Prescribed Opioids
Saskatchewan Prescriptions 2016
- Fentanyl
- Hydromorphone
- Fentanyl
- Hydromorphone
HYDROMORPHONE
THE SILENT KILLER
SEMI-SYNTHETIC, SCHEDULE II OPIOID DERIVED FROM MORPHINE
POPULAR BRAND NAME: DILAUDID
KNOWN ON THE STREETS AS DILLIES, HYDRO, DUST, JUICE, SMACK
While fentanyl deaths make the news, fewer people are aware of the widespread prescribing and abuse of hydromorphone in Saskatchewan. The number of hydromorphone prescriptions in Saskatchewan increased almost 25 per cent from 2012 to 2016, while prescription numbers for other opioids remained nearly the same.
Saskatchewan Opioid-Related Deaths 2014 to 2017
- Fentanyl
- Hydromorphone
- Morphine
- Fentanyl
- Hydromorphone
- Morphine
9mg hydromorphone pill

The Prescription Review Program
The Prescription Review Program is operated by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan. The monitoring system is intended to track drugs that are likely to be misused. “The primary approach [to punishment] will be an educational one to try to assist the physician to ensure that they’re prescribing appropriately,” says legal counsel and associate registrar Bryan Salte. “If that fails, then we have to deal with it in a more aggressive fashion, dealing with it as an issue of potential discipline.”

The PIP System
The Pharmaceutical Information Program, or the PIP System, is operated by the College of Pharmacy Professionals. The system is a province-wide database of patient profiles for all pharmacists to access. However, in-hospital patients and long term care facilities are not monitored.
