PRISON MEDICATION PROBED

Report revealed more than 60% of female prisoners getting psychiatric drugs

More than 60 per cent of female inmates in Canada being given psychotropic drugs, investigation reveals,

Canada’s prison watchdog has launched an investigation into prescription practices in federal prisons, after it was revealed that more than 60 per cent of female inmates across the country are receiving psychiatric medication.

A joint investigation by The Canadian Press and CBC has learned that in August 2013, of 591 female federal inmates in five correctional institutions, 370 were being prescribed at least one psychotropic medication — drugs that impact mood and behaviour.

When broken down by region, the prescription rate jumps to almost 75 per cent in prisons such as the Nova Institution for Women in Nova Scotia, the Joliette Institution for Women in Quebec and the Fraser Valley Institution for Women in British Columbia.

That is a significant increase from 2001, when the prescription rate was 42 per cent, according to a study by Correctional Service Canada, which raised concerns about what it called “over-prescribing and multiple prescribing” of psychotropics in some prisons.

The 2013 data was collected by Howard Sapers, the Correctional Investigator of Canada, who first looked into the issue last summer after CSC told The Canadian Press and CBC that the department did not keep records of medications prescribed to inmates.

Former prisoners and their advocates have been complaining for years about what they call the overmedication of inmates. They claim that quetiapine — an antipsychotic drug strictly recommended for the treatment of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder — is being prescribed to female prisoners as a sleeping aid.

When asked for comment, the CSC would only say that quetiapine, available in Canada under the brand name Seroquel, is prescribed to inmates solely for the treatment of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, as recommended by Health Canada.

But an internal CSC memo, obtained through an access to information request, shows there was concern in 2011 that quetiapine was being prescribed for unapproved uses, popularly known as “off-label” uses.

“In an attempt to better control the circulation of quetiapine within CSC, the National Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee has recommended that quetiapine be only funded for its official indications: schizophrenia and bipolar disorder,” the memo reads.

“Gradual withdrawal over a period of at least one to two weeks is advisable. All planned discontinuations must be completed by June 30, 2011.”

An advocacy group whose regional workers visit women prisons every month says they have not been able to verify any decrease in the use of quetiapine, which only a prison doctor may prescribe to inmates.