Texas has been seeing drug-related deaths increase every year. The same has been happening throughout the US. Of all the drug deaths, almost half can be attributed to opioids alone.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner (http://access.tarrantcounty.com/en/medical-examiner/about-the-medical-examiner.html?linklocation=About%20the%20Medical%20Examiner&linkname=Read%20More%20about%20the%20Medical%20Examiner) recounted that in 2017, Johnson County reported 13 deaths all caused by drug overdose, specifically opioids.
Stop the Offender Special Crimes Unit Commander of Johnson County, Larry Sparks, confirmed that opioid use, as well as manufacturing and distribution, has become an epidemic in Johnson County. 2014 to 2016 data from the County Health Rankings and Roadmaps (http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/app/texas/2018/measure/factors/138/data) showed that Johnson County recorded a total of 49 deaths over the period.
He also added that the prescription drugs oxycodone or oxytocin, hydrocodone, methadone, buprenorphine, morphine, Percocet and Vicodin have the same opioid problems in the County of Johnson and the US. Prescription pills are the largest group of opioids causing deaths in Texas. Texas Health and Human Services Texas Health Data for 2015 shows that 614 out of the 1,340 deaths related to opioid were caused by commonly prescribed opioids. Also rampant in Johnson County are heroin and codeine. Fentanyl and Carfentanil use are also increasing in Johnson County.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention granted a $2.66 million grant to the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) (http://healthdata.dshs.texas.gov/Opioids/Deaths). The grant is mainly to address the growing opioid overdose problem which is now considered to be an epidemic. This grant can be used to help the local health departments and the health care providers in the prevention of overdose deaths. The funds can also be used in the enhancement of the available data on the use of opioid in Texas as well as in the expansion of the prescriber network. Doing so will increase the number of those who can conduct the treatment process through medication.
Robert R. Redfield, the CDC Director, said that the opioid epidemic is our time’s public health crisis. Opioid overdose has caused the death of too many Americans. He added that the funds can provide the critically required resources to people who are in the front line of fighting the epidemic opioid overdose.
DSHS’ capability to track opioid-related illnesses and the other conditions occurring in the emergency rooms of Texas will be improved using the grant.
The researchers and the general public will be provided with more information on the use of opioid and the corresponding consequences. The Texas Health Data (http://healthdata.dshs.texas.gov/) website of DSHS will further enable them to access more data. The site will also be more specific by including data from the county up to the ZIP code levels.
The DSHS Commissioner John Hellerstedt believed that the availability of additional information on the locations of opioid use and its effects on the communities will enable the state agencies and the other partners in the cities and the counties. The efforts will be directed where most of the needs are pressing. The use of data to further understand the situation will also improve the response to the crisis caused by opioid. It will ensure that the appropriate resources are provided to those who will benefit the most in Texas.
DSHS will use the additional funds to train more public health personnel. Those who are on the community level will be prioritized. The training will focus on when and how to administer naloxone. If appropriately administered, the drug can help prevent the death of an opioid overdosed person. This will help the agency to train the first responders as well as other people in the communities.
The grant also seeks to increase the number of physicians, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners who are authorized to prescribe buprenorphine. That is another medication that can treat opioid use in the office setting.
Unit Commander Sparks added that he hopes that the grant will help the agencies to improve the monitoring and better identify the actual location of the distribution of opioids. He also hopes to get the information on when it is mostly distributed.
He hopes that the efforts will be able to establish a better system that can help the doctors identify patients who are doctor shopping. He added that addicts and drug dealers are doctor shopping. He elaborated doctor shopping as a process wherein the person will fake an injury and go from one doctor to another, from one emergency room to the next with hopes of gathering as many prescriptions possible. Some persons even opt to injure themselves to be able to do the process. They will then purchase the drugs from different pharmacies up to the point of detection.
He pointed out that addicts and dealers will do as many strategies possible just to obtain the opiates they need. Any assistance from the community will greatly help the people doing the law enforcement. He stressed that the problem caused by opiate is not only Texas’ number 1 drug problem. It is also an issue for the rest of America. And the hardest to combat at that.
- Charles Watson
https://www.facebook.com/willowspringsrecovery/
Picture Credit: https://pixabay.com/en/big-bend-texas-landscape-scenic-113099/