15-year-old's suspected drug overdose likely involved hydromorphone and cough medicine, RCMP say

The Canadian Press

· Posted: Apr 22, 2025 6:20 PM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

RCMP accidental a 15-year-old has died of a suspected cause overdose successful Campbell River, B.C., believed to impact the medicine opioid hydromorphone and cough medicine.

Const. Maury Tyre with the Campbell River RCMP says successful a connection that it's important for younker and parents to recognize the risks posed by some medicine and non-prescription medications.

The connection says an probe into the teen's aesculapian exigency led constabulary to judge it was caused by a operation of Dilaudid, a marque sanction of hydromorphone, and non-prescription cough medicine.

Dilaudid is disposable arsenic a medicine medication, including arsenic a safer proviso cause that is provided arsenic an alternate to toxic thoroughfare drugs. 

Tyre says the benignant of calamity that claimed the teenager's beingness tin impact radical from each walks of life, "sometimes done addiction, and sometimes done experimentation."

RCMP offered condolences to the household and friends of the younker and accidental nary further details volition beryllium released.

British Columbia's then-chief coroner, Lisa LaPointe, said successful 2023 that hydromorphone was not progressive successful "significant" numbers of cause deaths.

The B.C. Coroners Service does not supply regular information connected cause deaths related to hydromorphone, but alternatively lists them among deaths related to non-fentanyl opioids.

Those opioids person been related to astir 20 per cent of each cause deaths successful caller years, earlier dipping to astir 17 per cent past year.