The Ohio Departments of Health (ODH) and Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services (ODADAS) have announced that while the percent of increase in deaths tied to opioid drug overdoses in 2011 was cut in half from 2010 (from a 26 percent increase in 2010 to a 13 percent increase in 2011), the total number of unintentional poisoning deaths in 2011–1,765–is still unacceptably high and Ohio’s hard work must continue to fight drug abuse and help addicts recover.
“The slowed increase provides a ray of hope but underscores just how much work still needs to be done to free Ohio from the prescription drug overdose epidemic and the resulting growth of heroin use and overdoses,” said Dr. Ted Wymyslo, Director of the Ohio Department of Health. “Prescription drug abuse is a complex substance abuse issue and we are attacking on several different fronts.”
The data released by ODH show that Marion County had 47 deaths between 2007 and 2011. That gave Marion a death rate of 14.7 per 100,000 people.
Jody Demo-Hodgins of the Crawford-Marion ADAMH Board said the deaths in Marion County were up again in 2012, just as they were across the state. Last year there were 16 opiate related overdose deaths.
Among the counties surrounding Marion, Crawford County had the highest per capita rate and Wyandot County had the lowest. Crawford, Hardin, and Marion Counties all had rates higher than the statewide average of 13.2.
County – Deaths – Per Capita Rate
Crawford – 40 – 19.9
Hardin – 27 – 17.9
Morrow – 22 – 11.9 – 0.9
Union – 24 – 9.1 – 0.7
Delaware – 57 – 6.5 – 0.5
Wyandot – 7
Franklin County saw 906 deaths with a rate of 15.4.
In 2011, the year represented by the new data release, Ohio laid the framework for slowing the abuse of prescription drug abuse under the leadership of Governor John R. Kasich. Closing the “pill mills” in southern Ohio through enactment of HB 93 in mid-2011 was a first and critical step. Expanding addiction treatment options, including accessibility of medication-assisted treatment, has been a key initiative of the Office of Medicaid and the ODADAS.
Other major strategies continued to be implemented in 2012, including the development of emergency room and urgent care opiate prescribing guidelines; a pilot Naloxone education and distribution program in Scioto County; and drug drop box projects in conjunction with ODH and ODADAS, and the Ohio Attorney General’s office.
Demo-Hodgins says that prescriptions from doctors seem to be feeding the problem. She said that in 2012, there were enough opiate based prescriptions filled in Marion County to give every man, woman and child 76 pills.
“We are encouraged that the rate of increase is going down but the number is still unacceptably high,” said Orman Hall, Director of the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services. “As pill mills become increasingly scarce, we will see a shift to heroin and other non-prescription drugs so our interventions must be comprehensive and well-supported as we move forward.”
Funding for treatment has historically fallen short of need as approximately one out of ten Ohioans with addiction are able to access the care they need to achieve sobriety. Governor Kasich’s proposal to extend Medicaid for persons up to 138 percent of federal poverty level would help address this problem by making health care more accessible for both physical and behavioral health conditions and freeing up local funds that can then be used for additional treatment services.
You can read the complete report of findings by clicking here and view all the county-by-county data by clicking here.
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