ER VISITS FOR OPIOID OVERDOSE UP 30 PERCENT

ER visits for opioid overdose up 30 percent in recent year, CDC says

Midwest sees biggest spike in reported cases

By Tom Howell Jr. - The Washington Times - Tuesday, March 6, 2018

Emergency room visits from opioid overdoses spiked 30 percent from July 2016 to September 2017, the government said Tuesday in a sobering report that underscores the need for targeted resources and expanded treatment.

Every corner of the U.S. saw an uptick due to the prescription painkiller and heroin scourge, led by an average increase of 70 percent in the Midwest and followed by the West, at 40 percent.

A few Northeast states reeling from the crisis, such as Massachusetts and New Hampshire, saw modest decreases — as did Kentucky, which saw a more significant decline of 15 percent.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it reviewed ER visits in 45 states because it wants to understand the crisis upstream — rather than focusing on fatalities alone — and devise a “timely, strategic, and coordinated” response.

“We don’t have to wait until it’s too late,” acting CDC Director Anne Schuchat said.

For instance, officials could supply more naloxone, an overdose-reversing drug, to specific communities or connect more patients with treatment in those areas, since research shows people who have an overdose are likely to have another.

The CDC said the data highlights the need for law enforcement and health departments to work together, since they are responding to various facets of the same crisis.

“This is such a complex epidemic, touching really every aspect of life, that improving partnerships is essential,” Dr. Schuchat said.

It said both men and women and all age groups over 25 saw “substantial” increase in overdose rates.

Officials said cities and towns of all types saw increases, though large metropolitan areas of 1 million or more people saw the most dramatic spike, at 54 percent.

Dr. Schuchat said it is unclear why, though it “may reflect changes in the drug supply in the urban centers.”

Overdose-trackers say the problem is now driven by an influx of fentanyl in the heroin supply, as overseas labs flood the market and doctors get smarter about the prescription side of the crisis.

The CDC conducted a more detailed analysis of data from 16 states that were hit particularly hard by the crisis.

Certain states saw dramatic upticks in their rate of ER visits due to overdose, including Wisconsin (109 percent), Delaware (105 percent) and Pennsylvania (81 percent).

The CDC said it is important to realize those changes show the trend line in terms of progress or setbacks, rather than the scope of the problem in individual states. For instance, states in New England that saw slight decreases still have a big problem on their hands.

“Sometimes, places that have such high rates don’t really have much more room to increase, and the decrease may reflect some instability,” Dr. Schuchat said. “We wish that is was going down everywhere, and we wish it was going down even further.”

The opioids crisis killed at least 42,000 people in 2016, and early estimates suggest the final tally for last year will be even worse, prompting President Trump to declare it a public-health emergency.

Officials in his Cabinet say they open to debating and stress-testing new ideas, such as whether it makes sense to begin medication-assisted treatment for addicted persons before they leave the emergency room.

“We do think trying innovative approaches makes sense,” Dr. Schuchat said.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar recently said that medication-assisted treatment is a proven method for treating addicted persons, yet only a third of substance abuse programs offer it.

He said the administration is promoting ways to administer a key treatment drug — buprenorphine — more easily. It’s also encouraging researchers to look closely at ER visits and overdose data.

“For many people struggling with addiction, failing to offer MAT is like trying to treat an infection without antibiotics,” he told the National Governors Association. “Given what we know, and given the scale of this epidemic, having just one-third of treatment programs offer the most effective intervention for opioid addiction is simply unacceptable.”

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/mar/6/cdc-er-visits-opioid-overdose-30-percent-recent-ye/?

My comments: When a Culture abandons God and His Word, as America has done, there are a Plague of Problems that come upon them. And there is only One Remedy, Repentance.