Scientific advisor to develop new tools to address toxic drug crisis

The provincial government has hired an advisor to oversee complex care for treating people with drug addictions.

Dr. Daniel Vigo is B.C.’s new chief scientific advisor for psychiatry, toxic drugs and concurrent disorders.

He is tasked with working across disciplines and with numerous partners to improve care for this group. His work will include analyzing the mental health and addictions treatment services currently in place in B.C., review data and best practices, and examine other jurisdictions to see what methods are being used to successfully treat people and how it could be implemented in the province.

“As the toxic-drug crisis changes, we’re facing new challenges and grappling with a growing group of people who are very sick and struggling in our streets and emergency rooms. The current situation is not working for these people and it’s not working for our communities,” Premier David Eby said.

“We’re taking action, working with Dr. Vigo, to develop new tools to help this very specific group of people so that they get the help that they need, and our communities stay safe, healthy and welcoming for everyone.”

Findings and recommendations from Vigo will be provided to the province on an ongoing basis so the government can adopt or revise policies to provide complex care needs to people struggling with addiction and mental health issues, including brain injury.

“There’s an extremely high prevalence of brain injury in overdose survivors. In fact, at its most severe, half of survivors die in the immediate future and another third in the near future,” Vigo said.

“For those who survive, the resulting clinical triad presents unique challenges in patient engagement and service provision, from prevention to tertiary care and secure community housing. My office’s mandate is to access all relevant data, develop centralized analysis and interpretation, and provide ongoing recommendations to improve and evaluate our health-system response.”

Data from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control shows a total of 52,227 suspected drug poisoning events had been recorded across the province since 2015, and that 41,401 of those poisonings were non-fatal.

“We are in a new and increasingly challenging phase of the toxic-drug crisis,” Jennifer Whiteside, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, said.

“Synthetic opioids are significantly more powerful, dangerous and unpredictable than they were even 10 years ago. There are people who are suffering from opioid use disorder and concurrent mental illness, who have now acquired brain injury from multiple overdoses and struggle to navigate life and the health-care system. Dr. Vigo’s work will help us find way to help people who need it the most.”

Vigo, who is originally from Argentina, brings a lot of experience into his new role.

He holds university degrees in clinical psychology, medicine, psychiatry and public health, as well as post-doctoral fellowships in psychiatry from Columbia University and the University of British Columbia.

He is a psychiatrist, psychologist and public-health specialist leading the Mental Health Systems and Services Lab at the University of British Columbia, where he works for the department of psychiatry and the School of Population and Public Health.

Vigo also holds multiple appointments with provincial, national and international organizations. He is the provincial medical lead for the Advanced Practice of Assertive Community Treatment in B.C.; the medical lead for tertiary care for Vancouver Coastal Health’s Regional Mental Health and Substance Use Program; chair of the Health Services Working Group of the World Mental Health Services Initiative; and an advisor to the WHO.