A spike in overdose deaths in early December prompted Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner Dr. Thomas Gilson to issue a public health alert for the second consecutive month.
At least eight people died of suspected drug overdoses in the county on Dec. 2. A month earlier, Gilson issued a public health alert after 12 people died from suspected overdoses between Nov. 6-7.
“Much like a month ago, yesterday’s overdose cluster is very concerning.” Gilson said in a Dec. 3 statement. “Again, the public needs to be aware that using street drugs in and around Cuyahoga County is deadly.
“Resources are available to lessen the dangers, but the simple fact is there is only one sure way to avoid these tragic ends. Get yourself into treatment before it is too late.”
Fentanyl test strips are available for free at multiple locations in Cuyahoga County, but are predominantly found in Cleveland. In the east side suburbs, the strips can be found at LaBarberia Institute of Hair, 1633 Golden Gate Plaza in Mayfield Heights. A full list of locations can be found at testyourdrugscc.com.
Through November, the Cuyahoga Medical Examiner’s Office estimates the county will see 709 total drug overdose deaths in 2021. That’s down from their October projection of 720, but is still on pace to be the second highest figure on record. Cuyahoga County overdose deaths peaked at 727 in 2017. Last year the county had 553 overdose deaths.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 100,306 people died nationwide of drug overdose deaths between April 2020 and April 2021. It’s the first time more than 100,000 people in the U.S. died of drug overdoses in a 12-month period and marks a 28.5 percent increase from the prior year. Provisional data from the CDC shows Lake County had 96 overdose deaths over that span, up from 73 over the same 12-month span a year earlier.
Shannon Monnat, an associate professor of sociology at Syracuse University who researches geographic patterns in overdoses, told the Associated Press earlier this year that there’s no current evidence that more Americans started using drugs this year. The deaths were from those already struggling with addiction. It’s an “increasingly poisoned drug supply,” driving the surge. Nearly all of the increase involves fentanyl contamination in some way, she said.
“Heroin is contaminated. Cocaine is contaminated. Methamphetamine is contaminated,” Monnat told the AP.
Northern District of Ohio U.S. Attorney Bridget M. Brennan released a statement regarding the overdose surge shortly after Gilson’s early December alert.
“There are no safe street drugs,” Brennan said. “Pills that look like oxycontin or percocet are often pressed fentanyl, fentanyl analogues or carfentanil. Similarly, cocaine is not just cocaine, and heroin is not just heroin. What is being bought on the streets is killing our friends and neighbors.”
The Drug Enforcement Agency issued a public safety alert in September warning of an “alarming increase in the lethality and availability of fake prescription pills containing fentanyl and methamphetamine.”
The agency stated that the counterfeit pills have been seized by agents in every U.S. state in unprecedented quantities. By late September, more than 9.5 million pills had already been seized in 2021, more than the previous two years combined.
“Counterfeit pills that contain these dangerous and extremely addictive drugs are more lethal and more accessible than ever before,” DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said in a statement. “In fact, DEA lab analyses reveal that two out of every five fake pills with fentanyl contain a potentially lethal dose.”
The DEA stated the only safe medications are ones prescribed by a “trusted medical professional and dispensed by a licensed pharmacist.”
Also this year, Lake County – along with Trumbull County – emerged victorious in a lawsuit against three retail pharmacy chains they claimed accelerated the supply of opioids into the county.
A federal jury in late November announced a verdict in favor of the counties against CVS, Walgreens and Walmart. Two other companies, Giant Eagle and Rite Aid, previously settled with the two counties.
It’s estimated that 61 million opioid pills were distributed in Lake County between 2012 and 2016. That comes to 265 pills per resident, according to county officials. The officials added that the impact of the opioid epidemic is evident “within countless local agencies, including law enforcement, children services, local courts, coroner and local treatment facilities.”
The trial began in early October in the Northern District of Ohio federal court in Cleveland. Lake and Trumbull counties were selected by the court as a bellwether trial. The lawsuit was one of thousands filed around the country against companies for their alleged roles in fueling the opioid crisis.
The amount the pharmacies must pay in damages will be determined by Northern District of Ohio Judge Dan Aaron Polster in the spring.
Attorneys for the counties say that for decades pharmacy chains have “watched as the pills flowing out of their doors cause harm and failed to take action as required by law.
“Instead, these companies responded by opening up more locations, flooding communities with pills, and facilitating the flow of opioids into an illegal, secondary market,” the attorneys said in a statement following the verdict. “The judgment today against Walmart, Walgreens and CVS represents the overdue reckoning for their complicity in creating a public nuisance.”
Representatives for the losing pharmacies have indicated they plan on appealing the verdict.
In Lake County, free kits of the opioid overdose reversal drug naloxone are available from the Lake County General Health Districts. Kits can be requested online at the health district’s website. More information can be found at lcghd.org/naloxone-distribution/.
