Filed under: General Problems | 5 Comments »
When you rush a new medication thru the approval process – THIS IS WHAT YOU GET !
Posted on July 22, 2021 by Pharmaciststeve
could this applied to denying pain management to a pt in an emergency dept ?
Posted on July 20, 2021 by Pharmaciststeve
https://www.lac.org/assets/files/LAC-Report-Final-7.19.21.pdf
Today the Legal Action Center (LAC) released a report examining the legal obligations of hospitals to provide evidence-based and lifesaving care to emergency department patients with substance use disorders – specifically SUD diagnosis, administration of agonist medications, outpatient treatment referral facilitation and naloxone distribution or prescription.
As the primary point of access to the healthcare system for many patients with SUD, emergency departments have a critical role to play in delivering care that helps patients survive to access further treatment.
The LAC’s report concludes that any hospital that fails to provide appropriate care could face legal liability under four separate federal laws:
*Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA)
*Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
*Rehabilitation Act (RA)
*Title VI of the Civil Rights Act (Title VI)
Read the full report at:
Filed under: General Problems | Leave a Comment »
When a complex problem doesn’t have a simple solution -easiest thing to do is DO NOTHING ?
Posted on July 20, 2021 by Pharmaciststeve
Revising the Opioid Guidelines
https://daily-remedy.com/revising-the-opioid-guidelines/
Nuance – if there is a single word that could describe the essence of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC) meeting last week which discussed revising the 2016 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) opioid prescribing guidelines – this would be it.
So if nuance is the word that defines the meeting, then we should inquire into the meaning of nuance. Since how people speak reflects how people think.
Nuance is defined as a subtle distinction or variation, but the manner in which it was applied during the meeting suggests a different definition – complex. So after nearly five years of debating the validity of the CDC guidelines, we arrive at where we began – the diagnosis and treatment of pain using opioids is complex, ‘requiring nuance’.
A phrase repeated ad nauseam during the meeting. But in referring to pain management as a fundamentally complex concept, one that requires nuance, were the committee members defining it appropriately, or simply side-stepping any definition at all?
This is the problem with nuance, just as it is the problem with complexity.
Often the conversation devolves into meaningless generalities rather than addressing the core issue at hand. To say something is complex often relies upon a broad definition, more conceptual than anything else.
And when it comes time to apply that definition within a specific context – or a specific application – the nuances give way to the concrete.
What is complex becomes simple.
This is a well known tendency. Largely responsible for why we landed here in the first place, needing to revise the guidelines at all. They were a poor approximation of all the complexity that goes into opioid prescribing.
The decision-making is complex, so we simplified it with guidelines. But in simplifying something complex, we find errors of approximation – manifesting as unintended consequences.
We knew this 2016 when we codified the guidelines. But from the manner in which committee members spoke, it appears as though we just now realized opioid prescribing is complex – or requiring nuance.
The circular logic was on full display throughout the meeting, and the logical fallacy might portend similar failings in the revised guidelines. Since how people think reflects how people act.
The tendency for people to speak complexly yet act with certain simplicity is the singular conceptual problem perpetuating the opioid epidemic. And explains why no guideline, no matter how well constructed, how well intentioned, can address the systemic root of the opioid epidemic.
The systemic root is epistemological, rooted in how we think, the thoughts we form. The guidelines should not try to codify decisions by their most apparent outcome, nor by the most obvious point of decision-making.
Rather the guidelines should emphasize particular patterns of thought, focusing on critical junctures of decision-making in which the balance of proper legal oversight balances alongside the protection of patient’s healthcare rights.
A balance not necessarily the same for every person, but one that should be pursued for every patient.
Maybe this is not quite a guideline. Maybe I too am side-stepping the issue, in favor of nuance.
Maybe that is what is ultimately needed.
Forgo the desire for revised guidelines in favor of a conceptual shift in how we think about opioid prescribing.
