycodone-based products sorted by volume of transactions,
Newfoundland and Labrador
Product Strength Volume of Transactions Quantity of Tablets Avg Qty of Tablets per Transaction Prov Ctr Vol (%) Prov Ctr Qty (%) Reg Ctr Vol (%) Reg Ctr Qty (%)
Percocet 5 7,805 468,080 60 40.9 40.6 8.4 7.0
Pms-Oxy-Aceta 5 2,534 162,444 64 13.3 14.1 2.7 2.4
Oxycontin-Srt 20 1,964 98,590 50 10.3 8.6 2.1 1.5
Ratio-Oxycocet 5 1,836 126,895 69 9.6 11.0 2.0 1.9
Oxycontin-Srt 40 1,685 90,741 54 8.8 7.9 1.8 1.4
Oxycontin-Srt 10 1,178 48,953 42 6.2 4.2 1.3 0.7
Oxycontin-Srt 80 804 63,322 79 4.2 5.5 0.9 1.0
Oxy-Ir 20 399 32,546 82 2.1 2.8 0.4 0.5
Oxy-Ir 10 299 21,565 72 1.6 1.9 0.3 0.3
Percodan 5 208 13,325 64 1.1 1.2 0.2 0.2
Oxy-Ir 5 168 10,491 62 0.9 0.9 0.2 0.2
Supeudol 10 99 9,527 96 0.5 0.8 0.1 0.1
Supeudol 5 48 1,045 22 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.0
Percocet-Demi 2.5 22 1,018 46 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0
Ratio-Oxycodan 5 21 2,292 109 0.1 0.2 0.0 0.0
Endocet 5 11 1,484 135 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0
Supeudol 10 1 84 84 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Percodan-Demi 2.5 1 20 20 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Total   19,083 1,152,422 60 100 100 20.6 17.3
Table 8: Oxycodone-based products sorted by volume of transactions.
Prince Edward Island
Product Strength Volume of Transactions Quantity of Tablets Avg Qty of Tablets per Transaction Prov Ctr Vol (%) Prov Ctr Qty (%) Reg Ctr Vol (%) Reg Ctr Qty (%)
Ratio-Oxycocet 5 6,040 454,781 75 73.9 73.1 6.5 6.8
Oxycontin-Srt 20 842 67,137 80 10.3 10.8 0.9 1.0
Oxycontin-Srt 10 420 32,084 76 5.1 5.2 0.5 0.5
Oxycontin-Srt 40 261 20,002 77 3.2 3.2 0.3 0.3
Endocet 5 214 14,468 68 2.6 2.3 0.2 0.2
Oxycontin-Srt 80 116 10,811 93 1.4 1.7 0.1 0.2
Ratio-Oxycodan 5 89 9,534 107 1.1 1.5 0.1 0.1
Percocet 5 72 4,302 60 0.9 0.7 0.1 0.1
Oxy-Ir 5 55 3,980 72 0.7 0.6 0.1 0.1
Oxy-Ir 10 46 3,898 85 0.6 0.6 0.0 0.1
Percocet-Demi 2.5 4 84 21 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Percodan 5 4 400 100 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.0
Oxy-Ir 20 3 440 147 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.0
Supeudol 10 2 600 300 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.0
Supeudol 5 1 30 30 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Total   8,169 622,551 76 100 100 8.8 9.3

7.2 Volume of transactions of products by prime medical specialty

7.2.1 Regional

This section presents a table showing transactions by product for those prime medical specialties that generate 95% of the regional volume of transactions as presented in Table 3. Please refer to Appendix 2 for the meaning of prime medical specialty acronyms.

