[dropcap]A[/dropcap]s opioid related deaths continue to rise across the country, a lack of resources locally could make it difficult for Hays County residents to overcome the addiction.
Opioid related deaths have surged in recent years, with 33,000 deaths reported in 2015.
Of that number, 1,186 opioid related deaths were in Texas.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), more than 90 Americans per day die after overdosing on opioids.
Opioids are a class of drugs that include the illegal drug heroin, synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, and pain relievers available legally by prescription, such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine and morphine.
The crisis first began in the late 1990s, when pharmaceutical companies such as Purdue and Johnson and Johnson reassured the medical community that patients would not become addicted to prescription opioid pain relievers. Healthcare providers began to prescribe them at greater rates.
“Over the past two years it’s gotten worse ... If I look at my schedule of 25 people for this week, I have eight of them that are within that age range (of 16-25), and they’re dealing with prescription addiction.” Tori Bowman, licensed addiction counselor and therapist based in Kyle
This led to widespread distribution and misuse by patients and doctors for some time before it was discovered that these medications were indeed highly addictive.
Additionally, those who became addicted to prescription medication turned to other sources of relief, harder drugs like heroin, when they couldn’t receive or afford their pain medication.
According to NIDA, roughly 80 percent of people who use heroin first misused prescription opioids. Roughly 21 to 29 percent of patients prescribed opioids for chronic pain misuse them.
The issue has increased in severity as synthetic opioids, such as illegally made fentanyl, makes their way onto the street, resulting in a greater risk of overdoses.
Fentanyl, which is typically used for advanced cancer pain, is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine.
This has caused some concern for emergency responders such as law enforcement and paramedics, who can become sick or even overdose on the substance themselves while trying to assist someone.
The economic costs of the crisis have also taken their toll.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates the total economic burden of prescription opioid misuse alone in the United States is $78.5 billion a year. That figure includes the costs of healthcare, lost productivity, addiction treatment, and criminal justice involvement.
While Texas ranks lower than the many of the other states in terms of opioid related deaths, it does rank as the highest in terms of pharmacy break-ins related to the theft of opioids to be sold on the street, according to RXPatrol, a pharmacy crime database funded by Purdue Pharmacy.
However, Hays County residents dealing with addiction may face a lack of resources to overcome their need for drugs.
There are eight substance-abuse treatment facilities in Hays County that have been licensed through the Texas Department of Health and Human Services and accept walk-in patients. Of those facilities, six offer inpatient rehab services, and none are located in the city limits of San Marcos, Kyle or Buda.
Additionally, inpatient rehab facilities throughout the county do not accept Medicare or Medicaid.
For the 10.5 percent of Hays County residents who rely on Medicare or Medicaid as their primary insurance, few drug treatment options are readily available.
“The sad fact of it is there’s no inpatient sober facility here in Hays County unless you have private insurance,” said Wade Parham, commander of the Hays County Narcotics Task Force, a collaboration among the sheriff’s office and Hays County cities.
Tori Bowman, a licensed addiction counselor and therapist based in Kyle, said one out of every four patients she sees is dealing with abuse or mismanagement of an opiate.
“Over the past two years it’s gotten worse,” Bowman said. Most of her patients are between the ages of 16-25. “If I look at my schedule of 25 people for this week, I have eight of them that are within that age range, and they’re dealing with prescription addiction,” she said.
In May, Texas received a $27.4 million grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to boost efforts at preventing and treating opioid dependence.
State leaders have tried to curb these issues with laws that will go into effect in September aimed to monitor and regulate the dosages of all opioid prescriptions in the state.
This would allow a state-wide database of patients for medical professionals to reference anytime a patient requested a refill, preventing them from “doctor-shopping” for the purpose of acquiring more opioids then recommended.
