Utah pharmacists join fight against opioid overdose deaths


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SSALT LAKE CITY — It's not uncommon for pharmacists to hear stories of how drugs impact patients' lives.

But it's the devastating results that leave them wanting to do more for their patients, said Greg Jones, director of pharmacy for Harmons Grocery and chairman of the Utah Pharmacy Licensing Board.

Jones is behind a new movement that will give pharmacists across the state a reason to strike up a conversation with patients who pick up potentially addictive medications.

"It's our job to talk to patients about their prescriptions, and not just opioids," he said.

Throughout May, bottles of pills that contain potentially harmful medications will have a red warning sticker on the top to remind patients what they're taking.

"People underestimate the danger of their medications," Jones said Thursday. "People think they'll be fine taking it, and quite often they're not."

Every month in Utah, 24 people die from prescription drug overdoses, according to the Utah Controlled Substance Database.

"Overdose can happen even when you're taking medications as directed," said Dr. Angela Dunn, deputy state epidemiologist and infectious disease specialist with the Utah Department of Health.

Dunn said the number of opioid prescriptions has increased over the years, as have the deaths the drugs can cause.

The health department reports that from 2002 to 2015, there was a 29.5 percent increase in the rate of prescription opioids dispensed in Utah — about five per patient. In January, there were more than 21,000 opioid prescriptions written by more than 9,000 prescribers in Utah, an average of 23 prescriptions per prescriber.

"Given the high number of deaths associated with prescription opioids, understanding the risks of opioids is vital to patient safety," Dunn said.

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Jones developed the sticker idea to prompt more pharmacists to discuss the dangers of a certain classification of drugs with patients and better educate them. The talking points also mention naloxone, a drug available from the pharmacist without a prescription that can reverse an opioid overdose if it is caught in time.

Pharmacists, who interact with patients every time a drug is dispensed, can discuss proper use, storage and disposal of opioids with patients, as well as introduce the overdose antidote medication, which Jones said "truly are life-saving."

Symptoms of an overdose, he said, include a loss of color and difficulty or discontinued breathing.

"If naloxone is delivered in a timely manner, that person comes back just like that. Their color comes back, and they're breathing again," Jones said. "It's kind of a miracle."

The Utah Department of Health has been working on curtailing and cutting down on opioid overdoses through several initiatives, most importantly increasing public awareness of the issue.

"It will take some time to see results," Dunn said. "But anecdotally, patients are becoming more educated on what an opioid is and the dangers it can possess."

Two hundred eighty-two Utahns died of opioid overdoses in 2015, according to the latest data available from the health department. Deaths have been increasing since 2002, causing what the health department has deemed an "opidemic."

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will hold its annual National Drug Take Back Day from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. Utahns are encouraged to bring any expired, unused and unwanted prescription medications to a disposal site. Locations throughout the state can be found online at utahtakeback.org.

A list of Utah pharmacies that stock naloxone kits can be found at naloxone.utah.gov. For more information on the health department's campaign, visit opidemic.org or health.utah.gov/vipp.

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Wendy Leonard

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