Heidi Wicks

Pharmacy alumnus Mark Barnes (Class of 2001) is more than doing his part to advance practice and improve health care policy in Canada.

He has just been awarded a Canadian Health Network Commitment to Care Award for Disease Management Initiative for his work in addictions treatment.

In 2013, Mr. Barnes spearheaded an initiative to control the abuse of fentanyl – a powerful narcotic used to treat severe chronic pain.

The drug had quickly replaced the discontinued OxyContin as the prescription narcotic-turned-street-drug of choice.

“It’s as powerful or more powerful as heroin, and as with oxycodone products, fentanyl has presented a challenge for police and health professionals to manage because it’s legally available with a prescription,” he explained to CBC last year.

Mr. Barnes believes that sometimes the solution is in controlling access, and that pharmacists can help.

“I started a fentanyl return program in 2012 at my pharmacy,” he said. “I just started asking my patients to return the patches before I filled their next prescription, and started educating them that this is a very dangerous drug and that what’s left in the package [after dosage] can be used and abused.”

Safe disposal to prevent risk

In addition to drug abuse, the initiative addressed another dangerous issue amongst pharmacists – their risk of being a target for dealers.

“I’m a target in my area so I want it out of my hands. I destroy the patches. I put them in a bucket and pour alcohol on them, cut them and get rid of them. But there’s no real accountability among pharmacies as to what they’re doing with those things.”

The fentanyl patch return program is now becoming a policy. It has been initiated in several regions of Ontario and roughly 150 pharmacies, was introduced at the House of Assembly in Ontario with no votes against it. The bill is now being reviewed by the Ontario Minister of Health, and will soon be law.

Mr. Barnes felt honoured to be recognized alongside many great pharmacy stories from across the country.

But he described his School of Pharmacy Alumni Achievement Award, received this September, as one of the most overwhelming events he has ever experienced.

“Under the influence of Dr. [Linda] Hensman, the School taught me to be a critical thinker and a problem solver, and to not just spit out drug information but use my knowledge to apply therapeutics effectively to improve patients outcomes,” he recalled.

“During one SPE (Structured Practice Experience) placement at the ICU in the Health Sciences Centre, my preceptor, Dr. Lisa Bishop, showed me what pharmacists could bring to the table in a clinical situation and as a member of a multi-disciplinary team. That is where and when I fell in love with the profession.”