Opioid Epidemic Story Archives - Page 14 of 16 - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Health Official: Regional Overdose Death Rates Up, But Flattening

Health officials in Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia say the number of overdose deaths continued to rise in 2017. The Ohio Valley ReSource’s Aaron Payne reports that one public health official says, however, there is cause for optimism.

Preliminary data from around the Ohio Valley show overdose fatalities continued to climb last year. A new report from the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy says around 1,500 died from drug overdoses last year, up 11.5 percent from 2016.

Preliminary data from Ohio indicate fatal overdoses jumped almost 20 percent last year. And the Bureau of Public Health in West Virginia reports an estimated 32 percent increase in 2017.

Fentanyl, the synthetic opioid 50 times more powerful than heroin, is believed to be the driving cause of the increase.

West Virginia’s Chief Health Officer Dr. Rahul Gupta says the total number of fatal overdoses so far in 2018 indicate a higher toll than last year.

But the news is not entirely bleak. Gupta says the projected rate of increase appears to be leveling off.

“They went from 2016-17 up about 32 percent,” Gupta said. “And from 2017-2018 about 6 percent. So we’re certainly seeing a flattening of the curve. Up, but they’re not as up they were from 2016 to 2017.”

He anticipates fewer overdoses in future months due to the evidence-based approaches to the opioid epidemic across the region.

The Ohio Valley ReSource is made possible with funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Cabell County's Overdose Totals Drop in First Half of 2018

County EMS records show Cabell County’s overdose totals fell by 41 percent in the first six months of 2018 compared with the same period a year ago.

The Herald-Dispatch reports the use of naloxone — the drug first responders use to reverse an opioid-induced overdose — decreased by 49 percent in the West Virginia county compared to the first half of 2017.

Cabell County EMS director Gordon Merry says everyone is working toward a common goal in combating drug overdoses, and he thinks the effort is “headed in the right direction.”

Overdose reports fell slightly in June to 101, down from 112 in May — the highest single-month total in 2018. A spike in overdose totals in May followed an April total of 62 — the lowest single-month total since January 2016.

'Heroin(e)' Director's New Film Explores Recovery, Community

Academy Award-nominated director Elaine McMillion Sheldon’s newest film “Recovery Boys” is now available on Netflix. The film is a companion to Sheldon’s first film “Heroin(e).”

Her new documentary follows four men as they try to reinvent their lives after years struggling with substance use disorder. Two of the men are West Virginia natives, while the other two are from Florida and Virginia.

But all four of them have found their way to an addiction treatment program on a farm in Aurora, West Virginia. This farm and its treatment center, called Jacob’s Ladder, is the setting for Sheldon’s film.

There are different ways someone struggling with substance use disorder can find recovery, but Sheldon says while making her film and following these men, she’s seen the impact farming and agriculture can play.

“When they come to the farm, they’re able to not only learn new skills but sort of find new purpose within this farming community, which is very supportive and very loving,” Sheldon said, “So I think there’s a real opportunity, because West Virginia does have many farming communities like Aurora, you know, for people to be a part of that. I think that farming; we know nature’s healing, we know that people’s environments play a role in their recovery.”

Sheldon says the program works with a person struggling with addiction by teaching them not to rely on instant gratification, but to think about the good that’s coming – the crops they planted, the animals they’re raising, or of the future – family, kids, a job; to be able to imagine life beyond the addiction.

“Shifting those environments to more positive ones, you know, taking away the instant gratification thing of getting your fix on a daily basis; planting a seed and seeing the results of that, weeks and months down the road, is something to remap pathways in the brain; to teach people to have longer visions of their life.”

Sheldon says it was important to her to give viewers an honest picture of substance use disorder, treatment, and recovery, and says there is nowhere better for that story to be told than in West Virginia.

“I think West Virginia has a huge opportunity, because we have this problem, to be a leader in providing solutions around the crisis. We have beautiful environments throughout this state that can reconnect people back to nature; nature and environment plays a very important role in people’s connection to one another.”

West Virginia Public Broadcasting will co-sponsor a free screening of Sheldon’s new film, “Recovery Boys” on Friday, July 6 at the Metropolitan Theatre in Morgantown. The doors open at 6:00 p.m. and the documentary will start at 6:30 p.m.

Click here to RSVP.

West Virginia Apartments to House Women in Drug Treatment

Renovations have started on a building that will become apartments for women undergoing treatment for substance abuse in West Virginia.

Marshall University said in a news release Monday its health provider group, Marshall Health, and the Huntington City Mission have begun construction on the 15,000-square-foot building next to the mission.

Each of the 18 apartments will consist of up to three bedrooms, a bathroom, a living room and kitchenette. They will enable women suffering from substance abuse to live with their children.

A grant from the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources is funding the program, called Project Hope for Women and Children. Marshall School of Medicine spokeswoman Sheanna Spence said the $2.8 million grant covers renovations and program expenses.

The statement says some services, including family therapy, will be provided on site while many others such as medication-assisted treatment will be in outpatient locations. The renovations are expected to be completed by October.