Table 9: Volume of transactions of products by prime medical specialty,
Atlantic Canada
Rank P. SPC Endocet Percocet Ratio - Oxycocet Oxycontin - Srt 20 Oxycontin - Srt 40 Oxycontin - Srt 10 Pms - Oxy - Acet Oxycontin - Srt 80 Oxy - Ir 10 Oxy - Ir 20 Oxy - Ir 5 Endodan Percocet - Demi Supeudol 10 Percodan Ratio - Oxycodan Supeudol 5 Percodan - Demi Total
1 GP

19,582

6,274

4,934

4,629

3,500

3,244

1,868

1,303

929

792

683

619

503

367

251

151

100

1

49,730
2 FM

14,534

1,942

3,653

3,099

2,011

2,025

506

1,019

510

230

333

224

221

74

26

21

54

1

30,483
3 Blank

1,628

183

586

142

153

102

37

64

7

5

19

54

45

 

10

10

 

 

3,045
4 ORS

1,392

85

338

159

25

98

20

5

8

1

43

 

5

 

 

 

 

 

2,179
5 ANE

657

38

15

357

345

145

5

11

99

11

40

43

5

 

7

 

 

1

1,779
6 DDS

437

33

417

1

1

28

15

 

 

 

 

21

67

 

2

 

 

 

1,022
  Total

38,230

8,555

9,943

8,387

6,035

5,642

2,451

2,402

1,553

1,039

1,118

961

846

441

296

182

154

3

88,238

7.2.2 Provincial

This section presents tables showing transactions by product for those prime medical specialties that generate 95% of the provincial volume of transactions as presented in Table 3.

Table 10: Volume of transactions of products by prime medical specialty,
New Brunswick
Rank P. SPC Endocet Oxycontin-Srt 20 Oxycontin-Srt 10 Oxycontin-Srt 40 Ratio-Oxycocet Oxycontin-Srt 80 Oxy-Ir 10 Oxy-Ir 5 Percocet-Demi Percocet Oxy-Ir 20 Endodan Supeudol 10 Ratio-Oxycodan Supeudol 5 Percodan Percodan-Demi Pms-Oxy-Acet Total
1 FM

11,164

1,634

1,200

1,139

809

522

260

191

177

167

93

73

16

11

9

1

1

1

17,468
2 GP

10,448

1,614

1,200

1,208

796

505

316

271

200

231

203

152

28

27

14

21

1

 

17,235
3 Blank

1,204

88

58

131

69

33

5

11

21

21

 

29

 

1

 

1

 

 

1,672
4 ORS

1,303

77

64

17

34

 

8

40

5

11

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1,559
5 RES

247

16

3

15

3

1

 

2

4

1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

292
6 GSU

248

1

12

1

8

 

 

 

5

1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

276
  Total

24,614

3,430

2,537

2,511

1,719

1,061

589

515

412

432

296

254

44

39

23

23

2

1

38,502
Table 11: Volume of transactions of products by prime medical specialty,
Nova Scotia
Rank P. SPC Endocet Oxycontin-Srt 20 Oxycontin-Srt 40 Oxycontin-Srt 10 Ratio-Oxycocet Endodan Percocet Oxy-Ir 10 Oxycontin-Srt 80 Oxy-Ir 20 Percocet-Demi Supeudol 10 Oxy-Ir 5 Supeudol 5 Percodan Ratio-Oxycodan Total
1 GP

9,047

1,309

990

982

716

467

407

367

328

290

282

256

247

77

44

42

15,851
2 FM

3,304

545

296

386

257

151

103

166

104

55

44

41

102

10

3

 

5,567
3 ANE

604

334

330

100

13

43

24

91

8

10

5

 

34

 

6

 

1,602
4 Blank

397

12

5

14

29

25

5

1

1

1

21

 

5

 

