Strafford woman navigates cancer, chronic pain as the opioid crisis complicates treatment
Katrina Short, of Strafford, Vt., has suffered from chronic pain since 1990 when she was injured while working as a nurse’s aid at a nursing home, and it has intensified over the past year as a result of spinal injuries, osteoporosis and lung cancer. After trying to help her husband David Short, left, make breakfast, she braces against the pain and nausea that prevent her from eating the meal on Friday, May 7, 2021. “I’ve always been a goer, a doer, and it really works on you mentally - not being able to do anything,” she said. “I’d really like to live a life off the couch.” (Valley News - James M. Patterson) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.
The human side of the opioid crisis
Khadijah Tuitt, left, hugs Henry Brown after he spoke about his son during a live WHMP radio broadcast titled “It Won’t Happen to Me: Heroin Addiction in the Valley,” at The Parlor Room in Northampton. Deb Wyland looks on. Gazette Photo
Published: 1/25/2018 11:28:14 PM
The life-saving medication for opioid overdose Narcan is stocked at pharmacies across the United States, and is available without a prescription in Massachusetts.
But when it comes to actually treating opioid addiction, the state is far behind, according to those at the WHMP’s forum Wednesday on heroin addiction “It Won’t Happen to Me” at the Parlor Room in Northampton.
May 13, 2021 - 10:46 AM by Holly L. Geyer, M.D.
If there has ever been a time for opioid stewardship, it’s now. Between May 2019 and May 2020, the United States had the highest number of drug overdose deaths ever recorded in a 12-month period. Synthetic opioids were the primary driver for this increase with a 38% rise in deaths over the previous year. One-fifth of the country saw opioid death rates increase almost 100%.
Although COVID-19 has been a significant contributor to the substance abuse epidemic, it does not explain 2019 mortality trends nor account for broad efforts to distribute naloxone as a rescue antidote for overdoses.