Deaths from drug overdoses, primarily opioids like heroin, rose to 900 statewide in 2016 and are expected to reach 1,000 this year, and Darien Health Director David Knauf is proposing that overdose incidents (fatal or not fatal) be reported to each local health director. A number of other diseases, health conditions and deaths must be reported to local health directors and the state Medical Examiners Office now. But drug overdose incidents aren’t on that list. Knauf expects to submit testimony to the state Reportable Diseases Advisory Committee in the hope of getting its endorsement of the idea, which would have to be approved by the Connecticut Department of Public Health. He says there seems to be support for the move from other state and local health officials in Connecticut, so he’s hopeful the policy will be adopted here.
With sports, comes injuries; with injuries, come pain relievers, and prescription opioids are very good ones; but with prescription opioids comes the risk of addiction, and school athletes may have vulnerabilities that make them more likely to get an addiction, a panel of experts told a crowd Tuesday in Greenwich. Here’s Leslie Yager’s article on the event:
At Tuesday’s “Stress, Success and Teen Setbacks” event at Arch Street Teen Center, a panel that that included Dr. Paul Sethi from ONS, tackled the physical and psychological challenges of athletes coping with injuries. Dr. Sethi described student athletes as vulnerable. “Their identity is wrapped up in sports and how we emphasize — as parents or as a society — in sports how great it is to be professional or how that will mean access to a college career,” Sethi said, adding that vulnerability comes into play when opiate medications are introduced. “How do I tell the injured athlete to get through the pain.
A presentation will be given on benzodiazepines, a widely prescribed drug that has had rising, deadly effects when mixed with growing opioid abuse, will be given Friday morning in Norwalk City Hall. This presentation is appropriate for all community members, but doctors can receive “CEU” [continuing education unit] credit for professional certificates or licenses. Are we ignoring an escalating benzodiazepine epidemic amongst adolescents and young adults? Deaths from benzodiazepines (BZDs) overdose have grown at a faster rate than deaths by opiate overdose for the past 13 years. OCME [Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Connecticut] 2016 data shows that 28 percent of the overdose deaths last year were due to a combination of opioids, BZDs and other drugs. Fairfield County has the second-highest rate of BZD prescriptions in Connecticut.
Benzodiazepine pills are used primarily for treatment of anxiety; a controlled substance; some of the more well-known benzos are Xanax, Valium, Ativan, and Klonopin
SIDEBAR: More on Benzodiazepines
From the Mayo Clinic website:
“Benzodiazepines are risky drugs; that’s the bottom line,” says Dr. Larissa Loukianova, medical director of Mayo Clinic’s Comprehensive Pain Rehabilitation Center.
“We cannot arrest ourselves out of this problem. Addiction is a disease,” said Deirdre Daly, U.S. attorney for the District of Connecticut, in the video: The Opioid Crisis Hits Home: Stories from Connecticut. Heroin and opioid addiction have exploded into a statewide crisis here in Connecticut. The lives of those addicted and their families are being destroyed by this epidemic. The U.S. Attorney’s Office is dedicating significant resources to help the medical and law-enforcement communities stamp out this deadly scourge. This short film (below) features parents who have lost children to drug overdoses, a young man who shares a courageous story of recovery, as well as doctors and law enforcement officials working on the front lines to end this widespread public health crisis.
Make your New Year’s Resolution to attend the upcoming presentations at the Darien Library to learn about current health trends in town and how we compare with local communities and the State of Connecticut. Over the span of three sessions (Jan. 12, 19 and 26), the Darien Health Department, along with renowned guest speakers, will present results of a year-long study of data related to health issues and trends in Darien. ___________
— This article is a combination of announcements from the Darien Health Department and Darien Library. ___________
In December, America’s Health Rankings Annual Report was released by the United Health Foundation, and Connecticut was ranked No.
