Drug Overdoses Rise, While Addiction Treatment Needs Expansion

ROANOKE, Va. - May 24, 2018 - PRLog -- The Virginia Department of Health reported that there were nearly 1,230 overdose deaths in the state last year. Almost 50 of those deaths occurred in Roanoke.

The increasing death rates are surprising local government and medical officials.

I would have expected overdose deaths to have plateaued out, said Dr. John Burton, the chairman of emergency medicine for Roanoke's Carilion Clinic.

Fire-Emergency Medical Services Chief David Hoback said that overdose calls and naloxone reversals went up in the past couple years.

This rise in drug overdose deaths occurred during the same period in which state government officials attempted to expand addiction recovery resources, including Medicaid's Addiction and Recovery Treatment Services (ARTS).

The ARTS program is helping us combat the opioid epidemic, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said.

Burton and other medical professionals at Virginia Tech and Virginia Commonwealth University hope to conduct medication trials on people with substance use disorders who are on long wait lists to receive treatment.

https://www.drugaddictionnow.com/2018/05/24/roanoke-addiction-treatment-needs-expansion-overdose-deaths-rise/