Yes, Mr. Marston.
Evidence of meeting #10 for Health in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was treatment.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #10 for Health in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was treatment.
A recording is available from Parliament.
5:15 p.m.
NDP
Wayne Marston NDP Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON
I want to be very brief and to the point.
Mr. Young, I certainly appreciate your—
5:15 p.m.
NDP
Wayne Marston NDP Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON
Well, you don't know what I'm going to say. You're getting pretty good if you can figure me out before I even say it.
5:15 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Ben Lobb
Let's try to raise the level of debate here.
No, I'm not pointing at you, Mr. Marston. I'm just saying, go ahead. Sorry.
5:15 p.m.
NDP
Wayne Marston NDP Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON
That is what I'm trying to do. There was something mis-stated here, and I just want to correct the record.
5:15 p.m.
NDP
Wayne Marston NDP Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON
I haven't completed my statement. Then you can judge it.
5:15 p.m.
Conservative
5:15 p.m.
NDP
Wayne Marston NDP Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON
You went ahead talking about our position on marijuana.
5:15 p.m.
NDP
Wayne Marston NDP Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON
Now let me respond to it. It's very simple. Our position is not legalization of marijuana, it's decriminalization. And it has been 40 years since the Le Dain commission studied it. It's as simple as that.
That's all I wanted to say.
5:15 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Ben Lobb
You're correct, Mr. Young. It wasn't a point of order. It was a point of debate.
Ms. Mathyssen, are you prepared?
December 9th, 2013 / 5:15 p.m.
NDP
5:15 p.m.
NDP
Dany Morin NDP Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC
Thank you very much. I have pressing questions.
I was quite surprised and amazed to see some statistics. Probably some of you are aware of them, but in the documents that our analysts have provided for us, it is said that—and I'm going to say it in French—
[...] a study of post-operative pain control after coronary artery bypass grafting found that less than 30% of the ordered dose of pain medication was given, with approximately 50% of patients continuing to report moderate to severe pain one to five days after surgery.
I'm quite surprised to learn about this new piece of information. We have talked a great deal in the past few weeks on this subject, regarding the fact that people are in pain and they need drugs that will relieve their pain, but then in a hospital setting, for people in acute care, either because they've been to the ER or because they had some minor surgery, they do not receive the proper quantity of pain relief medication.
Are any of our witnesses today familiar with this issue? If so, why are hospitals trying to save on drugs to the detriment of patients?
Is anyone aware of that fact?
Madam DeGroote?
5:15 p.m.
Founder and President, Wellbeings Pain Management & Dependency Clinic Inc.
First of all, you must know that I'm not a physician. However, I do know that not all medications work the same for everybody, so something that may work well for me may not work for you, and sometimes it takes a bit of trial and error to find out what is best for a particular patient.
5:15 p.m.
NDP
Dany Morin NDP Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC
Dr. Buckley, Dr. Bromley, are you aware of the fact that some people do not receive the proper quantity of drugs after going to the ER, in the hospital setting?
5:15 p.m.
Professor and Chair, National Pain Centre, McMaster University
Yes. I think I referred to that in my remarks at the beginning. That information is well known, and it's a function of a number of things.
It's a function of belief about the dangers of giving analgesics, although in the setting that you described, that danger is minimized because of the close observation that occurs after cardiac surgery.
It's partly because pain is not routinely assessed. If a researcher comes and asks a patient if he or she has pain, the nurse and physician responsible for caring for the patient may not have done the same thing. So if the nurse has not assessed the patient, if the nurse is not aware that the patient is experiencing pain, the nurse may not deliver the necessary analgesic.
I believe the same study to which you're referring also noted that even when the patients were making their pain known, they did not receive the maximum dose or least-frequent-interval dose, and part of that has to do simply with a lack of awareness of the importance of treating pain. There is an often-said statement that pain never killed anyone, which is actually entirely untrue.
5:15 p.m.
NDP
Dany Morin NDP Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC
If I understand correctly, in your point of view, this study is flawed.
5:15 p.m.
Professor and Chair, National Pain Centre, McMaster University
No, this study is brilliant. The care is flawed.
5:20 p.m.
NDP
Dany Morin NDP Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC
Thank you.
The National Advisory Council on Prescription Drug Misuse has established that seniors were the group most at risk for prescription drug abuse. Since the population is aging, that abuse problem will worsen.
My question is for anyone who may have a solution to suggest. What kind of prevention methods do you think could be used with future seniors, so that they don't end up in the same situation as the current generation of the elderly, who are abusing prescription drugs?
5:20 p.m.
Conservative
