Diversion Inattention: Time for Action!

Drug diversion, defined as the “unlawful channeling of regulated pharmaceuticals from legal sources to the illicit marketplace”, is a problem that is neither new nor rare.1 Opioids are commonly diverted, but benzodiazepines, anabolic steroids, and other noncontrolled agents such as propofol and erythropoietin are also potential targets. Yet the issue of diversion is not discussed openly in most institutions, and was termed “health care’s dirty little secret” in a recent exposé on W5,2 a long-running Canadian documentary television show