3 Windsor Locks-East Windsor Residents Died of Overdose in 2015

Note: Map is at bottom of article.

Theresa Doonan’s son is one of about 500 people who died as a result of an opioid overdose in 2014 and the number swelled past 600 in 2015.

Heroin was involved in 327 deaths in 2014 compared to 415 in 2015. Other opioids such as oxycodone and fentanyl were involved in other deaths, as well.

While numbers tell part of the story and reveal that the heroin epidemic in Connecticut continues to snowball, it’s the people and lives lost or impacted by the drug that shape the story and provide its real context.

Enough people have suffered first-hand like Doonan, which has led to a call-to-action in Connecticut to try and prevent more people from dying.

Heroin and opioid-related deaths aren’t just a Connecticut problem as 40 Americans die daily at the hands of the powerful drugs, which is all too easily accessible for millions of Americans.

Doonan, of Trumbull, shares the pain and suffering over her son’s death in the hopes that it may save lives. Her son’s death has inspired her to try and make a difference and she is lobbying for new laws and programs.

‘It’s hard to come back’

Doonan’s son’s addiction started with prescription pills and eventually progressed to heroin, she said, and then his death.

“Heroin’s damage is done in such a short amount of time and once that damage is done it’s hard to come back,” she said.

Since her son’s death, five of his friends have died from overdoses as well, Doonan said.

Doonan knows that overdose victims are labeled as “junkies” but said what people don’t understand is that heroin and other opioids don’t discriminate and it’s hard to stereotype the typical user.

The youngest Connecticut heroin overdose victim in 2015 was a 17-year-old and the oldest was 71-years-old. The statistics show that heroin doesn’t care about a person’s race, economic status or residence.

“It’s really hard for people to understand heroin addiction,” Doonan said.

Doonan said at times she felt ostracized from the community because of how her son died. She said some parents of those suffering from addiction are afraid to talk openly about it because of the stigma attached.

Heroin and other opioids continue to wreak havoc in Connecticut as there were more than 600 overdose deaths in 2015 where at least one opioid was detected, according to data from the Office of the State Medical Examiner.

Heroin, morphine and/or codeine was detected in 444 deaths in 2015 compared to 349 in 2014, 286 in 2013 and 195 in 2012. Other opioids, including oxycodone, hydrocodone, methadone and fentanyl were responsible for other deaths.

Windsor Locks, East Windsor Overdose Deaths in 2015

In Windsor Locks and East Windsor, the following residents were reported to have overdosed on opioids by the Office of the State Medical Examiner. Deaths are by residence and overdoses may have occurred in another town:

• A 23-year-old Windsor Locks male overdosed on November, 13, 2015 because of acute intoxication due to the combined effects of ethanol, diazepam, temazepam, bupropion, and heroin.
• A 53-year-old Windsor Locks female overdosed on January, 28, 2015 because of intoxication due to the combined effects of lorazepam, methadone, bupropion, citalopram, olanzapine, diphenhydramine, morphine, and hydromorphone.
• A 46-year-old East Windsor female overdosed on December, 17, 2015 because of acute intoxication from the combined effects of heroin and clonazepam.

Read Patch’s 2015 synopsis on the Connecticut heroin epidemic here.

The municipalities with the most resident deaths in 2015 are Waterbury with 38, Hartford, 37, and New Britain, 31.

However, comparing the number of overdose deaths of residents with population can paint a different picture. Three Sharon residents overdosed in 2015 and the town had an estimated population of 2,725 as of 2014. The ratio of deaths per 10,000 residents is 11.

A number of very small towns had high ratios due to three or less overdoses, but some small towns such as New London and East Haven had high ratios.

For example, East Haven had 12 resident deaths with a population of 29,044. With that ratio, Bridgeport, which has a population of about 147,000, would have more than 60 resident overdose deaths. In reality Bridgeport had 21 deaths in 2015.

