Expert: COVID-19 slows the progression of the Long Island opioid crisis

Long Island, which appears to be around the corner of the opioid crisis, has made significant progress from the confluence of COVID-19 pandemic-related anxiety, depression, and economic stressors, according to treatment experts.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, regional hospitals have seen a dramatic increase in the number of patients suffering from drugs and alcohol, along with inpatient and outpatient treatment programs, medical leaders said columnist and editorial writer Lane Filler. Said during the Newsday Webiner moderated by.

Dr. Patrick O’Shaughnessy, Executive Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer of Rockville Center’s Catholic Health Services, said overdose at his six hospitals increased by 27% compared to 2019.

The actual numbers are likely to be even higher, as individuals continue to avoid hospitals for fear of being infected with the virus, O’Shaughnessy said.

“I can’t keep kicking the can. I need to ask for help,” he said. “There is still a fear of patients going to the hospital. I will see emergency care with a line under the block, yet I will pull into one of our emergency rooms and its sky.”

Dr. Hershall Kirane, medical director of Calverton’s Wellbridge Addiction Treatment Research, which opened in May, said the isolation caused by COVID-19 is a natural enemy of recovery from addiction.

The Alcohol Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings have been canceled or moved to online settings, limiting the face-to-face options essential for substance abuse addicts.

“We expected individuals already suffering from substance abuse disorders to become vulnerable as those problems became more serious,” Kirane said. “And perhaps individuals who have used or misused in more problematic ways will become more vulnerable to developing much more complex substance abuse problems as the pandemic progresses.”

A total of 617 opioid-related deaths were seen in 2017 on Long Island, according to data from local coroners. This is mainly due to the introduction of cheap and very powerful drugs such as fentanyl.

However, according to the county’s heroin and opioid epidemic advisory board, opioid-related deaths in Suffolk fell 26% last year from 380 in 2018 to 283. Nassau officials say 147 people died from overdose in 2018, according to the latest county data. This is a 20% reduction from the fatal overdose of 184 people in 2017.

However, data released by police stations in Nassau and Suffolk in late August showed that fatal overdose in each county increased by at least 40% year-to-date.

Jeffrey L. Reynolds, chairman and chief executive officer of the Mineola-based Family and Children’s Association, which provides outpatient and alcohol treatments, said Long Island “returned to where we were” during the epidemic. Said.

“Something like depression or overdose is as deadly as COVID,” Reynolds said. “Social isolation has its downsides. The upside is to protect yourself from COVID-19, but the downside has a huge impact on your mental health. For those who have suffered from these problems in the past … This is also deadly. “”

Robert Brodsky is the latest news reporter working on Newsday since 2011. He is a graduate of Queens College and American University.

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