Vol. 6, Issue 22
‘Help us save that life’
Free of Charge
Showing pride
Thursday, June 6, 2019
Cancer study flawed?
Medical officer, researcher,
Residents urged to carry life-saving Narcan kits amid
at odds over new study
opioid crisis CATHY DOBSON THE JOURNAL
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ith opioid abuse escalating in Sarnia, those on the front line are urging residents to have a life-saving Narcan kit and know how to use it. “Overdoses are happening on our streets every day and we need people calling to tell us,” Sarnia Police Sgt. John Pearce said at a unique public forum that attracted more than 100 people last week. Pearce heads Sarnia’s drug unit. “These people are unconscious and they will die within two to five minutes if you don’t get to them,” said Pearce, who heads Sarnia’s drug unit. “Timing is critical.” That’s why he and other panelists want as many as possible to be equipped with a free Narcan kit. It contains naloxone hydrochloride in the form of a nasal spray that temporarily blocks opioid effects. Sarnia’s opioid problem may have started with prescription drugs but pharmaceutical drugs are not the issue now, said Pearce. Continued on 4
THREE-YEAR-OLD FOREST MACUMBER claps as the Pride and Transgender flags are raised at Paul Blundy Park on May 31. About 200 supporters attended the Sarnia waterfront event, the result of a May 6 city council decision declaring June a month of Pride in Sarnia. TROY SHANTZ The Journal
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TROY SHANTZ THE JOURNAL
ambton’s Medical Officer of Health stands by his criticism of a study published last week citing alarming rates of a specific type of leukemia in Sarnia, pointing to flawed methodology in the report. “Poorly conducted studies, such as this one, cause significant harm to the public,” Dr. Sudit Ranade stated in an email to researchers and reporters late last week. He’s responding to the study, which, led by Dr. Ivan Litvinov of McGill University and published in the medical journal, Cancer, reveals clusters of disease in Sarnia and other industrial cities – specifically the blood cancer known as acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Rates of AML were “significantly higher” in Sarnia, including neighbourhoods in the city’s north end and Point Edward, which were more than three times the national average. Continued on 2