When a water heater fell on him one fateful day at work, John Dias’ life was forever changed. He awoke in the hospital, partially paralyzed, and when he left, he had a prescription for OxyContin. But like so many others, his prescription became his affliction, resulting in a severe addiction and eventual overdoses.

In recent years, this occurrence has become all too common, leading to the development of the antidote naloxone – the very medicine which revived Dias on two separate occasions. To find out more about his story, “Take Care” spoke with Dias, who opened up about his experience and the importance of naloxone, also known by the brand name Narcan.

...

Were it not for Narcan, Dias says he would have died. Since its development, it has saved countless lives, but not everyone is so lucky. In fact, Dias says his own brother might still be alive had there been Narcan available at the time of his overdose. But unfortunately, says Dias, there wasn’t.

As the number of overdoses continues to soar, accessibility to Narcan is becoming increasingly important. Those in the public health sector, like Baltimore Health Commissioner, Dr. Leana Wen, are pushing for Narcan training in their cities, to reduce the number of lives cut short as a result of drug abuse. Addiction is a disease, but through proper education, training, and availability to Narcan, health officials hope to prevent people from overdosing and revive those who do.

Read the entire story. 

The opioid epidemic that has claimed so many lives in Maryland is overwhelming the state medical examiner's office.

The agency has exceeded national caseload standards — the number of autopsies a single pathologist should perform in a year — in each of the past four years. The office now risks losing its accreditation.

"Everyone continues to add on work hours and work faster and hopefully not take short cuts," said Dr. David R. Fowler, Maryland's chief medical examiner. "They absorb this extra load. But there is a point where they can't continue to add to that and expect the system will function."

The challenge is not limited to Maryland. The combination of additional and more complex cases is overwhelming medical examiners' offices across the country, particularly along the East Coast, leaving many on the verge of losing accreditation.

"We view this as a national crisis," said Dr. Brian L. Peterson, president of the National Association of Medical Examiners.

The association categorizes the Maryland Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, traditionally well regarded by peers, as "deficient." It will re-evaluate the Baltimore-based agency in May.

The office can continue to operate without accreditation. But the association warns that performing too many autopsies can jeopardize quality and undermine confidence in the results.

...

Read the entire story. 

Baltimore City health officials have announced a spike in deaths among newborns related to unsafe sleeping arrangements and urged parents to follow professional medical advice about how to put their infants to bed safely.

There were six suspected cases of sleep-related death in the first three months of the year, compared with seven suspected cases in all of 2016, based on preliminary data from the state medical examiner’s office. The sleep-related deaths had been on the decline for years and were the result of a campaign called B’more for Healthy Babies to educate parents about putting their babies to sleep alone and on their backs in a crib.

Read the entire story.