Health officer warns of opiate apocalypse

EPHRATA — Grant County needs to be prepared for a coming “sudden increase in overdose deaths,” according to Grant County Health Officer Alexander Brzezny.

Which means the county needs to consider if should count those deaths, and what it means if the county does.

“Is this the time to make overdoses a reportable condition in Grant County?” Brzezny asked during a meeting of the board of the Grant County Health District this week.

Counting overdose deaths — something only three counties in Washington currently do — would also have consequences, especially if someone died from and overdose of legally prescribed medication.

Brzezny spoke in context of a data from the Centers for Disease Control, which saw an increased in deaths related to synthetic opioids — primarily fentanyl — double from 2015 to 2016. According to the CDC, opioids were responsible for two-thirds of all drug overdose deaths in 2016.

Fentanyl is a very potent synthetic opioid increasingly used because it’s easier to ship. Much of the illegal fentanyl used in the United States is produced in China and used to increase the potency of natural opiates like heroin smuggled in from Latin America.

Brzezny said the fact that Moses Lake is a distribution center for the illegal drug trade makes this community especially vulnerable.

According to David Curnel, a physician and the Moses Lake representative on the Health District Board of Directors, said that fentanyl is measured in micrograms — millionths of a gram — while other opiates are measured in milligrams — thousandths of a gram.

“Is fentanyl prescribed?” asked County Commissioner Richard Stevens, a board member as well.

As a patch for chronic pain, Brzezny explained, adding that the risk for diversion is likely low since most fentanyl in the U.S. comes in as a powder from China and is easier to get and use.

While it is his job to worry about the state of public health in Grant County, Brzezny seems very worried about the risk posed by synthetic opiates.

“It’s getting much worse. Fentanyl contamination is increasing,” Brzezny said. “We can only imagine the degree of damage this will do to our community.”

“We are not at all prepared for it,” he added.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached via email at countygvt@columbiabasinherald.com.