Overdose deaths plummet by nearly 27% last year
The nation is seeing the largest one-year decline recorded, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. The CDC reported Georgia saw a 22% drop in 2024.
Dr. Jay Goldstein, assistant medical director with Memorial Health said there are two key drivers for the overdose decline: awareness and education.
'There's just more a better awareness of the overdose potential and that you know that you have this reversal agent,' he said. 'So not only is it awareness for the consumer, the one that's actually using the drugs, but it's also an awareness for the firefighters, the paramedics, the police officers and then health care worker. so, we're able to get to those people more rapidly and save their lives with the with the reversal agent of Narcan.'
Goldstein said age range varies from teenagers to people in their 60's. He added most commonly it is 25 to 40-year-olds.
'There are fentanyl test strips out there, there's an awareness of where they're getting the drugs from, and it's a safer environment for those who are going to use that,' he said. 'They use it more safely also. But obviously the big thing for us is that we're trying to educate, especially the younger folks, to just never use. We feel like at this point we're seeing a drop off in the consumer and the addiction starting in the younger ages.'
He said locally, we are no stranger to trends and waves of drug infestation in the community. He told WSAV individuals still need to watch for the alteration of certain substances like drugs laced with fentanyl.
'We're actually trying to get a program up and running here at Memorial [Health] where a drug overdose might come in and we can actually start them on drugs that will prevent them from wanting to have drug overdoses such as like Suboxone…,' Goldstein said.
He added, 'I think mental health is a big aspect of things. I think social isolation, since we're coming out of the covid pandemic, has made a major difference and then also the ability to have treatment programs. so not only do we have treatment programs that people can go to, which had dried up and now they're getting more plentiful, but also the ability when they come into a clinic and they have an overdose, to try and attack them then and treat them there.'
Dr. Goldstein told WSAV while this is a sign of progress, there is still work to do.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hill
an hour ago
- The Hill
Where the summer COVID-19 infections are hitting hardest
The number of people with COVID-19 in the U.S. is low but increasing, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data released Friday. COVID-19 is trending up in many Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Southern, and West Coast states. The agency said infections are 'growing or likely growing' in 40 states, based on emergency department visit data as of July 29. Infections were unchanged in nine states. The weekly percentage of emergency department visits among people diagnosed with COVID-19 is low, but growing, CDC said. Visits were highest for children younger than 4 years old, which experts said makes sense because many remain unvaccinated. WastewaterSCAN, which monitors infectious diseases through municipal wastewater systems, categorized national coronavirus levels as 'high' and trending upward since mid-July. According to CDC, the wastewater viral activity level for coronavirus is currently low, and only Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, California, Alaska and Texas reported 'high' or 'very high' levels. Experts say a lack of data is making it harder to track COVID-19 in real time, but the available information indicates the expected seasonal wave is happening. Ever since 2020, COVID-19 has peaked twice a year. Cases rise in the winter and drop into the spring, and then again in the summer as travel peaks and people seek air-conditioned indoor spaces away from the heat. While other respiratory viruses remain at low levels until the winter, experts have said COVID-19's ability to mutate sets it apart and contributes to a much higher baseline infection rate. More cases circulating year-round means more opportunities for the virus to mutate. The vaccine being updated for the coming fall season is targeted to the JN.1 variant, as it was last year. But Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has significantly narrowed recommendations on who should get the vaccine, raising significant questions about the availability and affordability come the fall. In May, Kennedy said the shots would no longer be recommended for healthy kids, a decision that health experts have said lacks scientific basis. A coalition of medical groups subsequently sued over the move. In addition, a new policy requires all updated COVID-19 vaccines to undergo extensive placebo-controlled clinical trials, as if it were a new shot rather than an update to one that already exists. The updated Covid shots are expected to be available in the fall to adults 65 and up and kids and adults with at least one medical condition that puts them at risk for severe illness — the groups exempt from the clinical trial requirement.
Axios
3 hours ago
- Axios
Colorado kindergartners' vaccine rates lag in 2025
Vaccination rates among Colorado kindergartners stayed stubbornly low during the 2024-2025 school year, new CDC data shows. Why it matters: The stagnation comes as U.S. measles cases reach a 33-year high, and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. challenges long-standing vaccine norms ahead of the start of school. By the numbers: 4.2% of Colorado kindergartners were exempt from one or more vaccines — unchanged from last year and above the national average of 3.6%. Colorado's goal for herd immunity is 95% coverage for core vaccines like MMR, which protects against measles, mumps and rubella. Last school year, Colorado kindergartners' MMR coverage was 88%, Polio was 87.6% and DTaP was 87.4%. Only Hepatitis B topped 90%.
CBS News
3 hours ago
- CBS News
Top medical organizations kicked out of CDC vaccine recommendations process call decision "dangerous"
The nation's top medical organizations are speaking out after U.S. health officials told them they will no longer have a role in helping establish vaccination recommendations. The organizations were notified via an email Thursday that their experts are being disinvited from the workgroups that have been the backbone of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, known as ACIP. In response, the impacted organizations — including the American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics and Infectious Diseases Society of America — released a joint statement about being excluded from the vaccine recommendation review process. "We are deeply disappointed and alarmed that our organizations are being characterized as 'biased' and therefore barred from reviewing scientific data and informing the development of vaccine recommendations that have long helped ensure our nation's vaccine program is safe, effective, and free from bias," the statement said. The workgroups typically include ACIP members and experts from medical and scientific organizations. At workgroup meetings, members evaluate data from vaccine manufacturers and the CDC, and formulate vaccination recommendation proposals to be presented to the full committee. The decades-long practice of allowing liaisons from the medical groups to help review vaccine data helped provide unbiased input for ACIP's consideration, the organizations said. "To remove our deep medical expertise from this vital and once transparent process is irresponsible, dangerous to our nation's health, and will further undermine public and clinician trust in vaccines," the statement continued, urging the administration to reconsider its decision. The statement was also joined by the American Academy of Family Physicians, American College of Physicians, American Geriatrics Society, American Osteopathic Association and National Medical Association. Dr. William Schaffner, a Vanderbilt University vaccine expert who for decades has been involved with ACIP and its workgroups, told The Associated Press he's "concerned and distressed" by the CDC's decision, saying the move will likely propel a confusing fragmentation of vaccine guidance. For example, patients may hear the government say one thing and hear their doctors say another. The structure was created for several reasons, Schaffner said. The professional groups provide input about what might and might not be possible for doctors to implement. And it helped build respect and trust in ACIP recommendations, having the buy-in of respected medical organizations, he said. Workgroup members are vetted for conflicts of interest, to make sure than no one who had, say, made money from working on a hepatitis vaccine was placed on the hepatitis committee, Schaffner noted. This isn't the first change to the vaccine advisory panel, also known as ACIP, under the Trump administration. In June, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. removed all 17 members and replaced them with a group of new advisers, including several allies he has worked with closely over the years and some members with a history as vaccine critics. Last week, the ousted ACIP members spoke out against what the panel has become, in a commentary published in the New England Journal of Medicine. In the piece, the former members described a "seismic disruption" to the vaccine recommendation process in the U.S. under Kennedy's leadership.
