US health official says overdose deaths begin to stabilize

Ricardo Alonso-zaldivar and Carla K. Johnson, Associated Press

Update

3:48 pm CDT, Tuesday, October 23, 2018

WASHINGTON (AP) – The number of drug overdose deaths in the United States has begun to stabilize after years of incessant increases due to the opioid epidemic, the US Secretary of State said Tuesday. Health, Alex Azar, warning that it was too early to declare his victory.

"We are so far from the end of the epidemic, but we may be at the end of the beginning," Azar said at a health care event sponsored by the think tank Milken Institute.

The fight against the opioid epidemic has been the rare problem that unites Republicans and Democrats in a politically divided country. A bill providing for significant funds for the treatment was passed by former President Barack Obama. More money followed earlier this year under President Donald Trump. And tomorrow, we expect Trump to sign the bipartite law passed this month, which notably increases access to treatment.

According to preliminary figures released this summer by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 70,000 people have died from a drug overdose, an increase of 10% over 2016. Health and Human Services – the Department Azar in the lead – plays a central role in the government's response.

In his speech, Azar suggested that the multiple efforts to control the epidemic were bearing fruit. He checked statistics showing an increase in treatment with drugs such as buprenorphine and naltrexone. There is strong evidence supporting drug-assisted treatment, when used in conjunction with ongoing counseling and support. He also noted a much wider access to naloxone, an overdose drug, and a documented decrease in the number of people making excessive use of prescription opioids while doctors prescribed them with greater care.

Azar said that towards the end of last year and until the beginning of this year, the number of deaths "began to peak". Azar did not indicate that deaths were declining, but noted that they seemed to increase more slowly than ever before.

Earlier this month, the CDC released figures – also preliminary – showing a slowdown in the number of overdose deaths in late 2017 and the first three months of this year. According to preliminary figures from the CDC, these figures show that the pace of the increase over the last 12 months has slowed from 10% to 3%.

Despite the slowdown, the country is still at the heart of the most deadly drug overdose epidemic in its history. Opioids have been implicated in most deaths, killing nearly 48,000 people last year.

While deaths from prescription opioids and heroin seem to be stabilizing, deaths involving fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamines are increasing. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid much more potent than heroin, used as an additive in illicit drugs.

Advocates of people with addiction issues said they did not believe the crisis would be resolved quickly or easily. "While we are beginning to reduce opioid-related deaths, the problem of substance abuse, hopelessness and desperation in many communities is still very serious in this country," said Chuck Ingoglia, Executive Vice-President of the National Council. . for behavioral health.

In the last year of President Barack Obama's tenure, his administration is committed to expanding treatment and Congress has granted billion-dollar grants to states. Trump said the opioid epidemic was a national emergency. Two major funding bills were passed under his watch. While Trump hit the headlines claiming the death penalty against major drug traffickers, his administration relied on the therapeutic approach advocated by Obama.

The Medicaid expansion into the Obama Affordable Care Act has also played a crucial role in enabling low-income adults to undergo treatment. A recent Associated Press analysis showed that states that have expanded their Medicaid activities are spending their new congressional opioid grants wisely, going beyond the basics like treating people in crisis. Trump tried to repeal the Medicaid extension, but failed.

Treatment advocates are delighted that more and more addiction is considered an illness and not a sign of moral weakness. But they say the United States still has a long way to go to build what they call a "health care infrastructure," a system that integrates prevention, treatment and recovery.

In an interview with The Associated Press this summer, an expert from the CDC said that the number of overdose deaths seemed to improve, but that it was too early to draw any definitive conclusions.

Monthly data show a stabilization in the number of deaths, said Bob Anderson, senior statistician at the National Center for Health Statistics. However, these figures are considered preliminary because death surveys are not completed in all cases.

"It seems at this point that we have peaked and we can start to see a decline," Anderson said. "It reminds me of what we saw with HIV in the 1990s."

The final figures for 2018 will not be available until the end of next year and the situation could also worsen, not improve.

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Carla K. Johnson, AP medical reporter, reported in Seattle.

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On the Internet:

DCO drug overdose dashboard – https://tinyurl.com/y75vu2dv