Tag: Opioid Crisis

Opioid Overdose Reversal Drug to be Distributed in W.Va.

 

The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources announced today that efforts are underway to distribute naloxone to emergency first responders statewide.

All first responders will carry the opioid overdose reversal drug and will be trained on how to  reduce overdose deaths in West Virginia. The DHHR has purchased a $1 million supply of naloxone, about 34,000 doses.

 

The DHHR’s statewide distribution of naloxone is not expected to be impacted by the FDA’s recall. The brand, Amphastar, will be used which is not included in the FDA’s recall of the brand Hospira.  

The doses will be divided among the state police, the state fire marshal’s office and EMS response teams.  The eight priority counties are Berkeley, Cabell, Harrison, Kanawha, Mercer, Monongalia, Ohio and Raleigh, each will receive 1,000 doses.

Dr. Rahul Gupta, head of the State Health Officer and Commissioner of DHHR’s Bureau for Public Health called the distribution a quote “significant step forward in the right direction” end quote in addressing the opioid crisis.

The distribution is part of Gov. Jim Justice’s opioid crisis plan. The state legislature authorized the purchase of the kits. Distribution will continue through the end of June.

 

Surgeon General Issues National Advisory Urging Naloxone Use

The United States Surgeon General issued a national advisory Thursday encouraging people to carry the opioid overdose-reserving drug, naloxone.

 

The move underscores the growing urgency to address the opioid epidemic, which the Trump administration has deemed a public health crisis.

 

The advisory, issued by Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams, said keeping naloxone nearby and knowing how to use it could save a life.

 

“Each day we lose 115 Americans to an opioid overdose — that’s one person every 12.5 minutes,” Adams said in a statement. “It is time to make sure more people have access to this lifesaving medication, because 77 percent of opioid overdose deaths occur outside of a medical setting and more than half occur at home.”

 

Naloxone, which can be administered through a nasal mist or by injection, blocks the effects of an overdose and revives the victim. The drug has traditionally been carried by first responders, but the new advisory notes that everyday Americans, especially those know someone at risk for an opioid overdose, can play an important role in addressing the public health crisis.

 

West Virginia had the highest rate of opioid overdose deaths in the nation in 2016, according to federal data.

 

The national advisory is the first issued by the Surgeon General since 2005.

More W.Va. Towns, Counties Sue Over Opioid Crisis

Two West Virginia counties have joined numerous others in suing pharmaceutical companies, drugstores and the West Virginia Board of Pharmacy over the state’s opioid crisis.

The Exponent Telegram reports that Barbour and Taylor counties have hired lawyers from West Virginia and Florida to seek temporary and permanent restraining orders to curb practices they say are fueling the crisis, restitution, punitive damages and an insurance award from the Board of Pharmacy.

The lawsuits filed Tuesday says the defendants, including McKesson, AmerisourceBergen and Cardinal, knew opioids were addictive, yet still flooded the state with the drugs through unscrupulous practices.

The pharmaceutical companies have denied similar claims.

Eleven local West Virginia governments are also suing drug companies who they say failed to follow state and federal law to prevent the distribution and abuse of prescription pain medication that’s created the state’s opioid crisis.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports the lawsuits filed in the federal court this week come from governments around the state. The municipalities include Quinwood, Rupert, Rainelle, Milton, Smithers, Sutton, Logan, Summersville and Parkersburg, in addition to Nicholas and Braxton counties.

Watch How W.Va. Opioid Deaths Doubled in the Past Decade

Deaths related to opioid abuse in West Virginia have more than doubled in the past decade, according to the most recent data from the West Virginia Health Statistics Center.

Opioid deaths in W.Va. have risen from 369 in 2006 to 756 in 2016. The last couple years have seen a large spike, with the difference between 2015 and 2016 being 116 deaths.

The data suggests that counties with big cities have rising numbers, while rural counties tend to have about the same amount of deaths. In Cabell county, opioid deaths over the decade quadrupled. Cabell county is the county with the biggest difference–from 30 deaths in 2006 to 121 in 2016. It’s followed by Kanawha county, with 36 deaths in 2006 and 103 in 2016.

Meanwhile, deaths in counties in the center of the state remained low. Pendleton County had a total of 3 deaths over the decade–one in 2006, 2008, and 2009.

Judge Urges Action on '100 Percent Manmade' Opioid Crisis

A federal judge on Tuesday likened the nation’s opioid epidemic to the deadly 1918 flu pandemic while noting the drug crisis is “100 percent manmade.”

Judge Dan Polster urged participants on all sides of lawsuits against drugmakers and distributors to work toward a common goal of reducing overdose deaths. He said the issue has come to courts because “other branches of government have punted” it.

The judge is overseeing more than 180 lawsuits against drug companies brought by local communities across the country, including those in California, Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia. Municipalities include San Joaquin County in California; Portsmouth, Ohio; and Huntington, West Virginia.

Polster said the goal must be reining in the amount of painkillers available.

“What we’ve got to do is dramatically reduce the number of pills that are out there, and make sure that the pills that are out there are being used properly,” Polster said during a hearing in his Cleveland courtroom. “Because we all know that a whole lot of them have gone walking, with devastating results.”

The judge said he believes everyone from drugmakers to doctors to individuals bear some responsibility for the crisis and haven’t done enough to stop it.

The government tallied 63,600 overdose drug deaths in 2016, another record. Most of the deaths involved prescription opioids such as OxyContin or Vicodin or related illicit drugs such as heroin and fentanyl. The epidemic is the most widespread and deadly drug crisis in the nation’s history.

Hundreds of lawsuits filed by municipal and county governments could end up as part of the consolidated federal case overseen by Polster, but others are not likely to.

Some government bodies, including Ohio and at least nine other states, are suing the industry in state courts. Additionally, most states have joined a multistate investigation of the industry that could end up sparking a settlement or yet more litigation against the industry.

Targets of the lawsuits include drugmakers such as Allergan, Johnson & Johnson, and Purdue Pharma, and the three large drug distribution companies, Amerisource Bergen, Ohio-based Cardinal Health and McKesson. Drug distributors and manufacturers named in these and other lawsuits have said they don’t believe litigation is the answer but have pledged to help solve the crisis.

Polster said the nation is running the risk of seeing average U.S. life expectancy diminish three years consecutively thanks to the epidemic, something that hasn’t happened since the 1918 flu killed thousands.

“This is 100 percent manmade,” Polster said. “I’m pretty ashamed that this has occurred while I’ve been around.”

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