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

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.