Expect a slow uptake of naloxone at pharmacies, chief medical officer says

Ottawa's chief medical officer of health says it's no surprise that some pharmacies are not yet stocking and distributing free naloxone.

CBC News called 30 Ottawa pharmacies on New Year's Eveto see who carried naloxone an injectable opioidoverdose antidote and only about a third stocked the kits.

Pharmacists in Ontario have been allowed to provide free naloxone without a prescription to people with an Ontario health cardsince June.

Dr. Isra Levy told CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning Tuesday that CBC's findings are in line with what Ottawa Public Health has expected.

'I found 1 in 3 pharmacies to be a good number'

"My basic reaction is that this is really what we'd expect, that I found one in three pharmacies to be a good number," Levy said.

When pharmacies in Ottawa first started distributing flu vaccines about three or four years ago, Levy said, only about 35 of the city's150 pharmacies did so in thefirst year.

He did, however, say that Anglican Rev. Monique Stone's trouble finding a kit was regrettable.

She visited four pharmacies and when she finally found a store that stocked the medication. Stone said the pharmacist was hesitant to give her a kit.

"Of course, this doesn't sound like it went smoothly in this particular situation, but if you keep your eye on the bigger picture, as far as we're aware we didn't see a spike of overdoses over the weekend," Levy said.

'We can always communicate better'

He added that about 230 to 240 people have been trained on naloxone by Ottawa Public Health, and the agency estimates it has averted about 90 overdose deaths thus far.

"Could it work better?We can always communicate better ..." he said.

"To some degree it's for me to apologize for that. We have tried very hard to get that information out clearly."

Anyone looking for a list of Ottawa pharmacies that carry naloxone is urged to call theDrug and Alcohol Helplineat1-800-565-8603. More information about naloxone and overdose prevention can be found at stopoverdoseottawa.ca.