Officials with Kingston Frontenac Lennox and Addington Public Health say they acted fast on a suspected Xanax issue in a Napanee high school.
Last week, news broke about at least three students either reacting to or overdosing from suspected tainted Xanax. Officials say they aren’t sure exactly what the pill may have been laced with, but suspect it may be fentanyl.
“To me, it was very rapid communication. As soon as we heard from the principal, we were on this,” said Dr. Moore, the Medical Officer of Health.
Over the past two weeks, school officials at Napanee Secondary School say they have heard of instances where students were affected by a counterfeit prescription pill. An alert was posted on the schools’ website, and phone calls were made to parents, but nothing about the tainted Xanax went out to the wider public.
Trish Castagnier is a mother of two students at the school. She says more notice should have been given.
“Younger kids that aren’t in school yet would not know about this, their parents wouldn’t know,” Castagnier told Global News over the phone, citing concerns that she says are shared by other parents. Dr. Moore believes the public was alerted through the media.
Get breaking National news
“Sorry if parents say it’s not enough, but we have been diligent, trying to get this message out consistently,” Moore said.
“What happened was some parents spoke to the press in Napanee and then there was immediate coverage, so we participated in that and used social media.”
This is a different approach than in the past by KFL&A Public Health. Earlier this year, officials sent out an alert about the rise of opioid-related overdoses in the region. This time, they left it up to the school board. Days later, a release was sent out by Napanee OPP, encouraging parents to speak to their kids about the risks of using prescription drugs.
Dr. Moore says their partnerships with agencies like local police, school boards and paramedics are imperative in ensuring that they know what is happening.
“We have a task force that tries to communicate any risks in the community, and we have a very advanced monitoring system that monitors all emergency departments,” said Moore.
Some parents hope the message is put out to a wider audience next time, saying they are “extremely frustrated” with the process.
Comments
Want to discuss? Please read our Commenting Policy first.