Filed under: General Problems | 1 Comment »
I was unlawfully convicted and sent to jail, only for my conviction to be reversed due to prosecutors cheating
Posted on July 19, 2021 by Pharmaciststeve
Imagine that… a doctor getting CONVICTED because PROSECUTORS CHEATED.. they claim that justice is blind… but… she apparently has some other means 
of seeing what she wants to see and her “scale” is not always balanced. It has been claimed that the DEA is more interested in using The Civil Asset Forfeiture Act to confiscate assets from practitioners, various reports put the annual dollar figure between 500 million to ONE BILLION+ . It would appear that law firms don’t see a lot of money by helping prescribers setting up irrevocable trusts so that the DEA can’t have anything to confiscate. One would think that those prescribers that are employees of large hospital system would be interested in helping their employee prescribers to protect themselves by showing them this very simple legal trick. Maybe they are more interested is just denying care to those who have a valid medical necessity for being prescribed controlled substances.
Maybe these large hospital corporations have some other agendas… those mid-level practitioners (ARNP, PA, NP) the hospital generally get paid by insurances abt 85% of what they get paid for a MD providing the same service, but it is unlikely that these mid-level practitioners get paid 85% of what MD’s get paid.. So fewer MD’s on the payroll and more mid-level practitioners could mean more $$$ to the hospital corporation ?
Mainstream media persecuting healthcare professionals
https://doctorsofcourage.org/mainstream-media-persecuting-healthcare-professionals/
Back when the attack on me started, I was like a frightened little puppy. Me, a guy that would call my parents when I was a teenager to tell them I wasn’t coming home that night. My dad knew were I was, and I was not partying with my friends. My dad would say to me the next morning when I came home, “what was her name, how long will this one last?”. My mom would just laugh, typical Hispanic family. That was our culture. Why did I do this? Despite growing up in a very violent environment, despite having to defend myself constantly, I have always believed in honesty and transparency. I always believed in the chain of command, and that even if rules didn’t make any sense to me, they existed for a reason. Even as a teenager, I understood the concept of the “greater good”. I would tell myself when this whole investigation started, that I must have done SOMETHING wrong. I would go through all the possible scenarios in my mind, but it just didn’t add up, The first clue that we may just be dealing with a very corrupt government, was when Guy McCartney, the DEA agent from West Virginia in charge of the investigation against me, confiscated 26 charts of patients who had died, whom he claimed died due to my prescribing of opiates. That same day, at least he was fair enough to give me a CD rom, which I still have that have. Drove home quickly that day, put the CD rom in my computer drive, and it turned out that not only had all these patients died of cancer, heart failure and had not been on opiates for over a year, but half of them were never on opiates or any type of controlled substance from me at all!
Many of you know the rest. I was unlawfully convicted and sent to jail, only for my conviction to be reversed due to prosecutors cheating.
That is when they woke up a sleeping giant, and I reverted back to my street mode. Immediately following my conviction, within 2 days my step daughter calls me and tells me not to listen to the news. They were tarnishing my name all over the Pittsburgh media. I was indicted for not kicking patients out, 5 in all for abnormal urine drug screens. The abnormalities were subtle, and in patients with severe life compromising and threatening conditions. CDC guidelines stated not to kick patients out on drug screens due to the high incidence of false negativity and positivity. Not mention that they are not quantitative. To make matters worst, the “mentioned” about 400 charts over time of people with abnormal drug screens, insinuating that I gave drugs to drug addicts. I got a CD rom of these patients as well. They were not as sick, so I stopped prescribing opiates to avoid trouble and sent them all to pain clinics. These were only seen once or twice. The prosecution under handedly did not mention this, and my attorney, naturally, blew this off. Yet, prosecutor, Sarah Wagner, criminalized it. What did the media say about me? They called in “illegal distribution”. My name was in press publications all over the country!!! Florida, Arizona, Texas…. When my conviction was reversed, the only publication that published this story was Reuters. I called the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, Tribune review even the New York Times, and they blew me off, after unlawfully tarnishing my name.
