Treating overdoses like a health epidemic (Baltimore Sun)

Friday May 5th, 2017

We agree with the authors of the recent commentary observing that real-time information on opioid overdoses is key to stopping this epidemic ("Treat the 'opioid epidemic' like an epidemic, with real-time surveillance," April 29).

In Baltimore, we are making this a reality. As part of our citywide Fentanyl Task Force, the Baltimore City Health Department works with our partners including EMS, emergency departments, and police to obtain daily updates on overdoses. We identify "hotspots" — geographical spikes in overdose — and together with our partners at Behavioral Health System Baltimore, we send out alerts and deploy outreach teams in real time to educate residents on how to save lives using the opioid antidote, naloxone.

Read the entire op-ed.

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When I’ve asked experts about these approaches, it’s not that any of them are bad. It’s that they fall short. For instance, Leana Wen, the former health commissioner of Baltimore (and soon-to-be president of Planned Parenthood), said that the Support for Patients and Communities Act “is simply tinkering around the edges.”

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