Session: 38:2
Date: 10-May-2007

PRESCRIPTION MONITORING ACT, 2007

Ms. Laurie Scott (Haliburton-Victoria-Brock): I'm pleased to have the opportunity to speak to Bill 108, the Prescription Monitoring Act, 2007, brought forward by my colleague from London-Fanshawe. He spoke quite passionately about the need for more awareness when he introduced the bill. It's nice to have private members' time on Thursday mornings so that we can have some non-partisan discussions and issues, and have more public debate and more awareness of situations out there, like prescription monitoring for certain drugs.

I want to thank the families who are in the gallery and who've been touched by the tragedy of losing someone to a prescription narcotic overdose. I want to have them stand and acknowledge that they're here today.

Applause.

Ms. Scott: They have been tireless in trying to bring this problem to the attention of legislators, to get the rules changed and to talk with all the stakeholders.

For some of you who don't know-I guess some in the gallery know-I was a nurse for 20 years before I had the opportunity to be elected as the member for Haliburton-Victoria-Brock-

Mr. Jeff Leal (Peterborough): And an excellent nurse too.

Ms. Scott: Thank you to the member from Peterborough for the compliment.

You do see things first-hand as a nurse-problems-and we say, "What can we do to make this better? This system is not right. We have to be able to protect people in a better way."

The articles that were in the Star-I'm going to mention one from the Toronto Star from April 24 and part of one from April 25. They describe-I know the family members are present in the gallery-the situation that occurred in the family, how they knew there was something wrong in the system, and how they couldn't get access to correct it and rectify it so that other families didn't go through it. It's a very tragic story-a young man who was initially treated for kidney stones and then started taking medication. It's described here in the Toronto Star. It has pharmacy records that show he was taking a plethora of pills-Valium, Oxycocet, Endocet, Dilaudid, anti-depressants and even Ritalin-all prescribed by a doctor. More than 10,000 pills over 14 months-it's in the article-were prescribed.

So I think we need to highlight the seriousness and how things can just get out of hand. This young man went in for kidney stones and was over-prescribed narcotic medications. They're not just habit-forming; they're highly addictive. As I talk to the families and how there's not enough awareness of how highly addictive these medications can be-just the information they're given isn't correct. They aren't aware. They love their family members, and their family members aren't aware that this is highly addictive. And once they get on them, once they realize that an addiction has formed, there aren't enough resources, clinics or help. Through just the purpose of going in for medications for kidney stones and how that evolved, that young man ended up losing his life. That should not have happened; it did happen. His family has worked tirelessly to bring this issue forward.

We all collectively-there have been many, many stakeholders mentioned here today that are willing: the Ontario Medical Association, the College of Pharmacists, physicians and surgeons, dental surgeons and nurses-need to get in the loop, as we say; we all need to be on the same page. We should hear from the families of these victims of instances that have not happened.

When you think that this young man has been taken from us, and the other family members who were lost because of over-prescription-there's the College of Physicians and Surgeons; I know they're there, and I know that situation specifically has been dealt with, but what else is going on that we don't know about? Patients who go in for symptoms don't have the knowledge of medications or what they're being prescribed for, so we have to do a better job of informing the families, the patients, of what these medications are composed of, how highly addictive-not just habit-forming; sometimes the words "habit-forming," I'm told, are in there, but they are highly addictive. Unless we make them aware-there is certainly, I know, in the hospitals, short-time use of some narcotics, but they're monitored in the system, and it's for short-term, it's for pain relief until they can get through the worst of the healing.

When physicians can over-prescribe to the extent that they do, I think it speaks to the fact that we have to have better checks in the system. It was mentioned earlier about eHealth, electronic medical records. That's been in the papers a lot. But what we're trying to establish here is communication between doctors and pharmacies of patient records. The privacy issue, certainly, we acknowledge and are working with. But in the hospital setting, when I was in emergency-when they come in, and 25% of the reason they come in is related to medications, that's a red flag for all of us. I don't think any levels of government have moved quickly enough to establish the information sharing that is needed to protect patients who come in. That's big hole in our system that we need to address.

I want to thank the member from London-Fanshawe for bringing this forward, for this debate that we're having this morning. The families-I know it's very hard for you to come here and to relive some experiences, but I just want to say thank you very much for coming and for your tireless efforts. Thank you.

SIGN LANGUAGE IN SCHOOLS

Ms. Laurie Scott (Haliburton-Victoria-Brock): I am pleased to rise in the House today to draw your attention to the issues surrounding the education of those who are deaf, deafened or hard of hearing.

On February 28 of this year, I had the opportunity to attend a community forum on deaf education, hosted by the Ontario Association of the Deaf. There were over 450 concerned parents and members of the deaf community who attended this event, including representatives from my riding of Haliburton-Victoria-Brock. They were passionately pleading with the McGuinty government to listen to their concerns.

This Friday, May 11, at 9 a.m., the Ontario Association of the Deaf is holding a rally here at Queen's Park to show support for deaf children's rights to American Sign Language education in Ontario.

The deaf community has stressed that the lack of adequate American Sign Language instruction in our schools is a primary concern among parents of deaf children. The association has stated that the creation of minimum standards for the use of sign language in our schools is a necessary step to ensure that deaf students are receiving an adequate education.

We all know that access to quality education is the key to a positive, productive future for these students and all students in Ontario.

The Ontario Association of the Deaf is calling on the Ministry of Education to create minimum standards for the sign language instruction. OAD stresses the need for this government to recognize that some students don't succeed in spoken language programs and a transition policy needs to be put in place for those students so they will have access to adequate sign language instruction. Let's ensure that all those who are deaf, deafened and hard of hearing have the adequate education to allow them to reach their full potential.

Ms. Laurie Scott (Haliburton-Victoria-Brock): On a point of order, Mr. Speaker: I draw your attention to the parents of page Marissa, who are in the gallery with us today: Mark and Martha Hendrikx from Durham region.

INDEPENDENT POLICE REVIEW ACT, 2007

Ms. Laurie Scott (Haliburton-Victoria-Brock): I'm pleased to provide some comments today on Bill 103, An Act to establish an Independent Police Review Director and create a new public complaints process by amending the Police Services Act.

I want to also commend all the police officers we have in my riding. It's a large riding and they do a great job on a large geographical basis.

It was mentioned about Tom Symons today-a very honourable gentleman whom I've known over the years-and his great contribution to Trent University.

The speaker before me, the member from Simcoe-Grey, mentioned access to justice. I know that many of us in our communities have had the Ontario Bar Association-we've co-hosted with them-to do town halls and to hear about the problems with access to justice. A lot of points were highlighted there. Legal aid was brought up. There are a lot of community services-mental health, crown attorneys, a lot of different community groups-that came forward and highlighted the fact that there are not enough justices of the peace out there, and that is blocking access to justice. The system is so complex.

This bill is brought forward. I know that when it was originally introduced in April of last year, our leader John Tory commented in the Windsor Star that, "The police, in the vast majority of cases, at all times and all places, have been doing a good job. Most of the public are satisfied with the way in which these matters are resolved."

So, we're just wondering if this is another level of bureaucracy. We certainly all want checks and balances, but for the majority of their part, the police do a good job.

I want to say that I have my Senators pin on, and we recognize Mike Fisher from Peterborough. Go,Sens, go.