TRENDS Downward Fort Bend, Harris and Waller counties have all seen declines in the opioid dispensing rate since 2010, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The declines in opioid dispensing suggest health care providers have become more cautious in their opioid prescribing practices, per the CDC. PLUMMETING PRESCRIPTION RATES Harris County Fort Bend County
Waller County
seeing four and five of these given at the scene of an incident. That just speaks to how [opioids are] becoming somuchmore intense andpotent,”he said. Statewide, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Feb. 16 that the state had secured a $1.17 billion settlement with three major pharmaceutical companies: AmerisourceBergen, McKesson and Car- dinal. According to the attorney general, Texas has secured $1.89 billion to date fromopioid settlements. Additionally, 482 Texas municipalities signed on to two settlements with Janssen—owned by Johnson & Johnson—and with AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health andMcKesson, according to the attorney gen- eral’s website. According to documents from the attorney gener- al’s office, the city of Katy will receive $52,467 in set- tlement funding, while Harris, Waller and Fort Bend counties will receive roughly $15 million, $126,206 and $1.5 million, respectively. A list of funding uses provided by the attorney general’s office includes community drug disposal programs, training for first responders, andyouth-fo- cused programs that discourage or prevent misuse. McColgin encouraged people to disregard any pre- vious notions they might have about opioids. “This idea that it’s only heroin addicts and hard- core drug addicts that are overdosing on this stuff has to be completely eliminated or else we miss the most vulnerable people,” he said.
0 20 40 60 80 100
69.1
47.6
37.8
20.7
19.6
4.4
2010 2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
Emergency visits increased between 2019 and 2020 for Harris and Fort Bend counties. OPIOID-RELATED EMERGENCIES
Harris County
Fort Bend County
Waller County
1,500 1,200
150 120
Waller County did not have any emergency visits between 2016 and 2020.
900 600 300 0
90 60 30 0
For more information, visit communityimpact.com.
0
SOURCES: CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION, TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF STATE HEALTH SERVICES/COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
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