Mr. Speaker, I would like to present this petition with regard to fibromyalgia. The petitioner, Diana Khbeis, is from Mississauga.
According to the March 2017 health report from Statistics Canada, an estimated 2% of Canadian adults have fibromyalgia. In 2014, these sufferers saw their family doctors three times more than non-sufferers, were referred to specialists twice as much and, concernedly, approximately 40% of them did not have a job.
The petition being presented today requests that the government study the classification of fibromyalgia as a disease of the nervous system and not that of the musculoskeletal system in the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems. If classified as a neurological disease, there is potential to unburden the health care system with unnecessary specialist referrals and reduced prescription of painkillers. This is a potential opportunity to relieve the health care system and not contribute to the opioid epidemic.