A new report shows half of Ontarians who died of an opioid overdose in the early stages of the pandemic had interacted with the health-care system in the month before their deaths.
And one in four had seen a doctor, gone to an emergency department or been discharged from hospital just a week before death.
Unity Health and the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network released the report today.
Researcher Doctor Tara Gomes says the interactions are missed opportunities to help those who are using opioids.
Gomes and her team had previously found that opioid deaths were up by nearly 80 per cent in the first nine-and-a-half months of the pandemic compared to the same timeframe the year before.
She says the vast majority of those deaths are linked to non-prescription opioids, largely illegal fentanyl.