Dr. Jason Beaman: We can do something about the increasing number of opioid overdoses

New data released this month by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention demonstrate the continuation of a disturbing trend: More and more Oklahomans are dying each year from overdoses related to opioids. The most recent report tracks a 12 percent increase in these accidental and preventable deaths, which now claim the lives of over 840 Oklahomans a year.

The opioid crisis in Oklahoma is real, and it is not confined to any particular demographic. It is killing the rich and the poor alike, urban and rural dwellers, and men and women regardless of their politics, career choice or insurance status.

The scale and scope of this problem is precisely why the creation of the Oklahoma State University Center for Wellness and Recovery is so important. We are directly helping individuals suffering from addiction with evidence-based treatment while simultaneously working to increase the number of health care professionals who are board-certified in addiction medicine. Oklahoma doctors are working to find Oklahoma solutions to the widespread scourge of addiction, and we are making progress every day.

At the same time, we can benefit enormously from smart and relatively simple changes to public policy being made on the national level. One important way our federal government can help save lives is by increasing access to the drug naloxone, a medication designed to reverse opioid overdoses. Naloxone works by attaching to the receptors within the brain that opioids target, blocking the opioid's impact.

Since 2014, Oklahoma agencies have established partnerships and pilot programs with first responders, including Tulsa County sheriff's deputies and police officers who train and equip those responders with naloxone. Those programs are credited with reversing hundreds of overdoses.

Experience has shown us that naloxone is safe and effective. We now need the help of our federal representatives to get it in the right hands so we can save more lives.

The first way to do this is by co-prescribing naloxone to any patient who is receiving high doses of opioids, patients who combine opioids with certain other medications, and patients with a history of overdose. This approach has been endorsed by the CDC. The challenge now is to integrate this policy with Medicare and Medicaid.

Medicare Part D is the largest payer of opioid pain relievers. About 70,000 Medicare beneficiaries receive a prescription for large doses of opioids annually. Similarly, Medicaid beneficiaries are also prescribed opioids at a higher rate than the general population. If the federal government is going to pay for high doses of these medications, it should couple them with naloxone in the event of an accidental overdose.

In addition to co-prescribing naloxone, federal officials should work to ensure that every patrol car, every ambulance and every fire truck is equipped with the drug. That will not only help save the lives of those intentionally using opioids but could save the lives of first responders, as well. Recently, a police officer in Ohio brushed some of the opioid fentanyl off his uniform while responding to an emergency. He inhaled the drug and overdosed and was revived with naloxone. This was a near-death experience that will likely not be an isolated incident, as new drugs like fentanyl and carfentanyl are made to be more and more potent.

Making naloxone widely available, obviously, requires funds that many city and county agencies (to say nothing of our cash-strapped state governments) do not have. The federal government - having rightfully declared the opioid crisis a national emergency - should make federal funds available for all first responders to be equipped with naloxone.

Ending the opioid crisis is an all-hands-on-deck problem. Our representatives in Congress can set us on the right course by advocating and voting for increased access to a drug that we all know is safe, effective, and life-saving.

Dr. Jason Beaman is chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences in Tulsa.