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The families of two teenagers who struggled with drug use, one of whom died, are suing the British Columbia and federal governments, alleging that government-supplied, controlled drugs fueled their children’s addiction.
Denise Fenske, whose 17-year-old daughter Amelie North is currently in treatment for addiction, and Greg Sword, whose 14-year-old daughter Kamilah Sword died of an overdose in 2022, are the plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed Wednesday in the Supreme Court of British Columbia.
Amelie and Kamilah were good friends and both started using hydromorphone, sold under the brand name Dilaudid but known on the street as dillies, at the age of 14.
“She was doing dilly’s alone in her room at night,” Fenske told CBC News, speaking near her Coquitlam home. “At that point I knew we were in big trouble.”
The lawsuit alleges that “Kamilah and Amelie relied on the negligence of misrepresentation to begin using the safe drugs, believing them to be safe, and that they relied on the negligence of misrepresentation throughout the duration of their addiction.”
The parents suspect that the Dilaudid comes from the government’s safe supply program and that it is not being sold by people with a prescription, but by street vendors. However, they are not sure.
The lawsuit alleges that the federal and provincial governments failed to monitor the safe supply program and used the terms “safe,” “safe supply,” “safer supply” or “prescribed safer supply” to “motivate” people to use the drugs.
No statement of defense has been filed. The Attorney General’s Office said it had not received the court documents and could not comment on the case.
Hydromorphone is a prescription opioid that is provided to drug users as part of the government’s Safe Delivery Program. This program is aimed at providing controlled medications to separate people from toxic and deadly drugs.
The Safe Delivery Program is supported by provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and former British Columbia coroner Lisa Lapointe. However, the program has come under fire after evidence emerged that some people who are given hydromorphone are also selling it. This is called “diversion.”
The hydromorphone then ends up in the hands of organised criminals, who sell it to young people.
“There have been many addictions created,” she said.
Greg Sword says his motivation for joining the lawsuit is simple.
Sword was told by the BC Coroners Service that Kamilah had cocaine, MDMA and hydromorphone in her system when she died. However, Sword was critical of the coroner’s investigation, saying they had conducted a toxicology report but not an autopsy.
The current30:42The story of a father who lost his teenage daughter to toxic drugs
Kamilah Sword was just 14 when she died of a drug overdose last year. Her father, Greg Sword, tells us about the obstacles he faced in getting Kamilah the help she needed, and why he doesn’t want her death to be in vain. Matt Galloway also asks British Columbia’s Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, Jennifer Whiteside, how her government is dealing with the “terrifying” fact that unregulated drugs are now the leading cause of death among young people in her province.
Both Premier David Eby and Henry have acknowledged that some diversion is occurring. Eby has tasked Dr. Penny Ballem, as special adviser on health, to look into adding a chemical tracker to hydromorphone pills to prevent diversion.
Eby was asked about the safe supply program during a press conference on Wednesday, which he had nothing to say about it.
He did not comment on the lawsuit, but said: “The promise I make to parents when I talk to them, to those who have lost loved ones … is that our government will do everything we can to keep people alive so that they have the opportunity to seek treatment when they have that moment of clarity.”
The “prescription alternatives program” is part of the government’s efforts to prevent overdose deaths, Eby said, as is the expansion of addiction treatment centers.
“There is no doubt that part of the work we are doing and that we must continue to do is to inform young people that there are no safe drugs at the moment.”
The lawsuit also alleges that the free provision of hydromorphone by prescription has led to an increase in opioid prescriptions, opioid hospitalizations, and opioid-related overdoses and deaths in British Columbia.
However, Sonia Furstenau, leader of the Green Party in British Columbia, pointed out that the British Columbia Coroners Service has found no evidence that hydromorphone is causing an increase in overdose deaths or leading to an increase in addiction among young people.
“Safe delivery is a form of treatment,” she said. “It’s part of the whole continuum of treatment that needs to be available to people.”
The case is being filed as a proposed class action lawsuit.
After the claim is filed, a judge must decide whether the case can proceed as a class action lawsuit, allowing other plaintiffs to join the case.
If that happens, British Columbia Conservative MP Elenore Sturko, a staunch critic of the NDP government’s Safe Supply program, says she’s confident other families will join in.
“The more people are harmed by the dangerously labeled safe supply or by people not being protected and warned about the dangers of diverted drugs, the more people would be harmed,” Sturko said.
The allegations have not been proven in court.
