Relias Media - Continuing Medical Education Publishing

The trusted source for

healthcare information and

CONTINUING EDUCATION.

  • Sign In
  • Sign Out
  • MyAHC
    • Home
      • Home
      • Newsletters
      • Blogs
      • Archives
      • CME/CE Map
      • Shop
    • Emergency
      • All Products
      • Publications
      • Study Guides
      • Webinars
      • Group Sales
    • Hospital
      • All Products
      • Publications
      • Study Guides
      • Webinars
      • Group Sales
    • Clinical
      • All Products
      • Publications
      • Study Guides
      • Webinars
      • Group Sales
    • All Access
      • Subscribe Now
      • My Subscription
    • My Account
      • My Subscriptions
      • My Content
      • My Orders
      • My CME/CE
      • My Transcript
    Home » Hospitals Besieged by Opioid OD Patients

    Hospitals Besieged by Opioid OD Patients

    Some 115 opioid patients die every day

    April 1, 2018
    No Comments
    Reprints
    Facebook Twitter Linkedin Share Share

    Related Articles

    CDC: More Than 60,000 Opioid OD Deaths in 2016

    Should We Screen All OD Patients for Acetaminophen?

    EMTs Treating Opioid Patients Succumb to Illness

    Related Products

    Hospitals challenged by patients who can’t pay | Single Article

    Georgia hospital hit by F3 tornado — All patients evacuated to area hospitals | Single Article

    Legal Review & Commentary-Magnesium sulfate OD causes coma: $7.4 million | Single Article

    With U.S. emergency rooms being overrun with opioid patients, the national epidemic is putting pressure on myriad aspects of healthcare delivery. Infection prevention is no exception.

    As we have previously reported in Hospital Infection Control & Prevention, the opioid epidemic overlaps with the longstanding problem of addicted healthcare workers diverting drugs such as fentanyl, sometimes causing hepatitis outbreaks among patients by contaminating vials and syringes.

    In addition, opioid-addicted patients admitted to hospitals have seeded their own infections by spiking their IV lines with street drugs.

    Moreover, investigators recently reported that opioid use predisposes people to invasive pneumococcal disease.

    They analyzed patient records and pharmacy prescriptions, finding a connection between opioid use and infection as defined by the isolation of Streptococcus pneumoniae from a normally sterile site. Opioid use is a “novel risk factor for these diseases,” they concluded.1

    In another disturbing development, first responders and frontline nurses have had to be revived by an opioid antidote after coming in contact with contaminated opioid patients.

    Some of this is thought to occur because street drugs are being cut with powerful synthetic opioids, some many times more potent than anything typically used in a hospital.

    The opioid epidemic has reached unprecedented levels, with an estimated 63,000 overdose deaths in 2016, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently reported.2

    “We’re currently seeing the highest drug overdose death rates ever recorded in the United States, driven by prescription opioids and by illicit opioids such as heroin and illicitly-manufactured fentanyl,” Anne Schuchat, MD, CDC acting director, said at a recent news conference.

    “This means that, on average, 115 Americans died each day from an opioid overdose involving prescription or illicit opioids in 2016.”

    In data reported from July 2016 through September 2017, the CDC found that emergency department visits in 45 states showed that opioid overdoses are increasing across all regions.

    “Out of 91 million emergency department visits, there were 142,557 suspected overdoses involving opioids,” Schuchat said.

    “Opioid overdose emergency department visits increased about 30% overall in this national system,” she added.

    “We saw increases in cities and towns of all types from the third quarter 2016 to the third quarter 2017.”

    While the overdose deaths are shocking, the nonfatal cases have considerable impact as well, she noted.

    “For every fatal case there are many more nonfatal cases, each one with its own emotional and economic toll,” she said. “Research shows that people who have had at least one overdose are more likely to have another.”

    The CDC is working with hospital EDs to refer these surviving addicts for subsequent treatment.

    “Take steps toward preventing a repeat overdose, ideally [by] alerting community partners to opportunities to improve prevention in the surrounding areas,” she said.

    On a personal note, U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams, MD, MPH, said his brother has struggled with addiction for decades.

    “I often contemplate the fact that it could have been me,” Adams said at the press conference.

    Getting the opioid antidote naloxone in the hands of first responders and community members is an immediate priority, followed by public education and destigmatization of addiction, he said.

    REFERENCES

    1. Wiese AD, Griffin MR, Schaffner W. Opioid Analgesic Use and Risk for Invasive Pneumococcal Diseases: A Nested Case-Control Study. Ann Intern Med 2018; Feb. 13: doi: 10.7326/M17-1907. [Epub ahead of print]
    2. CDC. Opioid Overdoses Treated in Emergency Departments. Vital Signs March 2018: http://bit.ly/2HrNROm.

    Post a comment to this article

    Report Abusive Comment

    www.reliasmedia.com

    Hospital Infection Control & Prevention

    View PDF
    Hospital Infection Control & Prevention (Vol. 45, No. 4) - April 2018
    April 1, 2018

    Table Of Contents

    The Quest for Zero: Vanderbilt Awarded APIC Top Honor

    Antibiotic Stewardship Begins at the Bedside

    New Guidelines for the Formidable Challenge of C. Diff

    The Whole (Genome) Picture: New Tools for Outbreaks

    Wash Your Hands — or People Die

    Hospitals Besieged by Opioid OD Patients

    Begin Test

    Buy this Issue/Course

    Feedback? Please take our annual survey

    Financial Disclosure: Senior Writer Gary Evans, Editor Jesse Saffron, Editor Jill Drachenberg, Nurse Planner Patti Grant, RN, BSN, MS, CIC, Peer Reviewer Patrick Joseph, MD, and Editorial Group Manager Terrey L. Hatcher report no consultant, stockholder, speaker’s bureau, research, or other financial relationships with companies having ties to this field of study.

    Shop Now: Search Products

    • Subscription Publications
    • Books & Study Guides
    • Webinars
    • Group & Site
      Licenses
    • State CME/CE
      Requirements

    Webinars And Events

    View All Events
    • Home
      • Home
      • Newsletters
      • Blogs
      • Archives
      • CME/CE Map
      • Shop
    • Emergency
      • All Products
      • Publications
      • Study Guides
      • Webinars
      • Group Sales
    • Hospital
      • All Products
      • Publications
      • Study Guides
      • Webinars
      • Group Sales
    • Clinical
      • All Products
      • Publications
      • Study Guides
      • Webinars
      • Group Sales
    • All Access
      • Subscribe Now
      • My Subscription
    • My Account
      • My Subscriptions
      • My Content
      • My Orders
      • My CME/CE
      • My Transcript
    • Help
    • Search
    • About Us
    • Sign In
    • Register
    Relias Media - Continuing Medical Education Publishing

    The trusted source for

    healthcare information and

    CONTINUING EDUCATION.

    Customer Service

    customerservice@reliasmedia.com

    U.S. and Canada: 1-800-688-2421

    International +1-404-262-5476

    Accounts Receivable

    1-800-370-9210
    ReliasMedia_AR@reliasmedia.com

    Mailing Address

    • 1010 Sync St., Suite 100
      Morrisville, NC 27560-5468
      USA

    © 2021 Relias. All rights reserved.

    Do Not Sell My Personal Information  Privacy Policy  Terms of Use  Contact Us  Reprints  Group Sales

    For DSR inquiries or complaints, please reach out to Wes Vaux, Data Privacy Officer, DPO@relias.com

    Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing