Forced treatment on the table for ‘clinical triad’ drug users, B.C. officials say [Video]

When B.C.’s premier announced a new scientific advisor to address some of the province’s most difficult patients to treat, he raised an issue that’s often overlooked: drug overdose survivors.

“Some of those people are badly injured by those overdoses and survive with life-altering brain injuries that affect their ability to function in society,” David Eby told reporters, emphasizing some people are functionally unable to care for themselves.

He’s created a new position for Dr. Daniel Vigo to address a very specific subset of drug users who have brain injuries, mental illness and repeated exposure to toxic drugs – a group Eby said is growing, and one that “addictions doctors are struggling to support.”

Vigo, an associate professor at UBC who’s advised the World Health Organization and lectured at Harvard Medical School, is now tasked with identifying which people meet that “clinical triad” definition and make recommendations on how to address complex needs that often see them struggle with …