‘We the people’ can make a difference
When we choose to get involved, we can make more of a difference than we know in helping to find solutions to societal challenges The article discusses the role of citizens in helping to address the issue of the opioid drug epidemic in Utah, written by Dr. Rick Steves. Steves served on a coalition to address this issue, which included parents who lost a child to drug overdose, educators, PTA presidents, law enforcement officers, business community, and former addicts. The coalition focused on Utah’s Controlled Substance Database (CSD), a tool that reveals when a patient has received prescriptions for opioid painkillers elsewhere, which was successful in identifying “drug seekers” and identifying patients at risk of drug abuse and addiction. Steges and Darrell Bingham, a police officer in the coalition, argued that laws preventing the notifying of prescribers whose patients were driving under the influence of prescription drugs kept critical information from those who truly needed to know. They initiated a statewide initiative to educate prescribering about the CSD and its value, and a billboard campaign promoting the use of alternatives to opioids for pain relief and disposing of unused opioids. Naloxone was made more accessible to prevent overdose deaths. Utah's success likely contributed to the inclusion of an education requirement for prescriberers and the elimination of per capita opioid overdose deaths in the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
Published : 3 days ago by Stephen Nelson in Politics Health
Fatal doses of heroin and fentanyl are on are display during a press conference about the dangers and increase in fentanyl at the Drug Enforcement Administration Salt Lake City District Office in Salt... [4599 symbols]
