Opioid Addiction and Overdose Concerns Health Officials in Massachusetts

Over the past few years, the New England area has seen a rise in drug addictions and hospital visits related to drug misuse or overdose. Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick declared a public health emergency today to curb the issue in his state.

Governor Patrick asked Public Health Commissioner Cheryl Barlett to help work to change the current state of affairs by having first responders to carry naloxone (a drug that reverses heroin overdose), ban the prescription of any painkiller that only contains hydrocodone until future safeguards are enacted, and monitor prescriptions written by doctors and given out by pharmacies.

The recently FDA-approved opioid, Zohydro, has been a cause for concern over the last few months. It's the first single-ingredient hydrocodone drug ever approved, and its strength is believed to have the potential to kill someone with only the consumption of two pills. This will undoubtedly exacerbate the heroin issue in Massachusetts; there have been 185 heroin overdoses in less than three months.

State officials believe a more potent strain of heroin has infiltrated the region, which is causing this epidemic. Governor Patrick hopes to allocate money to fight overdoses, halt the epidemic, and properly treat those with addiction and drug misuse problems. An additional $20 million will be used to increase and improve treatment and recovery services throughout the state, and also in prisons and jails.

"I have directed the Department of Public Health to take certain immediate actions and to give me further actionable recommendations within 60 days, to address this challenge and better protect the health of people suffering from addiction and the families and loved ones who suffer with them," said Governor Patrick in this Boston Globe article.

Earlier this month, Governor Peter Shumlin of Vermont, Governor Paul LePage of Maine, and Governor Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire issued similar statements and declared measures that aimed to mitigate the growing problem in the New England area. It'll most likely take a little while for the policies and investments to kick in, but they're likely to work given the grave danger of the situation.