Comment; Thanks in part due to a statewide push to increase treatment beds and increased federal funding for services such as mobile treatment, telehealth and naloxone kits. Hopefully NY city will start to improve soon too!
Rachel SandlerForbes StaffI cover breaking news.
Topline: The number of opioid overdoses in New York State (outside of New York City) decreased for the for the first time in a decade, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Monday, attributing the decline to a statewide push to increase treatment beds and increased federal funding for services such as mobile treatment, telehealth and naloxone kits.
- According to data from the New York State Health Department, opioid overdoses in areas outside New York City decreased from 2,170 in 2017 to 1,824 in 2018, representing a 15.9% decline.
- It is the first time since 2009 opioid deaths have decreased in the state, providing some optimism for state officials who have been combating the steep rise in opioid fatalities over the last decade.
- The New York state health department warned that the data is preliminary and since it takes time to determine causes of death, the numbers could fluctuate.
- State officials attributed the decline to a group of initiatives recommended by the New York State Heroin and Opioid Task Force and passed by the legislature in 2016. Since then, the state has added 493 treatment beds and 27 Recovery Centers (up from three in 2016).
- The state also has made efforts to make it easier for patients to get methadone and buprenorphine, medications that assist with recovery. According to state data, the number of patients with buprenorphine prescriptions for opioid use disorders has increased 47% between 2012 and 2018.
- Federal grants also allowed the state to provide 449 trainings and distribute 8,595 naloxone kits from 2017-2019. Naloxone is a medication that can reverse an overdose quickly. The funding also helped expand the use of mobile treatment and telehealth.
Crucial quote: “New York’s first reduction in opioid overdose deaths in over ten years is an important milestone and demonstrates our work to combat this deadly scourge is working,” Governor Cuomo said in a statement. “And while New York has taken the most aggressive actions to combat the opioid crisis of any other state in the country, the opioid epidemic continues to devastate too many families and we will not rest until we put an end to it once and for all.”
Key background: New York’s numbers may be representative of a national trend. Provisional data from earlier this year showed the number of opioid deaths across the country decreased for the first time since 1990. Other states have seen declines in opioid deaths too, including Ohio and Pennsylvania. But progress hasn’t been uniform. Preliminary data shows an increase in California, Kansas, Missouri and other states.
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