The take home messages here is that the mainstream media is clearly behind this initiative to convict and incarcerate healthcare professions, even at a very steep price to patients with chronic medical conditions. Social media is the only publication the whole story. The government clearly hates social media, because government wants to control, as they control the mainstream media. Sadly for the government, some form of social media is the future of news, because the main stream media has lost all credibility. When I read about Doctors exchanging sex for drugs, distributing large amounts of opiates, not only due I take the news with a grain of salt now, but the general public, specially those that have been harmed by the governments and mains stream medias lies does as well. A virtual meeting that I, and many others specially patients had with the CDC was a major step forward. But evil is very strong. No doubt that those with bad intentions will fight back, and this was emphasized at this meeting. But, it is a balancing act and good ultimately triumphs for the continued advancement of our species. We just have to hang tight and fight on. The lies about this fake prescription opiate crisis are clear to the public now. Less than 3% of deaths, drugs abused were prescription all along. Not surprised.
About the Author Felix Brizuela
Born in Cuba, Felix moved to New Jersey when he was two years old. He played football and wrestled for Rutgers University. He graduated medical training at the now-named Rowan School of Osteopathic Medicine and did his residency in neurology. His medical practice was located in Morgantown, WV and Connellsville, PA. He has teaching experience, serving as department chair at Temple University and teaching attendant at the West Virginia school of Osteopathic Medicine. He has done investigative studies with epilepsy and multiple sclerosis and served as chief investigator for a study of postpolio syndrome and chronic fatigue. He was also a chief investigator in a study involving the use of intravenous gamma globin for the treatment of chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, entitled “Ivig and cidp, dose matters”. The paper was presented at a poster presentation in France. He has lectured overseas on the topic of cidp and immune neuropathy.
Felix will be teaching various health topics through our DoC course network. If interested in learning more, sign up below for our newsletter.
Filed under: General Problems | 6 Comments »
COVID-19 “death counts”… facts & LIES
Posted on July 18, 2021 by Pharmaciststeve
Filed under: General Problems | 1 Comment »
Biden EO: the Federal Government should pursue a comprehensive approach to advancing equity for all
Posted on July 18, 2021 by Pharmaciststeve
Everyone seems to have a different definition of EQUITY and it is not necessarily the same as EQUALITY. Does this EO from President Biden mean that everyone should have EQUAL ACCESS to medical care? Not necessarily equal access to medical care that is paid for by someone else – like a national health insurance. When a product/service is provided at no charge.. it tends to be over utilized and rationing will quickly be implemented.
Executive Order On Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:
Section 1. Policy. Equal opportunity is the bedrock of American democracy, and our diversity is one of our country’s greatest strengths. But for too many, the American Dream remains out of reach. Entrenched disparities in our laws and public policies, and in our public and private institutions, have often denied that equal opportunity to individuals and communities. Our country faces converging economic, health, and climate crises that have exposed and exacerbated inequities, while a historic movement for justice has highlighted the unbearable human costs of systemic racism. Our Nation deserves an ambitious whole-of-government equity agenda that matches the scale of the opportunities and challenges that we face.
It is therefore the policy of my Administration that the Federal Government should pursue a comprehensive approach to advancing equity for all, including people of color and others who have been historically under served, marginalized, and adversely affected by persistent poverty and inequality. Affirmatively advancing equity, civil rights, racial justice, and equal opportunity is the responsibility of the whole of our Government. Because advancing equity requires a systematic approach to embedding fairness in decision-making processes, executive departments and agencies (agencies) must recognize and work to redress inequities in their policies and programs that serve as barriers to equal opportunity.
By advancing equity across the Federal Government, we can create opportunities for the improvement of communities that have been historically underserved, which benefits everyone. For example, an analysis shows that closing racial gaps in wages, housing credit, lending opportunities, and access to higher education would amount to an additional $5 trillion in gross domestic product in the American economy over the next 5 years. The Federal Government’s goal in advancing equity is to provide everyone with the opportunity to reach their full potential. Consistent with these aims, each agency must assess whether, and to what extent, its programs and policies perpetuate systemic barriers to opportunities and benefits for people of color and other underserved groups. Such assessments will better equip agencies to develop policies and programs that deliver resources and benefits equitably to all.
