How the pandemic worsened Canada’s opioid crisis
Evaluating the link between the Covid-19 pandemic and opioid overdoses, as governments turn their attention to the role of opioid manufacturers (1,270 words, 6 minutes)
NPC Healthbiz Weekly is presented to you with support from Impres, Canada’s Next Generation Commercial Partner
The federal government is now taking legal steps to hold drug manufacturers responsible for their role in the opioid crisis. However, some experts believe that the government inadvertently helped fuel the crisis through Canada Emergency Response Benefit [CERB] payments. These payments provided financial support to Canadians directly impacted by Covid-19. Terry Lake, a former B.C. health minister, said in an interview with Global News that “the increase in money in the system may be a factor” for the rising opioid overdoses.
Lake explained: “Vulnerable clients all of a sudden have a lot of money. This may be fueling the increase in toxic drug use and leading to overdose deaths.” He added that he had seen no public evidence of action by federal or provincial governments on his criticisms of the CERB program.
During the first year of the pandemic, according to the Government of Canada, there was a 96% increase in opioid toxicity deaths (7,362 deaths) compared to the year before (3,747 deaths). The Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction [CCSA] conducted interviews with opioid users to record the negative impacts of the pandemic on their well-being. These include:
Disrupted in-person healthcare services due to isolation requirements, such as treatment facilities and therapy relied on by recovering patients.
Worsening of mental health caused by lack of social interaction, leading to users relapsing.
Higher risk of contracting or developing complications from Covid-19 because of generally poorer health, compromised immunity, or other underlying health problems.
Harvard professor Dr. Howard Koh summarizes the pandemic’s impact on the opioid crisis in an interview on the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health website: “The pandemic has both masked and amplified [the opioid] crisis. Rising death trends are linked to drivers such as the anxiety and isolation of Covid-19, as well as continued lack of access to quality care and prevention. The crisis seems unchecked.”
While social distancing requirements during Covid have been linked to increased overdoses, according to Dr. Koh, opioid manufacturers and drug regulators also share responsibility. He says the crisis “represents a multi-system failure of regulation.”
“OxyContin approval is one example—Purdue Pharma was later shown to have presented a fraudulent description of the drug as less addictive than other opioids,” Dr. Koh said.
Regarding regulatory practices, he added: “Post-approval, it’s usually left up to the industry—not regulators—to educate and advise prescribers on how to evaluate and mitigate risk.”
Purdue Pharma recently agreed to a Cdn$150 million settlement in Canada. British Columbia alleged that opioid manufacturers, distributors, and consultants engaged in deceptive marketing practices to increase sales, resulting in increased rates of addiction and overdose. David Eby, the attorney general of B.C., said: “We are committed to holding corporations and others accountable for acts of alleged wrongdoing committed in the manufacturing and distribution of opioid products.”
The settlement is the first of its kind and the highest award for a governmental health claim in a Canadian court. It may be a sign that litigation will be the tool used to hold companies accountable for their opioid marketing practices in the future.
THIS WEEK 09/01/22
The U.S. FDA has approved Sanofi’s olipudase alfa-rpcp (Xenpozyme) for the treatment of non-central nervous system (non-CNS) manifestations of acid sphingomyelinase deficiency (ASMD) in adult and pediatric patients.
Novartis announced that Health Canada approved asciminib (Scemblix) for the treatment of Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia (Ph+ CML) in adult patients in chronic phase previously treated with at least two tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs).
JAMP Pharma has recalled one product lot of atorvastatin tablets, 40 mg, 100-format (lot D10776B) at the retail level (type 1 recall). The recall is a voluntary precaution, due to a possible mislabelling of a few bottles in the lot.
Roche Canada reported that the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH) Canadian Drug Expert Committee (CDEC) recommended faricimab injection (Vabysmo) for public reimbursement. The product treats neovascular (wet) age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) in adult patients.
LISTEN NOW
In season seven of the NPC Podcast, Michael Stone, General Manager for Canada of Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, talks about taking on a leadership role during the pandemic, attracting younger, tech-savvy talent and the relevance of an education degree in pharma. Hear him in conversation with podcast hosts Mitch Shannon, Jim Shea and Mark McElwain.
