RESERVE DRUG WOES DETAILED

MDs Blamed For 'Easy' Prescriptions

Nine different drugs, including prescription painkillers, over-the-counter
cold remedies and alcohol, were found in the body of a Stoney Nation woman
who overdosed last year, a fatality inquiry heard Monday.

RCMP Const. Butch Dupont testified that several pill bottles were found on
Claudia Labelle's bed, and her death was not the first of its sort on the
Eden Valley reserve.

"The number of prescription drugs coming onto the reserve is astounding,"
Dupont said.

"It's definitely affecting the well-being of the reserve, both prescription
drugs and alcohol. Unfortunately, judging by the number of prescriptions,
you'd have to believe there is trafficking of those drugs going on."

A graph entered as evidence showed 2,700 prescriptions went to the
550-member nation in a three-month period last year.

"It appears to me the medical profession isn't being responsible in
addressing what's happening. (The drugs) are so easy to attain that it's
creating a problem," Dupont said.

Labelle, 26, "certainly had many drugs in her blood and body that would
decrease her drive to breathe," forensic pathologist Dr. Pauline Alakija
testified.

"This is not a combination of drugs I would recommend. It's a dangerous
combination," Alakija said.

Labelle was suffering from a cold when she died April 19, 2000. She also
had chronic back pain resulting from a car accident in the late 1990s.

"If (Labelle) was only using one of the drugs, for example codeine, she
would have had acceptable levels, but certainly not when she is also being
treated with Darvon," Alakija said.

Both prescription painkillers were found in Labelle, as well as "very high
concentrations" of the prescription sleeping and anxiety pill bromazepam.

She had also taken over-the-counter antihistamines and cold remedies
containing brompheniramine, triprolidine, pseudoephedrine, dextromethorphan
and nordiazepam.

And a low level of alcohol was detected in her blood.

During the inquiry, Calgary provincial court Judge L.S. (Tony) Mandamin
will also hear testimony about the overdose death of Stoney Nation member
Roderick Lefthand, a known prescription drug abuser who was found dead on
Jan. 20, 2000.

The inquiry opened Monday at the band office on the reserve 90 kilometres
southwest of Calgary near Longview.

After the inquiry closes, Mandamin will prepare a report with
recommendations to prevent similar deaths. The purpose of the hearings is
not to find fault or draw conclusions of law.

Dupont's concerns about the extent of prescription drug use on the reserve
were echoed by a member of the Eden Valley community who didn't want to be
named.

"I'd say almost 100 per cent of the homes here use prescription drugs --
young people and old people use them to get high, it's a big problem," said
the man, who was attending the inquiry Monday.

"Every day, people go to Calgary to get drugs. It's a touchy subject -- if
you mention it, people gang up on you."

He added that the local health centre doesn't give out drugs because of the
abuse problems.

Labelle's aunt, Yvonne Lefthand, testified that her niece's death was an
accident.

The two lived together with Labelle's grandmother and Lefthand's four children.

Lefthand said Labelle, a receptionist at Human Resources Development at the
band office, went to her aunt's office across the street complaining of not
feeling well that morning.

At lunchtime she went home, and the rest of her family went to Calgary that
evening.

When they returned at about 10 p.m., Lefthand said, Labelle was sleeping.
When they looked in half an hour later, they discovered she wasn't breathing.

Lefthand's oldest son ran five minutes down the road to the nearest house
with a phone to call for an ambulance, while Lefthand tried to revive her
niece by yelling and slapping her.

When the son returned, he said the dispatcher wanted to talk to Lefthand,
who then ran down the road and got instructions on how to perform CPR.

By the time an ambulance arrived from Black Diamond, about 25 minutes north
of the reserve, Labelle was dead.

The inquiry continues today.