8

2

526
  total

13,352

2,200

1,621

1,482

1,015

686

539

625

441

356

352

297

388

87

61

44

23,546
Table 12: Volume of transactions of products by prime medical specialty,
Newfoundland and Labrador
Rank P. SPC Percocet Pms-Oxyc-Acet Oxycontin-Srt 20 Ratio-Oxycocet Oxycontin-Srt 40 Oxycontin-Srt 10 Oxycontin-Srt 80 Oxy-Ir 20 Oxy-Ir 10 Percodan Oxy-Ir 5 Supeudol 10 Percocet-Demi Ratio-Oxycodan Supeudol 5 Endocet Percodan-Demi Total
1 GP

5,605

1,868

1,401

1,300

1,195

896

447

298

220

186

139

81

21

17

8

4

 

13,686
2 FM

1,654

505

519

451

441

238

320

82

72

18

18

17

 

2

35

7

 

4,379
  Total

7,259

2,373

1,920

1,751

1,636

1,134

767

380

292

204

157

98

21

19

43

11

0

18,065
Table 13: Volume of transactions of products by prime medical specialty,
Prince Edward Island
Rank P. SPC Ratio-Oxycocet Oxycontin-Srt 20 Oxycontin-Srt 10 Oxycontin-Srt 40 Oxycontin-Srt 80 Endocet Oxy-Ir 5 Percocet Oxy-Ir 10 Ratio-Oxycodan Percodan Supeudol 10 Supeudol 5 Oxy-Ir 20 Percocet-Demi Total
1 FM

2,136

401

201

135

73

59

22

18

12

8

4

 

 

 

 

3,069
2 GP

2,122

305

166

107

23

83

26

31

26

65

 

2

1

1

 

2,958
3 Blank

459

32

22

10

14

27

1

5

1

5

 

 

 

 

3

579
4 IM

522

20

 

 

 

6

 

 

1

8

 

 

 

 

 

557
5 DDS

405

 

 

 

 

21

 

8

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

435
6 ORS

292

71

12

6

4

11

1

7

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

404
  Total

5,936

829

401

258

114

207

50

69

40

86

4

2

1

1

4

8,002

8. Main Highlights

Based on the overall chart listed below, the following are key features:

New Brunswick at 44% contributes the most to the volume of transactions in Atlantic Canada (92,538). It has the highest number of prescribers per 100,000 inhabitants (133) who generate the highest volume of transactions (40,458) with a high average number of transactions per prescriber (41).

Prince Edward Island, with the smallest population, contributes to 9% (8,169) of the volume of transactions in Atlantic Canada. The province has the highest number of transactions per prescriber (46) and the second highest number of prescribers per 100,000 inhabitants at 128.

Newfoundland contributes to 21% of the volume of transactions in Atlantic Canada; this comes almost uniquely from GP and FM physicians who generate 94.6% of the province's volume of transactions.

Nova Scotia, with the largest population and number of prescribers (1,042), contributes to 27% of the volume of transactions in Atlantic Canada. This may be related to the fact that the province has the smallest number of prescribers per 100,000 inhabitants (111), the lowest number of transactions per 100,000 inhabitants (2,647) and the lowest average number of transactions per prescriber (24).

Main Highlights
Items ATL NB NS NL PEI
Population 2,344,202 751,449 938,134 516,875 137,744
Total Number of Prescribers 2,867 997 1,042 588 176
General Practice 1,055 (36.7%) 281(28%) 446 (43%) 283 (48%) 45 (26%)
Family Medicine 710 (25%) 302 (30%) 258 (25%) 106 (18%) 44 (25%)
  61.6% 58.0% 68.0% 66.0% 51.0%
Number of Prescribers per 100,000 Inhabitants 122 133 111 114 128
Total Volume of Transactions 92,538 40,458 24,828 19,083 8,169
General Practice 49,730 (53.7%) 17,468 (43.1%) 15,851 (63.8%) 13,686 (71.7%) 2,954 (37.6%)
Family Medicine 30,483 (32.9%) 17,235 (42.6%) 5,567 (22.4%) 4,378 (22.9%) 3,069 (36.2%)
  86.6% 85.7% 86.2% 94.6% 73.8%
Average Number of Transactions per Prescriber 32 41 24 32 46
General Practice 47 61 36 48 66
Family Medicine 43 58 22 41 70
Volume of Transactions per 100,000 Inhabitants 3,948 5,384 2,647 3,692 5,931
Regional Contribution( in termes of volume) N/A 44% 27% 21% 9%

