Doctors: Fentanyl a sinister danger lurking in street drugs. Overdose need not kill.

Emily Kauffman, Krisanna Deppen, Brian Pierson and Erin McKnight
·5 min read
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Dr. Emily Kauffman is an Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center emergency medicine physician. Dr. Krisanna Deppen is OhioHealth Grant Addiction Medicine Fellowship program director. Brian Pierson is Mount Carmel Health System Community health and well-being vice president. Dr. Erin McKnight is Nationwide Children’s Hospital Medication Assisted Treatment for Addiction Program vice president.

We will pause in a few days to remember without judgement those who’ve died from overdose, and acknowledge the grief of the friends and loved ones left behind.

International Overdose Awareness Day is August 31.

We suspect that virtually everyone reading this column knows, or knows of, someone who has overdosed on drugs: a celebrity, a co-worker, neighbor, friend or even a close family member.

Sometimes the person recovers. All too often, however, an overdose kills. It can happen with drugs bought online or on the street. It can happen with drugs that are legitimately prescribed.

In addition to the risk of overdose, another more sinister danger lurks today in online and on-street drugs: the presence of fentanyl that, even in microscopic amounts, will kill an unsuspecting person with first-time use as easily as it will an experienced addicted person.

Opinion:'It's your little brother': Two years after his overdose, I still listen to that voicemail

Drug-related deaths are preventable, and there are steps that every one of us can take to stop them. The sidebar pieces that appears with this column lists actions you can take – some of them very simple – to help the people in our community, perhaps in your own life, who are at the greatest risk.

More:Doctors: Please assume illegal drugs are laced with fentanyl, other poisonous substances

SIDEBAR:5 things you can do to help prevent drug overdose-related deaths

More:How to submit guest opinion columns to the Columbus Dispatch

Addiction is a chronic brain disease

We saw a huge increase in drug-related deaths in our community in 2020 and 2021, with nearly two Franklin County residents dying every day —  the highest we’ve ever seen.

We continue to see high levels of substance use in 2022, and community healthcare providers, including us, work tirelessly to connect those who need care to scarce resources and services. It’s another epidemic, but a less publicized one.

Addiction is a chronic brain disease, and those who live with it struggle valiantly every day of their lives. This is a disease of complex brain reward pathways, often starting in adolescence, that are reinforced by genetics and adverse social events and experiences. Despite the wealth of evidence to support this in medical literature, misconceptions continue to exist regarding addiction.

There are still far too many people within and outside the healthcare system who continue to believe that addiction is attributable to character flaws or bad behavior rather than a medical disease.

Columbus Conversation planned about opioid overdose crisis

How to attend: Dispatch presents Columbus Conversations: "What is the state of the opioid crisis in our community?" 6 p.m. Wednesday

Imagine how many people would be suffering today if we thought that diabetes or cancer were due to moral failing as opposed to a biological disease.

More:'These are illnesses': Ad campaign aims to reduce stigma around addiction, mental illness

We each work for a different hospital system, but we all see the same devastating impact that stigma, and the lack of necessary medical care has had on people who are struggling with addiction. Addiction does not discriminate. It affects the poorest among us as well as the most affluent, and is present in every neighborhood and age group.

The good news is, drug addiction is treatable.

Addiction is Treatable

The work of the four hospital systems encompasses everything from community outreach to opiate prescription reduction to emergency department care to caring for patients with severe substance use disorder.  We are fortunate to work with a network of community partners who share our commitment to caring for and serving patients with addiction.

Jacob Melanson, rights, waits for his hot coffee that Teresa Routte will make at the HOPE Resource Center on Sullivant Ave. in Columbus, Ohio on February 21, 2022. The mission of the HOPE Resource Center is to provide compassionate care to those in active addiction and to provide them with the resources they need to enrich and transform their lives.

We all agree that the earlier a person recognizes they may have a substance use problem and seeks medical care the better. Just like any chronic disease, once identified, addiction has several evidence-based treatments that offer similar recovery rates as other diseases.

Accordingly, we recommend engaging with a primary care physician or nurse practitioner. If you’re a family member or friend of someone you think is at risk of a substance use disorder, the first and best step you can take is to help them schedule a medical checkup or visit a walk-in clinic, such as the Maryhaven Central Intake Department. If the person doesn’t have health insurance, help them sign up for Medicaid or encourage them to visit one of our city’s free clinics.

More:'Drug overdoses impact everyone...' We are evolving to meet needs| Maryhaven CEO

Central Ohio is also home to several strong peer-support organizations, staffed with people who have successfully navigated the tough road of addiction, and who have survived not only the physical impacts of drugs, but also the social and emotional ones.

Our region’s current challenges with drug addiction and overdose did not develop overnight, so they won’t disappear quickly either. In order to turn the tide, each of us must do all we can to protect those who are most vulnerable from the lure of these drugs and their deadly consequences.

Online: Find videos related to the opioid overdose crisis on Dispatch.com

Columbus Conversation: The opioid overdose crisis

What: Dispatch presents Columbus Conversations: "What is the state of the opioid crisis in our community?"

When: 6 p.m. Wednesday

Where: Ohio State University’s Fawcett Center Conference Theater, 2400 Olentangy River Road

Who: Opinion and Community Engagement Editor Amelia Robinson will host the discussion, a partnership between the Dispatch, Central Ohio Hospital Council, Ohio State University and WOSU Public Media.

The panelists are:

  • Erika Clark Jones, CEO, ADAMH Franklin County

  • Dr. Krisanna Deppen, program director, OhioHealth Grant Addiction Medicine Fellowship

  • Brian Pierson, vice president, Community Health and Well-being, Mount Carmel Health System

  • Dr. Erin McKnight, medical director, Medication Assisted Treatment for Addiction Program, Nationwide Children's Hospital

  • Matt Parrish, Captain, Columbus Division of Fire

  • Dr. Emily Kauffman, emergency medicine physician, OSU Wexner Medical Center East

  • Juliet Dorris-Williams, executive director, The P.E.E.R. Center

  • Andrea Boxill, administrator, Alcohol and Drug Services, Columbus Public Health

Dr. Emily Kauffman is an Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center emergency medicine physician. Dr. Krisanna Deppen is OhioHealth Grant Addiction Medicine Fellowship program director. Brian Pierson is Mount Carmel Health System Community health and well-being vice president. Dr. Erin McKnight is Nationwide Children’s Hospital Medication Assisted Treatment for Addiction Program vice president. They will take part in Dispatch presents Columbus Conversations: "What is the state of the opioid crisis in our community?" 6 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 31 at Ohio State University’s Fawcett Center Conference Theater, 2400 Olentangy River Road 

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Why is there a Columbus Conversation on opioid addiction Aug. 31