Thank you to the witnesses for coming today. You made excellent presentations.
I have a lot of questions. They are going to take me way over seven minutes.
Mr. Bishop, your information was fascinating. I'm happy that you gave so many detailed recommendations. I didn't manage to scribble them all down, but I'm sure the analyst has them. They were very specific and very good.
I'd like you to tell us a little more about Suboxone. I'm very familiar with methadone. I have many constituents on methadone, and many of them have terrible experiences. Methadone is very addictive and people often go back to illicit drugs and they end up mixing things. Suboxone is not nearly as addictive.
I'm curious. Do you know how many people are on methadone compared to Suboxone? Do you have a general idea? I could be wrong, but why is methadone so commonly prescribed but Suboxone isn't? Is it the price, or is it that doctors are so familiar with methadone?
In Vancouver we have pharmacies that basically dispense nothing but methadone. It seems to be so readily available, yet I hear people hate it. I've encountered people who have used methadone as pain management and then become very addicted, and some have even died. I'm very curious about Suboxone and the fact that it is much less addictive and how commonly it's used.
Is it correct that it has been withdrawn in the U.S.? Our notes suggest that some formulation of it has been withdrawn. Maybe you could explain that.
Anyway, I'd like to know a little more about the differences between these two drugs.