London police chief urged to ‘set record straight’ on safe supply programs

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The jump in opioid pills hitting London’s streets started when several pharmacies began dispensing them, the health unit says, a finding that suggests federal Conservatives and other critics targeting the older Safer Opioid Supply (SOS) program are missing the mark.

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“There was a notable increase in hydromorphone prescribing from 2023 onward. There was not a significant expansion in the London InterCommunity Health Centre (SOS program) at that time,” Alex Summers, chief medical officer of health for Middlesex-London, said.

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“We saw a broader expansion of other safer supply programs in the region around that time, which likely led to the increase in hydromorphone,” he said.

It’s difficult to make a direct correlation between the expansion of other prescribers and the jump in hydromorphone being diverted to the streets, Summers said.

But the SOS program has supports that “we anticipate are the most successful in terms of comprehensively dealing with people’s health as well as potentially limiting diversion,” he said.

His comments come in the wake of renewed attention over safe supply after public testimony Tuesday in Ottawa by London police Chief Thai Truong, a response to that testimony from the federal Conservatives, and a CBC national story suggesting Truong was speaking only about the SOS program.

Safer opioid supply provides pharmaceutical-grade opioids, usually hydromorphone in the form of Dilaudid pills, to people struggling with addiction. The prescribed pills are safer than the unknown mixture of deadlier fentanyl and other chemicals people buy on the streets.

London’s SOS program began in 2016 and has grown to about 200 patients, who also get medical care from a team led by family physician Andrea Sereda.

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Studies have shown her patients experience improved health and quality of life, and fewer overdoses, hospital visits and police interactions.

But in the past two years, safer supply has come under attack by Conservative politicians federally and provincially as part of a larger war waged on harm-reduction measures.

Critics and Conservative politicians argue safe supply programs and safe consumption sites fuel addiction and because the pills are diverted, sold and traded on the street, also fuel the illicit drug trade. More than 45,000 Canadians have died from opioid-related harms during the past decade.

In the summer, Truong held a news conference to highlight the results of a six-month drug investigation and the diversion of the Dilaudid pills in London.

More than 30,000 hydromorphone tablets, roughly half of them Dilaudid pills from safe supply, were seized in 2023, police said.

That’s a huge jump from 2019 when police seized about 850 tablets of hydromorphone, with roughly 10 per cent the Dilaudid pills provided by safe supply, police said.

On Tuesday, Truong appeared before Parliament’s standing committee on health, where he repeated police statistics and reiterated that diversion remains a concern in London.

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He referenced “the safe supply program” in his comments and spoke about diversion challenges at the SOS program specifically, as well as “safe supply” in general. Truong did say the problem became noticeable last year.

His comments were followed by attacks on safe supply by Conservatives and their supporters.

A national CBC story about the testimony focused on “the ‘serious challenges’ brought on by the Safer Opioid Supply (SOS) program that’s been operating in London since 2016.”

SOS and InterCommunity Health Centre doctor Sereda called on Truong Wednesday to help clear up any media misconceptions arising from his testimony.

“Chief Truong’s testimony was widely misconstrued in the media and with political actors who are seeking to end harm-reduction programs across the country,” she said.

“What the media failed to discuss was the fact that there are multiple safe supply programs in the city beyond the health centre, and that the other safe supply programs are for-profit, virtual, safe supply clinics that do not have the oversight and depth of patient engagement that is present at the health centre. I know we can rely on the chief to set the record straight.”

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Virtual supply clinics are pharmacies that dispense hydromorphone prescribed by a doctor who has had a virtual appointment with a patient. It’s not known how many virtual safe supply clinics there are in London.

Health unit data show that only 25 per cent of Londoners receiving safer opioids get them from her program, Sereda said

Sereda said she’s also seeking clarification from Truong about his testimony regarding vulnerable women being forced to join safer supply programs.

Conservative MP Laila Goodridge (Fort McMurray – Cold Lake) told Truong a London doctor, Sharon Koivu, earlier testified “patients who were vulnerable women were being pressured to secure safe supply and then basically being pimped out for these drugs.”

“That is information that we have as well,” Truong said.

Goodridge later tweeted Truong confirmed women were being trafficked for their “government supplied opioids.”

Sereda began the SOS program by helping a handful of survivor sex workers, and said she’d like to see the evidence or data Truong has about women being trafficked in order to help.

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“I am deeply committed to the safety of all women in the City of London,” she said.

The London Free Press asked London police for a clarification of Truong’s comments regarding safe supply and trafficking of women involved in safe supply.

“Unfortunately, the chief is not able to accommodate interviews at this time,” a spokesperson emailed.

London police, the health unit, and the InterCommunity Health Centre are among the partners in a drug and alcohol committee studying diversion protocols and how to work with private pharmacies that prescribe safe supply.

“It’s important to recognize that not all safer supply programs operate in the same way, and that we still have to do work to understand how best to administer safer supply to ensure that diversion doesn’t happen, because diversion does need to be prevented,” Summers said. “Diversion is a really key issue that we need to address.”

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