Fentanyl is now Augusta’s No. 1 killer of 30- to 50-year-olds
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - According to the Georgia Department of Public Health, fentanyl is Augusta-Richmond County’s No. 1 killer of adults ages 30 to 50 years old.
During the Augusta Commission meeting on Tuesday, District Health Director Dr. Lee Merchen presented to Augusta leaders an update on the opioid issue in Richmond County.
“You can’t buy a pill on the street that doesn’t have fentanyl,” Merchen said of the synthetic opioid that’s much more potent and deadlier than heroin.
Many people don’t intentionally ingest fentanyl, but many if not most street drugs are now laced with it.
It’s deadly and it’s affecting people every day in Richmond County. Some patients buy their drugs on the street just across the road from hospital doors.
Director of Addiction Medicine at the Medical College of Georgia, Dr. Lelan Byrd, says, “I just came from the Medical College of Georgia where I saw a patient that had overdosed. It took four doses of Narcan to bring her back, and now she’s in the hospital, thank goodness.”
From the Department of Public Health’s own data on fentanyl deaths in Richmond County, a huge jump occurred during the pandemic. In 2019, the number was just under 10 but rose to somewhere between 50 and 60 deaths by 2021.
Byrd says the problem goes beyond the pills.
“It is such an epidemic, and such a crisis here in our local area. You can’t buy a drug on the street; Xanax, or even so far as marijuana, that does not have fentanyl in it,” he said.
From recent state opioid settlements against manufacturers and distributors, Augusta-Richmond County is ing the state of Georgia in getting a cut of millions that are being awarded.
Janssen Pharmaceuticals, they’ll be awarding Augusta $579,648.32 annually over the next nine years, totaling $5.22 million by 2032.
A distributor settlement will also award Augusta more than $105,000 a year over the next 18 years for a total of more than $1.89 million.
State Department of Public Health officials say they’re waiting on another settlement from Purdue Pharma that is expected to have a similar financial impact.
Mayor Garnett Johnson says they’ve already received hundreds of thousands of dollars and plan to put it back into programs making testing kits with Narcan available across the city, even in hotel lobbies.
But for now, it’s about managing the problem.
“Getting the dose right, getting them inducted into medically assisted therapy is crucial, and we have to watch them very closely and it is crucial but it is life-saving,” said Byrd.
Augusta University’s addiction management program is open to those struggling, if you or a loved one is 18 or older you could be eligible.
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