District Attorney: Marijuana Laced with Fentanyl is in Tennessee
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – A Tennessee District Attorney is offering a warning about a new, deadly mix of drugs – marijuana mixed with fentanyl. DA Matthew Stowe told News 2 the drug is here in Tennessee and he can’t warn people fast enough. “It’s absolutely being seen in Tennessee. It’s being seen in West Tennessee, it’s coming in in vast, vast quantities,” he said. Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid used in medical settings to treat chronic pain. On the street, it takes
Tennesseans Fight Back Against the Opioid Epidemic
The United States has seen a staggering increase in rates of opioid addiction in the last 15 years,1 and the results have been tragic. When it comes to the battle against the country’s opioid addiction epidemic, Tennessee is on the front lines. Mapping the Epidemic During that 15-year period, the number of deaths from overdosing on commonly prescribed opioids rose from a little more than 1 to nearly 5 in 100,000 people.2 Yet even as America as a whole is being forced to grapp
New Protocols at UT Medical Center for IV Opioid Addicted Patients
KNOXVILLE (WATE) – The University of Tennessee Medical Center is creating several new measures to hopefully stop the opioid epidemic in its tracks. This program sets up new protocols aimed at patients who come to the facility with an IV infection because of drug abuse. The rules are clear. A patient must sign a form agreeing to the medical center’s “IV Drug Use Associated Infection Plan of Care.” The pilot program treats the infection, while at the same time working with othe
About 10 Percent of Those Who Need Help Get Opioid Treatment
KNOXVILLE - The opioid epidemic has left treatment clinics in East Tennessee with not enough beds to adequately treat all the patients that need help. According to the Helen Ross McNabb Center, only about 10 percent of those who need treatment for opioid addiction receive the help they need. "Our capacity in our community and in our state to serve the needs is well below what the needs are," said Hilde Phipps, director of Adult Addiction Services at Helen Ross McNabb Center.
UT Medical Center Changes Care Plans for IV Drug Users
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) -- UT Medical Center has had issues with patients bringing illegal drugs into the hospital. So they are changing their protocol for patients who come in with IV drug use infections. Chief Operating Officer Jerry Epps says, "It's important for us to increase patient safety. That's my responsibility, and the safety of our employees." Patients will have to sign a plan of care that outlines this new infection treatment which lasts about six to eight weeks
Opioid-Related Hospitalizations More Than Triple for Tennessee Seniors
Pain pills are sending more senior citizens to the hospital in Tennessee, according to data that sheds new light on how opioid addiction has spread to the state's aging population. The rate of hospitalizations for Tennesseans 65 years and older due to painkillers has more than tripled in a decade. Older adults are being hospitalized for reasons that range from falls and auto accidents after taking pain pills to unintentional overdoses, interactions with other medications and
Drug Task Force Aims to Track Overdoses Back to Dealers
KNOXVILLE - As the death toll continues to climb, Knox County authorities are using every tool they have to catch those responsible for bringing drugs into East Tennessee. A newly established drug overdose task force is using a top-down approach to fight the OD epidemic. "The role that law enforcement plays is to hit the dealers, hit the folks that are prescribing wrongfully these opioids into the community," said Knox County District Attorney General Charme Allen. "We are tr
Nashville Mayor Reveals Son Overdosed on Opioids and Other Drugs
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Mayor Megan Barry heard a knock at her door at 3 a.m. on Sunday, July 30. “Your first thought is that you've had a police officer who's been injured,” she said, “and you need to get dressed, you need to go to the hospital, and you need to comfort the family." Instead, she was the one who would need comforting. The officers at the door told her it was her son who had just died of a suspected overdose in Denver hours earlier. arry told NBC News Wednesday her
3 Tennessee Counties on CDC Monthly Report on Opioid Prescriptions
The Centers for Disease Control in July released a monthly report, Vital Signs, that determined morphine equivalent milligrams per capita, annually for counties across the U.S. Three Tennessee counties are in the top twenty nationally: Campbell County, Claiborne County and Cocke County. “We are seeing generational poverty. With that generational poverty becomes all that drug abuse. With that, we have to educate those kids and break that mold — this is not acceptable.” said Ra
National Opioid Epidemic Emergency Declaration will Save Lives
The opioid epidemic is a national emergency that requires special attention and greater focus and resources to fight it. President Donald Trump's declaration of a public health emergency is welcome, needed and essential to save lives. Drug overdoses are the No. 1 killer of Americans: 142 people are dying in the U.S. every day. Tennessee has the second-highest rate of opioid prescriptions in the nation. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 33,000 people