9. Conclusion

This project is successful in providing stakeholders with accurate data on the volume of sales transactions for oxycodone-based products in Atlantic Canada. Sales reports from 651 retail pharmacies were provided to the Office of Controlled Substances. Reports show a volume of transactions of 92,538, for the first six months of 2004, for Atlantic Canada. Most (86.6%) of the transactions were generated by two prime medical specialties: General Practice (53.7%) and Family Medicine (32.9%). New Brunswick generated 44% of this volume, Nova Scotia 27%, Newfoundland 21% and Prince Edward Island 9%. Prince Edward Island has the highest volume of transactions per 100,000 inhabitants at 5,931, New Brunswick the second at 5,384, then Newfoundland at 3,692 and Nova Scotia at 2,647 transactions per 100,000 inhabitants. This report does not draw any conclusions on the volume of transactions related to products, in order to keep its objectivity and avoid the creation of any apparent bias.

The outcome of this review of sales transactions cannot be used on its own to determine definitive actions. Its purpose was to provide stakeholders with factual information to contribute to their efforts.

Nonetheless, Health Canada is advancing other projects, such as the preparation of a guide for health professionals on the diversion and abuse of narcotic and controlled drugs; a research initiative on the characterization of OxyContin® abusers, which will assist in formulating prevention and treatment actions; and the development of a "problematics paper" on the use and abuse of pharmaceutical products which will be used to identify research priorities. Other projects under Canada's Drug Strategy include the development of national prevention and research agendas on substance use, the Drug Strategy Community Initiatives Fund (DSCIF) and the work of a Federal/Provincial/Territorial Committee on Substance Use and Abuse.

Appendix 1: List of Oxycodone-Based Products

  1. PMS-OXYCODONE - ACETAMINOPHEN (DIN:02245758)

  2. RIVACOCET (02242468)

  3. OXY-IR 5MG (02231934)

  4. OXY-IR 10MG (02240131)

  5. OXY-IR 20M (02240132)

  6. OXYCONTIN - SRT 10MG (02202441)

  7. OXYCONTIN - SRT 20MG (02202468)

  8. OXYCONTIN - SRT 40MG (02202476)

  9. OXYCONTIN - SRT 80MG (02202484)

  10. SUPEUDOL TABLET 5MG (00789739)

  11. SUPEUDOL TAB 10MG (00443948)

  12. SUPEUDOL SUP 10MG (00392480)

  13. SUPEUDOL SUP 20MG (00392472)

  14. RATIO-OXYCOCET (00608165)

  15. RATIO-OXYCODAN (00608157)

  16. PERCOCET (01916475)

  17. PERCOCET-DEMI (01916491)

  18. ENDOCET (01916548)

  19. PERCODAN (01916572)

  20. PERCODAN-DEMI (01916556)

  21. ENDODAN (01916483)

Appendix 2:

List of Prime Medical Specialty Acronyms
Specialty Codes (English) Specialty Code Descriptions (English) Specialty Code Descriptions (French)
ANE Anesthesia Anesthésie
FM Family Medicine Médecine de famille
GP General Practice Omnipratique
GSU General Surgery Chirurgie générale
IM Internal Medicine Médecine interne
ORS Orthopedic Surgery Chirurgie Orthopédique
RES Resident Résident

Source: Intercontinental Marketing Services (IMS), Health Canada

  • Blank: Group of unclassified prescribers in terms of Prime Medical Specialty
  • DDS: Dentists-Prescribers
  • PHARM: Pharmacists (product requested by a pharmacist)
Date Modified: 2008-08-15

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