The family of Lee Earnshaw wants to see action being taken after an inquest into his death presented several recommendations on how to improve access to addictions treatment in Manitoba.
Earnshaw died in 2021, at the age of 42, after a struggle with an opioid addiction. His family says on at least five occasions he tried to access help through rapid access to addiction medicine, or RAAM clinics, but was turned away each time.
Earnshaw’s story triggered an inquest into the circumstances surrounding his death. This fall, Manitoba provincial court Associate Chief Judge Tracey Lord presented eight recommendations on ways to improve access to addictions treatment in Manitoba, including increasing the number of RAAM clinics and available hours and expanding withdrawal treatment beds.
Carol Packer, Earnshaw’s sister, welcomes the recommendations, but says nearly two months after the report was released, she hasn’t heard what action is being taken.
“There should be accountability — timelines, transparency, action. The public has the right to know what’s happening,” Packer told Global News.
“Bottom line, recommendations don’t save lives unless we start implementing them.”
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The inquest recommendations also included increasing access to opioid replacement therapy (ORT)-prescribing physicians and micro-dosing.
“It is recommended that incentives be provided to those in medical school to specialize in addiction treatment and that incentives be provided to primary care physicians to include ORT as part of their regular practice,” Lord wrote in the report.
“This would provide additional avenues for access to treatment outside of team-based clinics such as RAAM, and reduce the time spent at RAAM clinics for follow-up appointments.”
The report also recommended expanding treatment facilities throughout the province, introducing multi-phase facilities that combine all addiction-related services, flexible treatment models and financial coverage for addictions medicine.
“Many of those who present at RAAM clinics may not be in a position to pay for ORT, have insurance plans, or proof they qualify due to their status,” the report stated. “It is recommended that provincial health care provide coverage for ORT to those who do not have any source of financial coverage from some other avenue.”
In an emailed statement to Global News, Housing, Addictions and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith said Earnshaw’s death is a tragedy that happens far too often in Manitoba communities, and says some of the recommendations are steps the government is already taking.
“We hope that the Earnshaw family can receive some measure of comfort in that many of the recommendations from the inquest are steps our government has already taken, including expanding RAAM Clinics, expanding treatment facilities by adding 800 treatment spaces, and placing dedicated community outreach services at the new protective care centre where they are accessible to everyone who passes through the facility,” the statement read.
“We know there is still significant work to be done, which is why our government is working towards opening a supervised consumption site, which research has shown significantly reduces overdose deaths.”
Packer is hoping each of the specific inquest recommendations will be addressed, in hopes of preventing others from having the same outcome as her brother.
“Had they been addressed, he might not have been turned away, and it might have been a different story. We might have Lee, and it could have been a better outcome,” Packer said.
“But now we have an opportunity for other families, other people who are suffering, and we need to act quickly because it is a life and death situation.”
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