DePasquale, in Opioid Report, Warns Against Fentanyl-Laced Street Drugs
Significant work remains to be done to save lives and stop the flow of fentanyl into Pennsylvania, even though the fight to curb overdoses has made progress, according to a report released Oct. 16 by state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale.
October 18, 2019 at 01:00 PM
2 minute read
Pennsylvania State Capitol building in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Photo: Shutterstock
Significant work remains to be done to save lives and stop the flow of fentanyl into Pennsylvania, even though the fight to curb overdoses has made progress, according to a report released Oct. 16 by state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale.
The report said that the highly addictive pharmaceutical product—usually transmitted by prescription—may be found in drugs sold on Pennsylvania streets.
"Fentanyl, which can be 50 times more powerful than heroin, is often present in street drugs such as heroin and cocaine, but users don't realize it," DePasquale said. "Beyond the tragic cost in lives lost to overdoses, the fentanyl epidemic is driving billions of dollars in costs to Pennsylvania taxpayers and our economy."
The report's top factual findings were that Pennsylvania taxpayers paid at least $178 million for opioid-related hospital stays in 2017; fentanyl contributed to a 65% increase in overdose deaths between 2015 and 2017, and that fentanyl was among the top three deadliest drugs in nearly every Pennsylvania county that tracked the data in 2017.
"While Pennsylvania was able to achieve an 18% drop in overdose deaths from 2017 to 2018, mainly due to the increased access to overdose reversal medications like naloxone, the state still saw more than 4,000 overdose deaths last year," DePasquale said. "Fentanyl's deadly strength also poses a risk to first responders and law enforcement officers who may come into contact with the drug."
The auditor general's office also observed in the report that the impact of the opioid and fentanyl crisis in Pennsylvania is broad, deep and costly, causing devastation in communities across the state and the nation.
DePasquale called on the federal government needs to enact a comprehensive plan to curb the illegal importation of fentanyl and its precursor ingredients, most of which comes from China.
He also said emergency treatments and long-term recovery options need to be adjusted to fully benefit the maximum number of people.
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