Houston Chronicle by Olivia P. Tallet Feb. 21, 2020
HEROES, a treatment and research program at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, is among the most recent efforts here to address the crisis, along with other initiatives that include distributing lifesaving medication to those experiencing homelessness and those leaving the Harris County Jail. But HEROES offers a unique, comprehensive approach that is producing promising results amid a continuous increase in opioid overdose deaths.
At least 339 people or an average of over 28 per month died last year from opioid-related overdoses in Harris County, up from 321 the previous year, according to data from the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences The number has steadily increased since 2014 to last year, except in 2015. The largest was in 2017 when the increase jumped by almost a quarter.
While the agency registered more than 1,700 opioid-related deaths since 2014, the data shows a partial picture of opioid fatalities. For example, it doesn't include people who died in hospitals from drug toxicity whose corpses were not sent to the county's medical examiner for an autopsy, said the institute's spokesperson Michele Arnold.
And although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other institutions use the rate of deaths as the primary indicator to measure the crisis, experts agree that it alone does not reflect the scope of the epidemic or how many people are suffering from addiction to opioids.
“Assertive outreachâ€Local emergency medical teams respond to an average of nearly 100 suspected opioid-related overdoses every month, said Dr. James Langabeer, HEROES director and vice-chair of UT Health's Emergency Medicine. That number is based on the agency’s registry of cases, collected in collaboration with first responders.
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