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British Columbia·New
Nine years aft the commencement of a nationalist wellness exigency that has killed much than 16,000 people, B.C.'s caller main coroner says helium wants to take a spot of a antithetic approach.
Dr. Jatinder Baidwan takes the reins of the B.C. Coroners Service arsenic cause deaths proceed unabated
Katie DeRosa · CBC News
· Posted: Mar 17, 2025 9:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago
Nine years aft the commencement of a nationalist wellness exigency that has killed much than 16,000 people, B.C.'s caller main coroner is taking connected the situation successful a caller mode — an attack helium says is, perhaps, a small little governmental than his predecessor.
Dr. Jatinder Baidwan, who goes by Taj, says helium plans to instrumentality little of an advocacy relation compared to Lisa Lapointe, who often pointed crisp disapproval astatine the authorities erstwhile she disagreed with its attack connected preventing cause deaths.
"As the main coroner, it's my work not to advocator for immoderate peculiar radical retired there. But to advocator for each British Columbians … for those who person died," said Baidwain, who started his five-year word successful August.
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Baidwan doesn't profess to person each the answers connected however to halt overdose deaths and the rhythm of addiction.
But helium is acrophobic that harm simplification advocates and those who advocator for abstinence-based attraction and betterment are truthful ensconced successful their stance that they won't speech to 1 another.
"How bash we, arsenic the coroners service, get radical with each ideas connected however to hole this contented astir a array and get them to speech to 1 another?"
Baidwan joined the B.C. Coroners Service successful 2016 as a main aesculapian officer.
His 20 years moving arsenic a aesculapian serviceman successful the British Army has taken him each implicit the world— Iraq, Bosnia and parts of Africa. Baidwan also worked successful the Household Cavalry, guarding the Queen.
He, his woman of 28 years and their 2 youngest children — twins who are astir to participate assemblage — relocated from England to B.C. successful 2007, and Baidwan worked arsenic an exigency country doc successful Victoria and passim agrarian B.C. Their oldest lad remained successful the U.K., wherever helium works arsenic an ER doctor.
Baidwan says helium wants to beryllium much strategical successful the mode his bureau puts retired accusation on toxic cause deaths and besides item different preventable deaths similar those of unhoused radical and deaths from intimate spouse violence.
Speaking from his bureau successful Victoria overlooking the Inner Harbour, Baidwan says helium and his squad are moving to deeper investigation of trends successful overdose deaths, alternatively of fixating connected monthly overdose numbers to archer the story. He's acrophobic the nationalist becomes desensitized to the deaths and begins to tune them out.
"I bash interest that flooding the media with accusation sometimes isn't the champion mode of doing it," helium said. "Any death, 1 decease from this scourge is 1 decease excessively many."
Some harm simplification advocates initially feared this meant Baidwan was moving his absorption distant from opioid deaths.
Leslie McBain, who has pushed for a safer proviso of regulated opioids ever since her son, Jordan, died of an overdose successful 2014, says aft a gathering with Baidwan this month, she's convinced that's not the case.
"I'm precise impressed by this man, he's a consecutive shooter," said McBain, of Moms Stop the Harm. "He perfectly knows connected a heavy level astir the opioid crisis. He whitethorn not springiness his heavy opinions but, arsenic each coroners do, helium volition springiness recommendations connected ameliorating the situation."
"We are not stopping the attraction we've fixed successful the past," Baidwan said. "In fact, we're expanding the magnitude of clip we're reasoning astir cause deaths."
For example, Baidwan says he's trying to heighten partnerships with the B.C. Centre for Disease Control truthful immoderate of their information analysts and nationalist wellness researchers tin amended the investigation done connected overdose deaths.
Different attack from his predecessor
It's a antithetic attack compared to that of his predecessor, Lapointe, who led the coroner work for 13 years.
Lapointe, a lawyer, pushed for decriminalization of hard drugs and for a safer proviso of regulated opioids to abstracted radical from deadly thoroughfare drugs.
Compassion is cardinal to solving toxic cause crisis, B.C.’s retiring main coroner says
But the nationalist — and yet the NDP authorities — were not ever connected broadside with her recommendations, peculiarly arsenic unfastened cause usage successful playgrounds, parks and metropolis sidewalks led to calls to locomotion backmost the decriminalization experiment.
Lapointe had besides called for safer proviso drugs to beryllium provided without a prescription, a proposal swiftly rejected by the government. Health Minister Josie Osborne announced past period a stricter approach, requiring radical who usage medicine opioids to instrumentality them nether the supervision of a pharmacist.
Lapointe retired successful February, vocal astir her vexation astatine however polarized and governmental the statement implicit cause argumentation had become. She told CBC's The Current she near the job angry astatine the "lackadaisical" response to the toxic drugs crisis.
Baidwain says helium volition fto the information astir overdose deaths talk for itself.
B.C.'s debased autopsy rates
She died successful her chamber successful Port Coquitlam successful the summertime of 2022 from an overdose. The coroner's study concluded the teen's decease was caused by cocaine and MDMA use, though determination were different drugs successful her system, including hydromorphone — a medicine prescribed nether B.C.'s safer proviso program.
Sword was convinced the hydromorphone successful her strategy was downplayed arsenic a origin of death.
While Baidwan couldn't talk specifically to Kamilah's case, helium said an autopsy would not person made a quality successful knowing the origin of death.
However, Baidwan says autopsies are incredibly invasive, and often, the coroners service tin get the answers they're looking for without one.
Families frustrated by B.C.'s debased autopsy rate
"In the satellite of CSI, we deliberation an autopsy volition springiness america each the answers. Sadly, it doesn't."
B.C. has 1 of the lowest autopsy rates successful the country. A complaint that has declined steadily from 22 per cent successful 1991 to 3.2 per cent successful 2022, according to Statistics Canada.
However, Baidwan says those figures are misleading due to the fact that they bash not see autopsies performed successful the wellness strategy — erstwhile idiosyncratic dies successful hospital, for illustration — which makes up astir 10 per cent of deaths.
Baidwan is advocating for much coroners to beryllium hired, arsenic the fig of deaths each twelvemonth successful B.C. grows owed to the aging and increasing population.
"We've continually hired much coroners implicit the past fewer years. And the authorities has been supportive successful allowing america to prosecute the close fig of people."
That, Baidwan said, volition let the B.C. Coroners Service to implicit its investigations faster, giving families the answers they're looking for.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Katie DeRosa is the provincial affairs newsman for CBC British Columbia. She is based successful Victoria. You tin interaction her astatine [email protected].
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