Overdose Deaths Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Medicare Fraud And Decreasing Overdose Death Rates On This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, during the COVID-19 pandemic, from 2019 to 2022, the state’s overdose death rate increased by 67 percent. But it may be returning to where we were before that. Emily Rice has the story.

On this West Virginia Morning, during the COVID-19 pandemic, from 2019 to 2022, the state’s overdose death rate increased by 67 percent. But it may be returning to where we were before that. Emily Rice has the story.

Also, in this show, Medicare is a lifeline for many seniors, but scammers and even medical providers can attempt to get Medicare numbers and defraud the program. June 5-9 is Medicare Fraud Awareness Week, and West Virginia Senior Services is out to draw attention to the problem.

For his series “Getting Into Their Reality: Caring For Aging Parents,” News Director Eric Douglas spoke with Senior Services Medicare Programs State Director Rebecca Gouty to get a better understanding of the problem and what to do if you feel you have been scammed.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from Concord University and Shepherd University.

Caroline MacGregor is our assistant news director and produced this episode.

Teresa Wills is our host.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning

W.Va. Overdose Deaths Decrease Over 12-Month Span

A CDC report says the state’s overdose death rate decreased by more than 3 percent from March 2021 to March 2022. It’s the second largest drop in overdose deaths by state in the country, behind only Virginia.

A new report from the CDC says West Virginia’s rate of overdose deaths is beginning to decline.

The report says the state’s rate decreased by more than 3 percent from March 2021 to March 2022. It’s the second largest drop in overdose deaths by state in the country, behind only Virginia.

Previously, the state’s Office of Drug Control Policy reported a similar decrease of monthly overdose deaths from April 2021 through September 2021 last March.

Director of the state agency, Matthew Christiansen, says the decrease comes after an uptick in overdose deaths during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As things have opened back up, treatment, accessibility has opened up as well, which was an issue early on in the pandemic,” Christiansen said. “But what we really saw during the pandemic was a shift in supply from heroin over to the much more potent and poisonous fentanyl. I don’t anticipate that that will go back to a less potent substance when the pandemic subsides.”

Christiansen recommends those suffering from substance use disorder to call the state’s HELP4WV help line.

“It’s a one stop shop, really, for getting in touch with peer recovery support specialists, counselors, therapists and also getting referred to treatment,” Christiansen said.

These resources are available by calling 844-HELP4WV, texting 844-435-7498, or visiting the program’s website.

The Office of Drug Control Policy’s website also features a map of where to find local resources, including crisis stabilization units, recovery residences and treatment programs.

US Overdose Deaths Hit Record 107,000 Last Year, CDC Says

More than 107,000 Americans died of drug overdoses last year, setting another tragic record in the nation's escalating overdose epidemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated Wednesday.

More than 107,000 Americans died of drug overdoses last year, setting another tragic record in the nation’s escalating overdose epidemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated Wednesday.

The provisional 2021 total translates to roughly one U.S. overdose death every 5 minutes. It marked a 15% increase from the previous record, set the year before. The CDC reviews death certificates and then makes an estimate to account for delayed and incomplete reporting.

Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, called the latest numbers “truly staggering.”

The White House issued a statement calling the accelerating pace of overdose deaths “unacceptable” and promoting its recently announced national drug control strategy. It calls for measures like connecting more people to treatment, disrupting drug trafficking and expanding access to the overdose-reversing medication naloxone.

U.S. overdose deaths have risen most years for more than two decades. The increase began in the 1990s with overdoses involving opioid painkillers, followed by waves of deaths led by other opioids like heroin and — most recently — illicit fentanyl.

Last year, overdoses involving fentanyl and other synthetic opioids surpassed 71,000, up 23% from the year before. There also was a 23% increase in deaths involving cocaine and a 34% increase in deaths involving meth and other stimulants.

Overdose deaths are often attributed to more than one drug. Some people take multiple drugs and inexpensive fentanyl has been increasingly cut into other drugs, often without the buyers’ knowledge, officials say.

“The net effect is that we have many more people, including those who use drugs occasionally and even adolescents, exposed to these potent substances that can cause someone to overdose even with a relatively small exposure,” Volkow said in a statement.

Experts say the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the problem as lockdowns and other restrictions isolated those with drug addictions and made treatment harder to get.

Overdose death trends are geographically uneven. Alaska saw a 75% increase in 2021 — the largest jump of any state. In Hawaii, overdose deaths fell by 2%.

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The Associated Press Health & Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Morgantown Symposium Takes Aim At Fentanyl

Federal and state stakeholders met in Morgantown Thursday to identify solutions to the state’s substance abuse crisis.

The West Virginia Fentanyl Symposium brought together experts in drug enforcement, prevention and treatment from across the country to present to the state’s prosecutors, sheriffs and police chiefs.

Last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated there were over 100,000 drug overdoses in the United States. Of those, 64 percent involved synthetic opioids like fentanyl.

“Fentanyl is the most concerning drug that we’ve seen in decades, if not ever,” said Vic Brown, the director of the Appalachian High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area. The organization sponsored Thursday’s event in conjunction with the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Northern and Southern Districts of West Virginia.

“It takes every aspect of the community to address this problem. It’s not just a law enforcement problem,” he said.

Presenters included the Drug Enforcement Administration and the CDC, as well as treatment specialists and researchers with firsthand experience in the substance abuse crisis.

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.

DEA Targets Opioid Abuse with New Appalachian Field Office

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency is targeting opioid abuse in Appalachia by establishing a new field office in Kentucky to oversee a region ravaged by overdose deaths.

The new Louisville field office will have a special agent in charge to oversee investigations in Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia.

It will improve efforts in the Appalachian mountain region and streamline drug trafficking investigations under a single special agent in charge, acting DEA Administrator Robert Patterson said during a news conference Wednesday with Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

D. Christopher Evans, an associate agent in charge in the DEA’s Detroit field office, will lead the new Louisville office.

Sessions said it’s the first restructuring of DEA field offices since 1998, when the agency created an El Paso, Texas, field office.

“Today we are facing the worst drug crisis in American history, with one American dying of a drug overdose every nine minutes,” Sessions said during the news conference in Washington. The Department of Justice also announced $12 million in grants for state and local law enforcement to combat heroin and methamphetamine dealers.

Designating Louisville as a field office and installing a special agent in charge will better align DEA with the U.S. attorney offices in the three states, according to a release.

The Appalachian region has been ground zero for the opioid problem in recent years. Overdose deaths were 65 percent higher among people in Appalachia than in the rest of the country in 2015, a recent Appalachian Regional Commission study found. The study, “Appalachian Diseases of Despair,” reported that nearly 70 percent of the overdose deaths in the Appalachian region in 2015 were caused by opioids. West Virginia had the highest opioid overdose mortality rates with 52.8 deaths per 100,000 people.

The new Louisville office will have a total of 150 positions with 90 special agents in the three states. The restructuring involved moving the three states out of other DEA divisions to place them under the Louisville office. The Louisville office will begin operations on Jan. 1.