{"id":49115,"date":"2021-01-21T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-01-21T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/covid-19-pandemic-may-be-driving-rise-in-opioid-deaths\/"},"modified":"2021-01-21T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-01-21T12:00:00","slug":"covid-19-pandemic-may-be-driving-rise-in-opioid-deaths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/covid-19-pandemic-may-be-driving-rise-in-opioid-deaths\/","title":{"rendered":"COVID-19 pandemic may be driving rise in opioid deaths"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Dan
Dan Caplin, medical director for Colorado Addiction Treatment Services in Durango, describes opioid treatment operations Wednesday in the restricted-access prescription room at the treatment center\u2019s office in Bodo Industrial Park. Health professionals are trying to understand the coronavirus pandemic\u2019s impacts on opioid use, and preliminary data has some concerned.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

For Dan Caplin with Colorado Addiction Treatment Services, treating people addicted to opioids is complicated to say the least.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is so multifactorial,\u201d he said, before listing about 10 local and national systems that can either help or inhibit the treatment process.<\/p>\n

The nation\u2019s efforts to address opioid addiction, however, haven\u2019t escaped the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, according to some health professionals and preliminary data.<\/p>\n

Widespread mitigation efforts to limit the coronavirus\u2019 spread coincided with increases in opioid-related overdose deaths across the state and country. Health providers are noticing that patients are facing heightened risk factors for heavy drug use tied to isolation and joblessness.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s still too soon to fully understand how the pandemic might be affecting issues related to opioid misuse. But health professionals are keeping a keen eye on concerning early reports.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat my patients are reporting to me is a very high increase in overdose deaths,\u201d said Caplin, who directs the Durango-based treatment center. \u201cI had two patients, each lost four friends over the holidays from overdoses. I\u2019ve had plenty of patients who\u2019ve lost 10 friends in 10 years. Four in a week is devastating.\u201d<\/p>\n

In mid-December, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sent out an alert to health professionals warning of substantial increases in drug overdose deaths across the United States.<\/p>\n

The increase was primarily driven by rapid increases in overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids, likely involving the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl.<\/p>\n

The largest increase was recorded between March and May 2020, when communities around the nation were shutting down to try to prevent the coronavirus\u2019 spread, the alert said.<\/p>\n

\"A
A precise methadone dispenser at Colorado Addiction Treatment Services in Durango. While the nation&#x2019;s attention has been pulled to the coronavirus pandemic, the rates of heavy opioid use are increasing.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment also showed an increase in opioid-related overdose deaths.<\/p>\n

Between March and September 2020, 581 Coloradans died from opioid overdoses, according to Kirk Bol, CDPHE vital statistics branch chief.<\/p>\n

That is an 82% increase compared with an average of 320 deaths in similar periods in 2017 through 2019. Comparable data for Southwest Colorado was not available Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite the fact that COVID-19 has overtaken national consciousness, it doesn\u2019t mean the opioid epidemic has gone away,\u201d said Kate Hartzell, executive director of the Southwest Colorado Area Health Education Center. \u201cIt continues to be this underlying national issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Health data quickly gets complicated. It would need to be analyzed and \u201cscrubbed\u201d to present a clearer final picture, said Caplin, Hartzell and Stephanie Allred, senior clinical director with Axis Health System.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the biggest message here is: One opioid overdose death is too many,\u201d Hartzell said.<\/p>\n

Fentanyl is a factor that is just as concerning as the pandemic is to health professionals. Pills aren\u2019t always what they appear to be, Caplin said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne tablet might have no fentanyl, and the other might have enough to kill multiple people. They all look alike,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s truly Russian roulette with what\u2019s going on out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

If people are using alone, and if they do overdose, there\u2019s less opportunity for rescue, Allred said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn terms of the trends that we\u2019re seeing, it\u2019s just not surprising with the extra challenges that our community members are facing,\u201d Allred said.<\/p>\n

Stress, anxiety, isolation, joblessness, lack of peer support, lack of in-person health care visits \u2013 all are risk factors for excessive drug use. All have become heightened for patients during the pandemic, Caplin said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had a number of our formerly stable patients also relapse, and they\u2019re really struggling to get back on track,\u201d Caplin said.<\/p>\n

But health care providers are still working to reach people in need.<\/p>\n

Axis has shifted group therapy to a virtual format to offer services to patients while limiting possible viral spread at in-person gatherings.<\/p>\n

Colorado Addiction Treatment Services is gearing up to open a satellite clinic in Cortez to reach more people.<\/p>\n

\"Dan
Dan Caplin, a Durango-based doctor trained in addiction treatment, holds a bottle of buprenorphine and naloxone, which are used as treatments for opioid-use disorder and opioid overdoses.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

In Colorado, many services are free for patients on Medicaid, which removes a financial barrier to access. Private insurance companies don\u2019t always cover addiction treatment. Fortunately, the country\u2019s pandemic response relaxed some Medicaid rules which can be helpful to patients, Caplin said.<\/p>\n

Agencies in La Plata County are working to educate residents about opioid use, reduce stigma associated with addiction and distribute Narcan and a naloxone, which are used to reverse opioid overdoses.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnybody can become addicted to opioids,\u201d Hartzell said. \u201cWe have this feeling that substance use happens to certain kinds of people. If you want a picture of an opioid addict, look around you.\u201d<\/p>\n

For those who might know someone with opioid-use disorder, Allred said the key is to stay in contact with them.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important to communicate that we care and are thinking about each other,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

smullane@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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