By Elyse Monroy UNR School of Public Health
Wednesday, August 24, 2022
In 2018 President Trump held a White House Opioid Summit. During this summit, a woman named CeCe Brown told the story of losing her son to an accidental opioid overdose. She remembered one of the last things he said to her, “Mom, I’m trying. I’m trying.” Ryan was on a waitlist at two treatment facilities when he accidently overdosed.
I think about CeCe and Ryan often. I know there are conversations like theirs happening every day across the country. We also know there are too many people waiting for treatment.
Since 2018, overdose death rates in the United States have climbed year over year. This is also true for Nevada. Between 2019 and 2020 unintentional drug overdose deaths rose 55%. Data from the first half of 2021 paints an equally grim picture. Nevada saw a 20% increase in accidental overdose deaths from 2020. People working in the field say that fentanyl has changed the game. A small amount of the undetectable substance can be lethal.
The most current Nevada overdose death data shows that fentanyl was involved in 65% of overdose deaths. Fentanyl has taken over the drug supply. Many people are being exposed to fentanyl unknowingly when they use stimulants like cocaine or meth. From January to June of 2021 over half of the accidental overdose deaths, 58%, involved stimulants.
I work with The Overdose Data to Action program. OD2A is Nevada’s main source of CDC funding for fatal and nonfatal overdose reporting. We produce monthly reports about the state’s overdoses. We are also working to create a real time overdose surveillance hub. Our goal is to help get high quality, comprehensive and timely data about opioid prescribing and mortality, and to use the data to guide Nevada’s prevention and intervention efforts by local response agencies. As part of our biannual fatal overdose reporting, we report on something called “circumstances prior to overdoses.” This tells us what was going on in someone’s life before they experience an accidental fatal overdose. This information helps state and local program or policy leaders to better understand where there might be a need for interventions upstream.
Based on our program’s most recent data we see that 83% of people that died in the first part of 2021 had reported current or past substance abuse, and 38% had reported a mental health diagnosis. Many federal, state, and local leaders talk about the need to increase service availability. It’s also important for people to be able to find our current providers. For the past three years the OD2A program has been partnering with the Division of Public and Behavioral Health’s Substance Abuse Prevention Treatment Agency to develop the Nevada Health Connection Network. This network is powered by OpenBeds which helps health care providers search real time treatment availability. The state’s goal with the Nevada Health Connection is to connect people to the most appropriate level of care as quickly as possible. In addition to helping health care providers, the network allows members of the public to search real time service availability and generate self-referrals at TreatmentConnection.com.
The circumstances prior to death data also tells us is that 75% of accidental overdoses in the first six months of 2021 happened in the person’s home. Additionally, there was a bystander present in 58% of accidental overdoses. Why is this important to know? This is important because an overdose does not have to be fatal. Naloxone can reverse the side effects of an overdose. Nevadans can access free naloxone across the state at many community-based organizations. You can find a naloxone distribution center near you at nvopiodresponse.org/naloxone-finder. Additionally, Nevada has a Good Samaritan Overdose Law in place which provides certain protections for people who call 911 when they are with someone that experiences an overdose.
In my work on OD2A I process the opioid crisis through numbers, percentages, and data. But I think about the people behind these numbers all the time. I think about CeCe Brown, and the mothers and fathers who share her fateful story. I also think about the people like Ryan – and all the people who are trying and waiting. I have one more data point I would like to provide you. A 2020 study published by the CDC and the National Institute on Drug Abuse found that 2 out of 3 people who experience addiction eventually recover. This data tells us there is hope. Recovery is possible. But only people who are alive can experience recovery. We need to help keep our loved ones, our neighbors, our fellow Nevadans alive. Carry Naloxone. Have it in the home. Call 911 if you are with someone that has overdosed.
Elyse Monroy is the program manager for Overdose Data to Action in the School of Public Health at the University of Nevada, Reno.
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