The project “will help residents put life skills into practice, give their children a sense of stability and teach them to raise their children in a way that promotes healthy habits early on,” said Dr. Stephen M. Petrany, chairman of the Marshall School of Medicine’s department of family and community health.

In a state of 1.8 million residents, more than 30,000 people are in drug treatment in West Virginia, which has the nation’s highest drug overdose death rate.

White House Takes on Opioids on Its Own Turf – The Mass Media

On Thursday, the White House unveiled the first act in its effort to fight the opioid epidemic by harnessing the power of digital media and cable TV.

A partnership between the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, the Truth Initiative, a nonprofit previously focused almost exclusively on efforts against the tobacco industry, and the Ad Council created and premiered “The Truth About Opioids” ad campaign. The project aims to “close the knowledge gap” about the dangers of opioids and “empower people with the truth” to help them fight and prevent addiction.

The campaign kicked off with an airing of the first spot early that morning on the Today Show.

Soon after, during a phone briefing, the President’s Counselor, Kellyanne Conway, delivered a carefully crafted speech, in which she reiterated that the Administration understands the multifaceted nature of the opioid crisis and that the campaign is only a part of an effort aimed at “preventing new misuse and new addiction by raising awareness.”

Spearheaded by the Truth Initiative, best known for its aggressive anti-tobacco campaigns, “The Truth About Opioids” will target primarily young people between 18 and 24 years of age, across all digital media platforms.

Four short documentary-style video clips tell the real cautionary tales of four young adults who harm themselves in violent ways in order to gain access to more opioids.

The shock value is there, and so is the production value. The videos provoke that unpleasant sensation one gets from well-executed, naturalistic depictions of pain.

Every spot provides a backstory, probably the most important element of the whole endeavor, trying to show that opioid addiction is not — necessarily — a typical, recreational drug addiction.

The ads point to the systemic issues of over-prescribing and lack of proper medical guidance that leaves young people addicted and desperate.

The campaign’s website provides a host of additional information with a clear goal of delivering easy to digest, basic knowledge on the issue. It’s hard to say just how successful these efforts will be.

We have written in the past about the potential pitfalls of following in footsteps of failed mass media campaigns, like the infamous Nancy Reagan initiative, “Just Say ‘No’.”

Robin Koval, CEO and President of the Truth Initiative, pushed back against that narrative. During the briefing, she pointed to extensive research conducted prior to the release, as well as Truth Initiative’s previous success in messaging to young adults.

Koval said that the Truth Initiative “tested over 150 different message possibilities, and pretested all of the advertising and the executions themselves.”

She also shared the criteria used to test the proposed messaging. “One, does it decrease intentions to misuse? […] Two, does it impact willingness to share with someone else? Does it increase risk perceptions? […] do these ads compel you to want to learn more — as we say, ‘Know the truth, spread the truth’ — and do they compel you to want to share them in your peer network? […]” According to Koval, the final ads were the most successful with the targeted age group.

Facebook, Google, YouTube, NBCU, Turner, Amazon, and VICE are among the companies that chose to donate their resources – broadcasting time, research, or online targeting tools – to help disseminate the campaign and reach the desired audiences. These are powerful allies for the cause.

Although the acting director of the ONDCP, Jim Carroll, didn’t put a price tag on the entire project, Lisa Sherman, President and CEO of the Ad Council, revealed that ONDCP “has funded a very small amount of money to support some of the other hard costs of the campaign.”

Carroll did answer other journalists’ question, saying that the campaign did not tap into the $10 million pot dedicated to fighting the opioid crisis that was secured in the Omnibus spending bill.

Koval added that “We [The Truth Initiative] felt very strongly that, because we had the ability to donate this, we want other funds to go to those very, very urgent matters of prevention, of rescue, of recovery, which are the things that are happening on the ground, right now, every day.”

While we can state fairly conclusively that “scare them straight” types of campaigns have historically worked poorly in reducing harm, these new educational efforts combined with relatable messaging could hold some promise.

The funding structure and emphasis on donated resources by some of the biggest tech corporations also holds promise.

For once, the powerful algorithms that seem to be driving so much of today’s online media traffic and economy are said to be targeting one of the nation’s biggest health problems.

Yet, no matter how optimistic the prospects of the campaign, we should remember that there remains a number of unanswered questions. To the people of Appalachia, some are more interesting than others.

How will the modern, 21st century online-based campaign overcome the connectivity problems across Appalachia? Is the knowledge gap the true problem in poverty-stricken communities, where the black market for the opioids serves as a source of supplemental income?

Last, but not least, when asked during the briefing about the choice of the age range of 18-24 as a target audience, Koval said that the choice was driven by Truth Initiative’s experience and pre-built trust among young adults. “We chose to focus on the group that we know […] It’s an audience that trusts us, that we have relevance with, credibility, and where we can create impact.”

That leaves large swaths of affected populations out of the campaign’s reach, often ones that — in sheer numbers — suffer the greatest loss of life due to the crisis.

According to CDC data, death rates due to drug overdoses are the highest among 35-44 and 44-54 age groups.

Here’s data accompanying the graph.

The promised scope of the campaign and the partnerships it managed to secure are impressive. Let’s hope the impact will be equally so.

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.