Sec. 2. Definitions. For purposes of this order: (a) The term “equity” means the consistent and systematic fair, just, and impartial treatment of all individuals, including individuals who belong to underserved communities that have been denied such treatment, such as Black, Latino, and Indigenous and Native American persons, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and other persons of color; members of religious minorities; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) persons; persons with disabilities; persons who live in rural areas; and persons otherwise adversely affected by persistent poverty or inequality.
(b) The term “underserved communities” refers to populations sharing a particular characteristic, as well as geographic communities, that have been systematically denied a full opportunity to participate in aspects of economic, social, and civic life, as exemplified by the list in the preceding definition of “equity.”
Sec. 3. Role of the Domestic Policy Council. The role of the White House Domestic Policy Council (DPC) is to coordinate the formulation and implementation of my Administration’s domestic policy objectives. Consistent with this role, the DPC will coordinate efforts to embed equity principles, policies, and approaches across the Federal Government. This will include efforts to remove systemic barriers to and provide equal access to opportunities and benefits, identify communities the Federal Government has underserved, and develop policies designed to advance equity for those communities. The DPC-led interagency process will ensure that these efforts are made in coordination with the directors of the National Security Council and the National Economic Council.
Sec. 4. Identifying Methods to Assess Equity. (a) The Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) shall, in partnership with the heads of agencies, study methods for assessing whether agency policies and actions create or exacerbate barriers to full and equal participation by all eligible individuals. The study should aim to identify the best methods, consistent with applicable law, to assist agencies in assessing equity with respect to race, ethnicity, religion, income, geography, gender identity, sexual orientation, and disability.
(b) As part of this study, the Director of OMB shall consider whether to recommend that agencies employ pilot programs to test model assessment tools and assist agencies in doing so.
(c) Within 6 months of the date of this order, the Director of OMB shall deliver a report to the President describing the best practices identified by the study and, as appropriate, recommending approaches to expand use of those methods across the Federal Government.
Sec. 5. Conducting an Equity Assessment in Federal Agencies. The head of each agency, or designee, shall, in consultation with the Director of OMB, select certain of the agency’s programs and policies for a review that will assess whether underserved communities and their members face systemic barriers in accessing benefits and opportunities available pursuant to those policies and programs. The head of each agency, or designee, shall conduct such review and within 200 days of the date of this order provide a report to the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy (APDP) reflecting findings on the following:
(a) Potential barriers that underserved communities and individuals may face to enrollment in and access to benefits and services in Federal programs;
(b) Potential barriers that underserved communities and individuals may face in taking advantage of agency procurement and contracting opportunities;
(c) Whether new policies, regulations, or guidance documents may be necessary to advance equity in agency actions and programs; and
(d) The operational status and level of institutional resources available to offices or divisions within the agency that are responsible for advancing civil rights or whose mandates specifically include serving underrepresented or disadvantaged communities.
Sec. 6. Allocating Federal Resources to Advance Fairness and Opportunity. The Federal Government should, consistent with applicable law, allocate resources to address the historic failure to invest sufficiently, justly, and equally in underserved communities, as well as individuals from those communities. To this end:
(a) The Director of OMB shall identify opportunities to promote equity in the budget that the President submits to the Congress.
(b) The Director of OMB shall, in coordination with the heads of agencies, study strategies, consistent with applicable law, for allocating Federal resources in a manner that increases investment in underserved communities, as well as individuals from those communities. The Director of OMB shall report the findings of this study to the President.
Sec. 7. Promoting Equitable Delivery of Government Benefits and Equitable Opportunities. Government programs are designed to serve all eligible individuals. And Government contracting and procurement opportunities should be available on an equal basis to all eligible providers of goods and services. To meet these objectives and to enhance compliance with existing civil rights laws:
(a) Within 1 year of the date of this order, the head of each agency shall consult with the APDP and the Director of OMB to produce a plan for addressing:
(i) any barriers to full and equal participation in programs identified pursuant to section 5(a) of this order; and
(ii) any barriers to full and equal participation in agency procurement and contracting opportunities identified pursuant to section 5(b) of this order.
