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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Prescription drug deaths up in state

Fewer fatalities in Spokane, Stevens counties in ’09

Prescription drug overdose deaths fell last year in Spokane and Stevens counties, an encouraging development as health officials and community groups wrestle with the lethal dangers posed by painkillers and drugs that treat addiction.

The two counties had been recording some of the highest overdose death rates, according to a Wednesday report released by the Washington State Department of Health.

Across the state the number of such deaths rose 90 percent from 2003 to 2008, when 505 people died from accidental overdose of prescription pain medications, such as OxyContin, and drug-addiction treatments such as methadone. The number of hospitalizations has risen, too.

The numbers continued to climb in 2009 in the more populous Puget Sound area, said Jennifer Sabel, an epidemiologist with the DOH injury and violence prevention program. The department did not release statewide numbers for 2009.

Yet in Spokane, the medical examiner’s office reports that 36 people died from prescribed drugs last year – down from 61 in 2008; 61 in 2007; and 50 in 2006.

Three people died of prescription drug overdoses in Stevens County last year, coroner Patti Hancock wrote in a letter published in community newspapers.

That’s a marked drop from 24 such deaths that were recorded over the previous three years.

Brenda St. John, who volunteers with a grass-roots educational group called RX4Life in Chewelah, said the declines were a welcome turnabout, but that more needs to be done.

“The problem is still too big,” she said.

RX4Life has organized educational efforts in Stevens County schools to warn teens that using or providing prescription painkillers can be deadly.

State records indicate that 56 percent of teens misusing prescription painkillers received them free from friends or family members.

The RX4Life group also warns about misusing methadone. When used properly, the drug can help those addicted to heroin and other opium-derived drugs. When misused – such as taken with other drugs – methadone use can be especially dangerous.

Methadone was involved in 64 percent of all prescription drug overdose deaths between 2004 and 2007, according to DOH records.

Methadone remains in users’ bodies much longer than painkillers.

There are ongoing efforts to curb prescription drug overdoses. The DOH is currently writing new rules that will more tightly regulate dosing guidelines for prescribing health care providers and encourage them to consult or refer patients with prescriptions to pain-management specialists.