TRENDS Downward Montgomery County has seen a steady decline in the opioid dispensing rate since 2010, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The declines in opioid dispensing suggests that healthcare providers have become more cautious in their opioid prescribing practices, according to the CDC. PLUMMETING PRESCRIPTION RATES
prescribed to treat acute pain, became the prescrip- tion of choice to treat chronic, long-term pain. “One thing that’s been good for Montgomery County specifically, if you look in 2020 [and] 2021, there were three or four significant arrests of doc- tors in Montgomery County who were writing pre- scriptions to people—essentially illegally—allowing them to have access to these prescription pills when they didn’t really have a diagnosis for it,” said James Campbell, chief of emergency medical ser- vices for the Montgomery County Hospital District. “[Law enforcement] worked to arrest those doc- tors and get them out of practice, which has been a huge impact.” In 2020, a little more than one prescription was issued on average for every three residents in Mont- gomery County. However, the dispensing rate has been cut in half since 2014, and from 2019-20, it declined 19%. Despite declining opioid dispensing rates countywide and across the state, total reported drug overdoses in Texas increased 33% from 2020- 21, according to the NCHS. Campbell said opioid overdose deaths remain con- stant; however, according to the NIDA, opioid usage can lead to illegal drugs that are not prescribed, such as heroin. According to the NIDA, nearly 80% of her- oin users reported using prescription opioids prior to heroin. “I think because the way Montgomery County is situated with the major highways on either side of the county, a lot of things pass through, and pre- scription pills usually are consistent,” Campbell said. “Heroin and [other] things come and go as drug trafficking comes and goes.” Pandemic effects on treatment Varisco described several underlying causes of substance use disorders that the pandemic exac- erbated, including patient access to treatment, increased financial stresses and isolation. Varisco said he believes the drastic changes to health care for individuals experiencing addiction undid recovery work performed for patients before the pandemic. According to the Treatment Episode Data Set, which compiles national patient discharges from treatment for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, detoxification treatment discharges became less common from 2016-19, when detoxification discharges decreased from 20% of all discharges to 16%. This did not
0 20 40 60 80 100
81.2
82.6
82.7
80.7
75.5
66.5
60.6
55.2
50.6
46.2
37.5
In 2020, there were enough opioid prescriptions dispensed for over ⅓ of Montgomery County residents.
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
SOURCE: CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION/COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
Opioid-related emergency department visits in Montgomery County fell roughly 18% from 2016 to 2020. OPIOID-RELATED EMERGENCIES DECLINE
250
226
227
212
211
185
200
Opioid-related emergency department visits fell 12% from 2019-20 in Montgomery County.
150
0
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
SOURCE: PROVISIONAL DATA FROM NATIONAL CENTER FOR HEALTH STATISTICS/COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
With increased isolation and financial stresses, the COVID-19 pandemic further exacerbated strug- gles against the opioid epidemic in Texas. Recovery treatment transitioned into less effective online services, and access to quality treatment, such as medication, became more complicated, according to local experts. Opioid usage varies In the late 1990s, pharmaceutical companies began marketing prescription opioid pain relievers as drugs that were not as addictive as previously thought, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. As a result, these drugs, which had formerly only been
CONTINUED FROM 1
overdose deaths nearly doubled in Texas from Jan- uary 2019 to nearly doubled in Montgomery County from January 2019 to January 2021, and there was an additional 19% increase in deaths from January 2021 to September 2021, the most recent data available. “These are diseases of despair that we’re dealing with,” said Tyler Varisco, a health services researcher with the University of Houston. “When people are eco- nomically challenged or psychologically challenged as many of us have been over the past two years, we see increased vulnerability in our communities to opioid use and other forms of substance misuse.”
Dog & Cat Boarding • Dog Training & Agi l i ty • Dog & Cat Grooming • Doggie Daycare
Cage Free Dog Boarding
A S K U S A B O U T O U R B O A R D I N G P A C K A G E S !
Where body, mind and science meet
HERB CONSULTS • ACUPUNCTURE • CUPPING • MEDITATION
TREATING: ANXIETY/DEPRESSION • IBS • INSOMNIA FERTILITY • COLD/ FLU • LONG HAULER SYMPTOMS NEUROPATHY • MENSTRUAL PAIN • BACK/NECK PAIN POST STROKE • MIGRAINES • AND MORE BOOK TODAY! CALL OR TEXT: (281) 305-3246 350 NURSERY RD. #7102 • SPRING, TX 77380
New Cus t ome r s On l y . No t Va l i d on Ho l i days
BOARDING or GROOMING
O P E N 7 D A Y S A WE E K , 3 6 5 D A Y S A Y E A R Mon - Sun 7am- 7pm COME V I S I T OUR BOU T I QU E !
Dr. Tiffany Kristensen DACM, LAc
4/22/22
11105 Mahaf fey | Tombal l , TX 77375 | 832-884-6122 | Wi l l owCreekPets.com
46
COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER • COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM
Powered by FlippingBook