(b) The Administrator of the U.S. Digital Service, the United States Chief Technology Officer, the Chief Information Officer of the United States, and the heads of other agencies, or their designees, shall take necessary actions, consistent with applicable law, to support agencies in developing such plans.
Sec. 8. Engagement with Members of Underserved Communities. In carrying out this order, agencies shall consult with members of communities that have been historically underrepresented in the Federal Government and underserved by, or subject to discrimination in, Federal policies and programs. The head of each agency shall evaluate opportunities, consistent with applicable law, to increase coordination, communication, and engagement with community-based organizations and civil rights organizations.
Sec. 9. Establishing an Equitable Data Working Group. Many Federal datasets are not disaggregated by race, ethnicity, gender, disability, income, veteran status, or other key demographic variables. This lack of data has cascading effects and impedes efforts to measure and advance equity. A first step to promoting equity in Government action is to gather the data necessary to inform that effort.
(a) Establishment. There is hereby established an Interagency Working Group on Equitable Data (Data Working Group).
(b) Membership.
(i) The Chief Statistician of the United States and the United States Chief Technology Officer shall serve as Co-Chairs of the Data Working Group and coordinate its work. The Data Working Group shall include representatives of agencies as determined by the Co-Chairs to be necessary to complete the work of the Data Working Group, but at a minimum shall include the following officials, or their designees:
(A) the Director of OMB;
(B) the Secretary of Commerce, through the Director of the U.S. Census Bureau;
(C) the Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers;
(D) the Chief Information Officer of the United States;
(E) the Secretary of the Treasury, through the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Tax Policy;
(F) the Chief Data Scientist of the United States; and
(G) the Administrator of the U.S. Digital Service.
(ii) The DPC shall work closely with the Co-Chairs of the Data Working Group and assist in the Data Working Group’s interagency coordination functions.
(iii) The Data Working Group shall consult with agencies to facilitate the sharing of information and best practices, consistent with applicable law.
(c) Functions. The Data Working Group shall:
(i) through consultation with agencies, study and provide recommendations to the APDP identifying inadequacies in existing Federal data collection programs, policies, and infrastructure across agencies, and strategies for addressing any deficiencies identified; and
(ii) support agencies in implementing actions, consistent with applicable law and privacy interests, that expand and refine the data available to the Federal Government to measure equity and capture the diversity of the American people.
(d) OMB shall provide administrative support for the Data Working Group, consistent with applicable law.
Sec. 10. Revocation. (a) Executive Order 13950 of September 22, 2020 (Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping), is hereby revoked.
(b) The heads of agencies covered by Executive Order 13950 shall review and identify proposed and existing agency actions related to or arising from Executive Order 13950. The head of each agency shall, within 60 days of the date of this order, consider suspending, revising, or rescinding any such actions, including all agency actions to terminate or restrict contracts or grants pursuant to Executive Order 13950, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law.
(c) Executive Order 13958 of November 2, 2020 (Establishing the President’s Advisory 1776 Commission), is hereby revoked.
Sec. 11. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) Independent agencies are strongly encouraged to comply with the provisions of this order.
(d) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.
THE WHITE HOUSE,
January 20, 2021.
Filed under: General Problems | Leave a Comment »
The FIVE FOX cable discussing the new CDC opiate crisis “death count” – listen to GUTFELD !
Posted on July 18, 2021 by Pharmaciststeve
https://youtu.be/SLFqiS37rdQ?t=969
The top video is from youtube, but at times it states that it has been taken down… so the bottom video I saved it to my hard drive… so that no one can take it down.
Filed under: General Problems | 6 Comments »
when you get tired of being in “chains” try a independent pharmacy – dump the chain pharmacies
Posted on July 17, 2021 by Pharmaciststeve
Filed under: General Problems | Leave a Comment »
where is the chronic pain pt ?
