Death of 15-year-old from synthetic opioid should be 'sounding the alarm,' says Quebec coroner

A Quebec coroner says the 2023 death of 15-year-old Mathis Boivin should be "sounding the alarm" on the importance of preventing opioid use and dependency among young people.

Coroner Stéphanie Gamache found that the Montrealer died Dec. 22, 2023 of N-desethyl-isotonitazene poisoning — a potent synthetic opioid — and suffered bilateral pneumonia.

Following her investigation, she found the approaches to tackle drug use in schools are inconsistent across the board. While some schools are aware of the risks among teens and make naloxone kits available on site through the regional health authority, others have no established links with public health authorities.

"Do they not feel concerned by the problem?" questions Gamache. 

She says "red flags" were raised concerning Mathis's drug use months leading up to his death and that detection might have led him to be referred to specialized front-line workers. 

"Mathis might also have been able to recognize signs of an overdose on the evening of December 21, 2023, and his death might have been possibly avoided," said Gamache.

While she says it's not under her mandate to question schools' approaches to the prevention of opioid use, she reminded them of its importance as deaths from drug intoxication are on the rise across North America, including Quebec.

'It's not uniform, that's the problem,' says father

Addressing the stigma that accompanies drug abuse, she said public health must continue its efforts to prevent drug dependency in school settings and offer life-saving tools.

"All schools must also recognize the problem and its complexity if they are to participate fully in prevention efforts," she said.

Christian Boivin, Mathis's father, says this is a step in the right direction.

"It's the school leaders who decide if or if not they are doing prevention [work] and, if so, how they do it. So it's not uniform, that's the problem," said Boivin. 

"We have to give them tools in order to prevent accidents like the death of Mathis."

Following his son's death, Boivin has made dozens of visits to schools, advocating and teaching about drug prevention and awareness. 

"It makes [students] think a lot," said Boivin. 

"It's more touching for them to hear from me instead of a police officer telling them not to touch drugs. It's more concrete, having a father who lost his son."

'A societal responsibility,' says coroner

Highlighting statistics from the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction, Gamache noted that 94 per cent of deaths from opioid use are accidents, "and therefore preventable."

"It is also a societal responsibility to recognize that the prevention of opioid intoxication and other psychoactive substances concerns us all," said Gamache.

"Mathis's death should be sounding the alarm because we can't wait for the accumulation of deaths among young people to make this observation."

Boivin, who was previously healthy, had missed classes at his school the afternoon before his death to purchase between five and seven tablets of what he believed to be oxycodone, says Gamache.

Although his parents knew he used cannabis, they had discussed the subject of hard drugs.

A few months before his death, a friend of Mathis contacted his father by text message, expressing his concerns about Mathis's hard drug use, but Mathis denied "having a problem."

After dinner with his family on Dec. 21, Mathis played an online game with a friend and informed the friend that he had consumed one or more tablets, said the coroner.

"He also said he felt itching on his body, like mosquito bites," said Gamache. "The friends parted ways by saying 'see you tomorrow.'"

His father found him the next morning and the 15-year-old was confirmed dead just before 9:30 a.m. at the Montreal Children's Hospital.

Social Services Minister Lionel Carmant offered his condolences to Mathis's family on Thursday. 

"Losing a child is an indescribable grief. We welcome the recommendations of the coroner's report and are continuing our prevention and awareness efforts in schools with regional public health and community organizations," his statement read. 

"More than ever, I urge parents to talk openly with their children about the risks associated with substance use."

In September, Montreal police arrested and charged two people, including a man previously described as leading a "high-level" drug operation, with trafficking offences tied to Mathis's death.