CANADIAN HEALTHCARE MARKETING HALL OF FAME
The Canadian Healthcare Marketing Hall of Fame awards were established in 2002 to honour healthcare marketers who have contributed to our vocation and inspire others.
More than 100 honourees have been selected during the past 18 years. In the selection committee’s view, they represent a cross-section of the qualities that make our business unique and fulfilling. NPC Healthbiz Weekly will acknowledge one past Hall of Fame Honoree each week.
2003 Inductee
Jimmy Ghadiali
Montreal
Editor’s note: Jimmy is now Managing Partner at SimteXX Pharma Inc.
After 30 years in the pharmaceutical industry, Jimmy Ghadiali credits flexibility for his drug biz longevity. It’s this adaptability, he says, that has kept him afloat during downsizings and mergers and that helped him cope with the culture shock of starting over in Canada after leaving his native Bombay in the early 1950s.
As a newcomer with a foreign accent, landing a job in the pharma industry was no easy feat for the greenhorn drug rep who’d left a job with Hoechst in India to emigrate here. But Ghadiali pursued his goal, scoping out opportunities by going to the local pharmacy in Winnipeg to see who the Hoechst rep was. Despite having landed an interview with the company, he was disappointed to learn that there were no available openings and went to work as an encyclopedia salesman. Within a year, however, Roussel enlisted him as a rep for the Winnipeg and northern Manitoba territories.
Ghadiali admits that he wasn’t prepared for his next surprise. As a young sales rep in Bombay, he was accustomed to making calls on a bicycle. “When I first got my job [with Hoechst in Canada] I had no idea I would be getting a company car. The guy said ‘Would you prefer a Ford or a GM?’ and I said, ‘Whoa, you mean I don’t have to pedal around anymore?’"
While working through the ranks, Ghadiali earned his stripes as district manager within a year. Then it was on to national sales training manager, product manager, and national director of sales in the hospital division of Hoechst Roussel. Subsequent promotions resulted in a job as commercial director of hospital products, and in 2000, he was named National Sales Director, specialty therapeutics for what is now Aventis Pharma.
Ghadiali, who now oversees eight district managers and 65 hospital reps in four divisions, including cardiology, hematology, diabetes, oncology, and rheumatology/infectious diseases, laments that changes in the industry are making things harder and harder for managers.
“Going through the mergers, I realized that I did well because I kept up-to-date by going to the medical conferences and at the same time [maintaining] customer focus. I find that people today are losing the customer focus because of computers and e-mail, and they don’t want to leave the office. My advice to my managers is that they get out there with their reps because that is the only thing that is going to help them know what is going on in the medical community.”
Ghadiali asserts that keeping employees motivated should be every manager’s mandate. There are lots of books about motivation, but, “nobody has ever written a book on how not to demotivate people,” he says. Recognizing accomplishment is the “ultimate compliment,” says Ghadiali adding, “This Hall of Fame award came as a surprise. It is nice when you get accolades within your own organization, but this is coming from outside, and this is the ultimate form of recognition for me.”
Register now for tomorrow’s NPC End-of-Summer Webinar on Sept. 7 at 11:00 a.m
As we wrap up the summer of 2022 and new challenges emerge, the National Pharmaceutical Congress invites you to our End-of-Summer webinar on Sept. 7: “With Covid in the Rear-View: The Way We Live Now.” Speakers include Eileen McMahon of Torys LLP, Mark Smithyes, MBA, and Niki Papaiannou of Niki, Inc. Ben Parry of The Pangaea Group and Mitch Shannon of Chronicle Companies will share moderating duties.
The event will also provide a preview of the 16th annual NPC, which will be return on Nov. 2 at the Mississauga Convention Centre.
The last NPC webinar was attended by more than 250 pharma industry delegates, so register today before all spaces are filled. The event is free. See you in September. Register at this link: https://lnkd.in/g5pPFTYg
NEXT WEEK
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