Posted on July 13, 2021 by Pharmaciststeve
You having problem finding the chronic pain pt in the graphic ?
Maybe it is because the vast majority of chronic pain pts chose to be “out of sight”. Hide in plain sight ?
A few days ago I shared this post RIP: In her haunting words, she couldn’t do it anymore. “This is not survivable”
It would seem that every time that I post about someone who could not live in their uncontrollable/unmanageable pain and chose to take the final action to end their suffering… The number of page views jump dramatically for that particular post. Often a single post will get viewed/read as many of times as the total number of pages viewed/read on a single day.
And this particular post was no different. I also saw where this information was shared by a couple of other people on the web. This particular post on my blog got THREE LIKES …. TWO COMMENTS .. and ZERO SHARES..
So how many people within the community is now aware that the CDC guidelines has caused one more chronic pain pt to exercise the “final solution” to get out of her torturous level of pain ?
It has been reported that – on average – 24 veterans commit SUICIDE EVERY DAY… many because the VA’s policies discourages/prohibits prescribers providing opiates to patients dealing with chronic pain. Mostly from injuries incurred while serving and protecting our country. Their names and their suicides may or may not be covered by the local media, but I have not seen any coverage by the national media.
How many chronic pain pts are dying prematurely because of under/untreated pain, causing complication with their other comorbidity issues. Hypertensive crisis, stroke and/or death. Eye & kidney damage from elevated high blood pressure that typical blood pressure meds can get down to normal levels?
Taking high amounts of Tylenol/Acetaminophen …causing liver damage and/or high amounts of NASIDS… causing kidney damage or one of the estimated 15,000 that die every year from a GI bleed from excessive and/or long term use of this category of medications. How many of these deaths, their death certificate would indicate that cause of death was “opiate related death” and/or natural causes ?
How many members of a chronic pain pts family at their funeral – either from suicide or premature death – walk away just saying…” at least he/she is out of pain and at peace” As opposed to those family members that walk away from that funeral because of a OD … just saying… “we must do everything necessary so that no other family has to experience what we have had to deal with “
Is the chronic pain pt that much of a liability to the family ?
Filed under: General Problems | 6 Comments »
fentanyl in 95 percent of the 87 overdose deaths through March this year, a number that has risen steadily in recent years
Posted on July 12, 2021 by Pharmaciststeve
Fatal opioid overdoses are up by the hundreds, devastating families and worrying officials
Imani Henderson struggled through tears to explain how special her best friend of 12 years was before the church full of more than a hundred family and friends who gathered Friday.
“Our next best friend goal was to graduate high school,” said Henderson, dressed in a white shirt and jeans. “Now, I have to graduate not just for myself, but for Jayla too.”
The funeral came just two weeks after Jayla died of a suspected opioid overdose, just one of an increasing number of fatal opioid overdoses in the District and across Maryland and Virginia. Health officials point to a rise in fentanyl-laced substances, including opioids, marijuana and cocaine for the recent increase in overdoses, with a suspected bad batch of fentanyl circulating in the region exacerbating the trend.
In the District, the city’s medical examiner identified fentanyl in 95 percent of the 87 overdose deaths through March this year, a number that has risen steadily in recent years; 281 overdose deaths in 2019 and 411 in 2020. Black residents, who make up 46 percent of the city according to census data, have been disproportionately affected. More than four out of five people who die of overdoses in the city are Black, according to data from city officials.
The Arlington County Sheriff’s Office tweeted recently that the trend has worsened in the past two weeks because of a reportedly bad batch of fentanyl that has led to at least 15 fatal overdoses in the region, including six in Arlington alone.
Alexandria has already recorded 59 fatal and nonfatal overdoses through June 30, which is on pace to break last year’s high of 104.
Emily Bentley, Alexandria’s opioid response coordinator, attributes the recent spike to dealers lacing substances with the cheaper, more addictive fentanyl. She noted that unsuspecting marijuana users may be taking drugs laced with the synthetic opioid, broadening the types of drug users who could be impacted.
