Opioid deaths in Louisiana are significantly down, declining 59% since 2022. That compares to just over a 46% decline nationally. Louisiana Deputy Health Secretary Dr. Pete Croughan says there are a couple factors behind the significant drop.
“Changes in the drug supply have helped, including a decrease in the introduction of fentanyl. Also, we have coupled that with increased access to the opioid reversal drug Narcan and additional access to treatment of addiction,” Croughan explained.
Dr. Croughan says another factor behind the steep drop is the fact that in 2022, Louisiana was one of the nation’s leaders in opioid-related deaths.
“When it came to opioid and drug-related deaths, Louisiana was an outlier, even among our neighbors. For a long time, we’ve been in the bottom-five, nationally; so we had a lot of work to do to get that decline,” Croughan noted.
Dr. Croughan says obviously, even one opioid-related death is too many, so there’s still work to do to keep the momentum going to get that number down even more.
“Soon, every hospital in the state; if someone comes in with an opioid addiction, they’re going to get access to Narcan and started on a life-saving medication if they’re interested in that,” Croughan said.
Comments