Health officials say overdose deaths in Pierce County are high, but treatment rates low
New clinic opens in Puyallup aimed at helping opioid addiction
PUYALLUP, Wash. - Washington’s battle with fentanyl continues to worsen, and data from the CDC shows Washington had one the highest increase of opioid overdose deaths in 2020.
Health officials say Pierce County is an area of the state where fentanyl addiction and deaths are particularly high, but the treatment rate is low.
A new clinic in Puyallup aimed to serve the under-served hopes to change that.
"In Pierce County, we see fentanyl massively on the rise and it’s very concerning," says Benjamin Rae a nurse practitioner with Ideal Option. Rae says one of the alarming things he’s seeing is fentanyl addiction is progressively hitting a younger population. He says many of his patients are teens now, which years ago was not the case. "Less than 1% of our patients have been successful going cold turkey."