“We need to reach an audience we’ve never targeted before,” she said.
Police reports in Montgomery County, Maryland’s largest county, show that fatal opioid overdoses are up 33 percent, and nonfatal overdoses are up 57 percent this year as of the end of June, compared with the same period in 2020.
Montgomery County Assistant Chief of Police Dinesh Patil said that 98 percent of the county’s fatal overdoses involve fentanyl.
“It’s Russian roulette,” Patil said. “This is not experimental. This is life and death.”
Mark Robinson, the syringe services program coordinator for the nonprofit Family and Medical Counseling Services, said outreach workers initially saw drug users fearing fentanyl. But the potency and price of the drug quickly boosted demand, particularly from heroin users.
Robinson’s program serves about 2,000 people in the District and in Prince George’s County.
“It rapidly became the drug of choice. As the demand increased, so did the overdose rates go up,” Robinson said. “The poison has been poisoned.”
As concerns from police and public health workers mount, families across the region mourn the loved ones they lost to fentanyl.
Deena Loudon, 52, found her 21-year-old son, Matthew Loudon, and another friend in the downstairs of her Olney home, showing “classic overdose symptoms” on Election Day in November.
She said she had just spoken to Matthew about the dangers of fentanyl poisoning the day before. Matthew, whose family said he struggled with depression and anxiety, told her he had done all his research. The family tried to help him go to rehab for his use of pills, but Matthew wouldn’t go, Deena said.
He didn’t know he was taking a pill laced with fentanyl the day he died. The family now keeps a blanket of his ice hockey jerseys, Matthew’s passion, as a remembrance of his life.
“Matthew thought that he knew everything about what he was doing … he thought he could pick out a fake pill if he ever got one,” said Matthew’s older brother, Ryan Loudon, 27. “And, fact is, you don’t. You don’t always know.”
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that in 2019, overdose deaths from synthetic opioids were 12 times higher than they were in 2013, when counterfeit narcotics and drugs laced with more lethal synthetic substances such as fentanyl started becoming more prevalent.
When Shekita McBroom walked into the church Friday for her daughter’s funeral, Pastor Leslie Price embraced her.
“It might be hard now, but just know it will be okay,” Price said.
Later, McBroom swayed and rocked through the songs and prayers of the service, the involuntary movements of unimaginable loss. She is awaiting a toxicology report to confirm what killed Jayla. But McBroom, the advisory board commissioner for Ward 8 — which has been disproportionately affected by fatal overdoses — said she intends to channel her sorrow into prevention efforts throughout the city.
Local jurisdictions are also ramping up prevention programs.
In the District, health officials are “deploying teams to hotspots” to inform users about and overdose survivors about treatment services. They also hand out naloxone, the drug known by its brand name Narcan that is used to treat overdoses and prevent fatalities. Nearly 45,000 naloxone kits in the District were distributed in 2020, up from more than 15,000 in 2019, according to city officials. To help survivors, six community hospitals are participating in an addiction treatment program, starting in the emergency room and then providing patients with peer support.
In Northern Virginia, officials are encouraging both opioid users and nonopioid users to request free fentanyl test strips from the Chris Atwood Foundation, which allows users to see whether the drug they are using could contain fentanyl. They are also asking people to carry naloxone on them.
Montgomery police have partnered with the local health and human services department, school system, state’s attorney office and the drug abuse advisory council to launch the Community Opioid Prevention Education (COPE) trailer. The display features a replica bedroom and bathroom aimed at flagging signs of opioid abuse, such as prescription bottles with no prescription sticker on them and containing non-matching pills.
Deena Loudon said her son had taken up gardening and loved to cook. To keep the tradition going, the family built a greenhouse, growing tomatoes, peppers and herbs. They sit around the table as a family and talk about Matthew all the time, she said.
Loudon said it might sound cliche to describe finding her son dead as a “parent’s worst nightmare,” but the mother said it was exactly that.
“It’s the most horrible thing,” she said, “and I’ll never get that vision out of my head.”
Filed under: General Problems | 3 Comments »