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Michelle Branch lost her brother, Craig Elazer, on September 1, 2020, to a fentanyl overdose. He had received support for his addiction, which he had struggled with since he was 12, but a changed world due to the coronavirus pandemic ultimately led to his untimely death.
Branch’s loss is one of tens of thousands in 2020. More than 93,000 people died of drug overdoses last year, according to provisional data from the National Center for Health Statistics of the Centers for Disease Control. and Prevention in the United States.
That means 2020 was the deadliest year on record for drug overdoses.
“This is terrible news,” said Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, associate dean of public health practice at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and former sub-committee of the United States Food and Drug Administration. .
“We have had such a devastating year because of the pandemic, and on top of that, a record number of Americans dying of drug overdoses.”
Accidental confusion leads to tragedy
Elazer’s struggle with addiction lasted most of his life. He is said to consume mainly alcohol, but he also uses other drugs to treat his anxiety on his own. He had walked in and out of rehabilitation centers, even though nothing seemed to stick.
Elazer was released from prison “in the midst of Covid,” his sister said, and despite the nationwide trend of job loss, he was able to find work to care for their disabled cousin and find a job. place to live in the “terrible part of Saint Louis.”
While participating in Alcoholics Anonymous and following a two-step program, restrictions limiting in-person gatherings forced online support groups and funding dried up for other support programs.
Elazer didn’t know how to use current technology to access online support groups, making it nearly impossible for him to get help. He stopped going to AA meetings and eventually relapsed into alcohol and drug abuse.
On the night that took his life, he probably thought he had bought Xanax, his sister said. But what he bought – and ended up using – was actually fentanyl.
After trying and failing to contact Elazer all evening, Branch and his cousin sent his cousin’s son to find out what had happened. The front door to Elazer’s apartment had a mail slot where the son could see Elazer’s legs on the floor, where he lay still. He called an ambulance, but it was too late.
Branch got a call from their cousin that night saying Elazer was “gone.”
“I just couldn’t figure it out. And I was like, ‘Gone where?’ And she said, “Shelly, I think he’s gone. “”
“An absolute record to a new absolute record”
Overdose rates have been increasing since 1999, according to the NCHS. In 2019, there were 70,630 deaths, and compared to this year’s rate, deaths in 2020 have increased by almost 30%.
“This is a major increase from a historic high to a new historic high,” Sharfstein said. “And it reflects so much tragedy, pain… and every death is surrounded by a circle of trauma.
“People who cared about that person, their family, loved ones, friends. So the overall impact is devastating.”
Sharfstein also cited the Covid-19 pandemic as the reason for the increase in overdose deaths in 2020. The pandemic has caused a series of “heartache, trauma, economic and social upheaval,” he said. People who may be recovering from an addiction or who have never used drugs can find themselves in dire circumstances. Maybe a loved one has passed away or they have lost their job. Sharfstein says these risk factors can cause someone to use drugs.
Follow the epidemic in real time
The statistics are grim, but there are steps that can be taken to mitigate the damage.
Sharfstein calls for another comparison to Covid-19, but in this case, a comparison of the urgency and inventiveness of response efforts.
He stressed that following up on the problem is an important step in addressing it, and noted that while the data collection efforts were robust with “maps every day, we knew how many new cases, who received the new cases, who gets tested, who gets vaccinated, “Collecting overdose data has not been so urgent.
“Here we are in July and we just get the data for 2020,” he said. “We can do a lot better with data and use that data, just like we did with Covid, to focus our energy on the populations, groups and areas that need attention most.”
The medical treatment strategies that have gained prominence during the pandemic can also be used to deal with the overdose crisis. For example, the use of telemedicine has skyrocketed during the pandemic, and Sharfstein believes telemedicine could play an important role in tackling drug addiction-related health disorders.
Sharfstein believes overdose death cases could decline as the country enters a less urgent phase of the pandemic. However, he stresses that any improvement does not mean that the problem has solved itself and that current resources are “not sufficient”.
“A major priority for 2021 is going to be to follow the evidence to do the same thing we did with Covid,” he said. “Use science, use evidence, be compassionate, and provide treatment and support to those who need it. “
For Branch, there is no way to bring her brother back. But after his death, “a calm invaded me. Because he is free”.
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