P.E.I. has 1 new confirmed fentanyl death, another possible: Morrison

Prince Edward Island has seen one confirmed death related to a fentanyl overdose since April, and another death is potentially related to the same powerful opioid drug, Dr. Heather Morrison has told CBC News. 

The province's chief public health officer says she is aware of seven other opioid-related overdoses in the province between April and June that have not resulted in death, and five of those involved fentanyl.  

The confirmed fentanyl death involved a woman in her 20s. 

Officials are still waiting for the toxicology results on the second death, so that case remains open. Coroners' reports can take 12 to 18 months to complete.

At a midday briefing Thursday, Morrison said she had been "having ongoing conversations about whether supervised injection sites is something to look at."

Meanwhile, PEERS Alliance in Charlottetown is working on plans for a pilot project that might involve a hotline for drug users. It's still in the early stages, but the theory is people would call in before they use a drug, and the person who answers the hotline phone would stay on the line long enough to make sure the user hasn't gone into distress from the dose. 

Morrison has sent a note to family doctors, nurse practitioners and others at Health PEI alerting them to the recent ODs, and asking that they order tests for fentanyl if they suspect an overdose.

Morrison issued a public health alert on May 8, after three overdoses in one day were linked to the use of fentanyl.

In early June, when Morrison gave details of five overdoses, she said the victims were all using either heroin or cocaine that contained fentanyl, a powerful and sometimes deadly type of opioid. 

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