Fatal Drug Overdoses Spiked 30% In First 12 Months Of Pandemic

Axios: U.S. Sees Record High Of 96,000 Drug Overdose Deaths In 12 Month Period 
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recorded over 96,000 deaths from drug overdoses in a twelve-month period ending in March 2021, according to provisional data released Wednesday. It's a nearly 30% jump over the preceding 12 months and coincides with one of the deadliest periods of the COVID-19 pandemic, when stay-at-home orders radically changed daily life for most Americans. (Garfinkel, 10/13)

WBTW: Horry County Leads South Carolina In Opioid Overdoses
Horry County has the highest number of suspected opioid overdoses in South Carolina, according to data from the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC). At Tuesday’s public safety meeting, Horry County Coroner Robert Edge told members that drugs continue to be a big problem in the county. “The drug war is still going,” Edge said. “In the last three months, we’ve had 45 calls,” he said. “I can tell you what they’re going to come back and they’re going to come back mostly with fentanyl, heroin, or cocaine.” (DeBone, 10/13)

AP: US Supreme Court Won't Hear Dispute Over Injection Sites
The U.S. Supreme Court decided Wednesday it will not review a nonprofit group’s effort to open a supervised injection site in Philadelphia to try to reduce overdose deaths. The high court’s decision in the widely watched test case is a setback for the two dozen U.S. states and cities that supported the petition. A divided U.S. appeals court had rejected the Safehouse plan in January. Organizers of the Safehouse project say federal “crackhouse” laws enacted are not intended to criminalize medically supervised centers. (10/13)

In updates on the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy case —

NPR: Federal Judge Rejects A Government Bid To Delay Purdue Pharma's Bankruptcy Settlement
In a surprise ruling late Wednesday a federal judge in New York allowed work to continue on implementation of a controversial bankruptcy plan for Purdue Pharma, the maker of Oxycontin. The U.S. Justice Department's bankruptcy watchdog agency had urged Judge Colleen McMahon of the U.S. District Court in Manhattan to put the brakes on the deal until it was reviewed on appeal. During a hearing Tuesday, McMahon signaled support for a stay. But in her ruling on Wednesday, she said work on the settlement, valued at between $5 and $10 billion, can go forward. (Mann, 10/13)

And in more news about the opioid crisis —

Everyday Health: 1 In 5 ‘Opioid-Naive’ People Continue To Take Pain Medication 3 Months After Surgery
New research shows that approximately 1 in 5 “opioid-naive” adults continued to use the pain medication three months after having a procedure. People with depression, bipolar disorder, pulmonary hypertension, or who were smokers were among those with the highest risk for continuing to take opioids, according to the findings which were presented at the Anesthesiology 2021 annual meeting held October 8 to 12 in San Diego, California. “The more than 100 million surgeries in the United States every year create an unintended and alarming gateway to long-term opioid use,” said Gia Pittet, PhD, doctor of audiology, lead author of the study and visiting graduate researcher for anesthesiology and perioperative medicine at the University of California in Los Angeles, in a release. (Upham, 10/12)

SILive: ‘The People Are Losing.’ Cop From S.I. Waging War On Opioid Epidemic; Organizes Brooklyn Walk For Saturday
A Walk for Hope is slated to begin on Saturday morning under the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge in John Paul Jones Park near the cannon at Shore Road and 4th Avenue. “The goal of the walk is to end overdoses in America,” said Michael Balioni, who organized two previous marches, including one in the NYPD’s 60th Precinct in Brooklyn where he works as a police officer. Balioni pointed to record-high overdoses nationwide during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic as proof that the status quo isn’t working. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics found that there were more than 93,000 deaths from drug overdoses in the United States in 2020, a whopping 29% increase from 2019. (Grunlund, 10/11)

WKRG: 'It Is Not Getting Better': Pensacola’s Lakeview Center Sees More People Seeking Help For Opioid Addiction
Addiction treatment professionals say opioid abuse has been escalating in Escambia County, Fla., in the past two years. “It is getting worse,” Sandra Crawford said. “It is not getting better.” Crawford is a director of addiction treatment at Lakeview Center, a Baptist Health facility, in Pensacola. She helps people who are addicted to pain pills and says the opioid crisis during the pandemic has caused more people to come through their doors seeking help. “The past couple of years have been exceptionally challenging because COVID has created a lot of factors,” Crawford said. “It has made folks feel in a lot of ways more isolated, created some more depression, more stress, creating financial hardships.” (Long, 10/13)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Nurse Pleads Guilty To Stealing Pain Meds From Metro East Nursing Home Residents 
A nurse pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal charges and admitted stealing pain medications from at least 23 residents of eight nursing homes in Madison and St. Clair counties, causing some to go without pain relief. Angela M. Mohler, of Shiloh, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in East St. Louis on Wednesday to five counts of obtaining a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud or deception. (Patrick, 10/13)

Iowa Public Radio: State Will Use Opioid Lawsuit Settlement Funds To Launch A New Addiction Treatment Program
The state Attorney General's office is partnering with the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics to launch a new program to combat opioid addiction. The $3.8 million comprehensive treatment program will be funded using Iowa's settlement with McKinsey & Co., a large consulting firm that the state alleged in its lawsuit contributed to the opioid crisis by helping to promote opioids like oxycodone. Under the program UIHC specialists will train practitioners across the state so they can obtain a waiver to use medication to treat opioid addiction. Alison Lynch, who directs the opioid addiction clinic at UIHC, said medication greatly reduces the risk of death. (Krebs, 10/13)

New York State Attorney General: Attorney General James To Deliver Up To $26.7 Million To Southern Tier To Combat Opioid Crisis
New York Attorney General Letitia James today continued her statewide ‘HealNY’ tour of New York state with stops in Binghamton and Ithaca, where she announced that she will deliver up to $26.7 million to the Southern Tier to combat the opioid epidemic. The funds come from different settlements Attorney General James has negotiated following her March 2019 lawsuit against the various manufacturers and distributors responsible for the opioid crisis. Attorney General James’ tour will make stops in dozens of New York counties throughout the month of October, with up to $1.5 billion in funds going to counties across New York state. (10/13)