Fentanyl Deaths Skyrocket

Overdoses involving the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl have been skyrocketing. Fentanyl was involved in 186 deaths for 2015 compared to 75 in 2014 and only 14 in 2012. The drug is legally prescribed as a pain reliever, but the majority of overdose deaths in Connecticut have been from clandestine sources.

It is estimated to be 80 times more potent than morphine and hundreds of times more potent than heroin, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Fentanyl is one of the more potent opioids and as such it alleviates pain in a lot of different conditions,” said Victoria Richards, associate professor of medical sciences at the Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University. “...even a small increase in the dose may lead to an overdose situation.”

Police across the state have been looking to stem the flood of fentanyl-laced heroin. A regional task force in southeastern Connecticut recently made several arrests following a number of overdoses. Seized heroin was found to be combined with fentanyl, police said.

From CT to CDC: A Hard Look at Opioid Prescription

In 2013, health-care providers wrote 259 million prescriptions for opioid pain relievers, which is enough for every American adult to have a bottle of pills, according to the CDC.

There has been a 300-percent increase in opioid sales in the U.S., but overall pain reported is the same.

A bill, which was passed by the state General Assembly Public Health Committee Monday, has a number of measures that seek to address Connecticut’s addiction epidemic.

The bill would limit the initial prescription for opioids to seven days and additional prescriptions could be obtained at the discretion of a physician for persistent pain. Exceptions are in place for chronic pain, cancer-associated pain and palliative care.

Doonan and several others advocated for a limit.

“I’ve heard time and time again, many individuals become addicted to opioids after they or a family member or friend are prescribed the medication and then they end up experimenting with the excess medication down the line,” said State Rep. J.P. Sredzinski (R-Monroe, Newtown).

The bill would also make it easier for pharmacists to dispense naloxone to people. Another bill making its way through the process would add more members to the State Alcohol and Drug Policy Council and would allow physicians, APRNs and physician assistants to refer patients to licensed alcohol or drug counselors for an assessment of opioid abuse.

The recommendation follows the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s recently released 12-point opioid prescribing guidelines, which suggests physicians rarely prescribe more than seven days of opioids for acute pain, such as pain that occurs after a surgery. The CDC also encourages monitoring of prescriptions for chronic pain and consideration of other pain management strategies.

“Overprescribing opioids—largely for chronic pain—is a key driver of America’s drug-overdose epidemic,” said CDC Director Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H.

Related: CDC Releases New Painkiller Guidelines To Curb Overdose Deaths

Guidelines Welcomed By Many

The CDC notes that many doctors across the country felt that more guidelines on the subject could help.

Medical school training on the prescription of opioids varies from school to school, Richards said. A recent study found the average program devotes 11 hours to the curricula of pain management. The majority of training comes from residency.

Some medical schools received funding to form a consortia to coordinate curriculum for pain management and appropriate prescribing.

“That has been a wonderful effort and perhaps more schools can be brought into that consortia to mitigate the over prescribing, misuse and abuse,” Richards said.

The CDC guidelines may strengthen coordination among medical schools.

Doctors can also take continuing education courses that are formed by the Food and Drug Administration and drug manufacturers for pain management, but they aren’t standardized, Richards said.

Connecticut already follows some of the CDC’s other guidelines, such as the use of a prescription monitoring program to prevent “doctor shopping.”

Gary Mendell, the founder and CEO of Shatterproof, said Connecticut should take steps to implement the CDC guidelines. Shatterproof seeks to reduce the number of those suffering from addiction through a number of means.

Mendell’s son, Brian, took his own life after a battle with addiction that lasted almost 10 years.

“Physicians across the country will now have access to consistent information about when and how to prescribe opioid painkillers, including advice on safe dosages and the risk of addiction,” he said of the guidelines.

Mendell said Connecticut has many good laws in place already, including the prescription monitoring program, but in order for them to be effective they have to be implemented correctly. He suggested that the state track database usage on a quarterly basis to ensure that doctors are using it correctly.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy put forth a bill for the 2016 session that would mandate municipalities equip their primary responders with naloxone, also known as Narcan.

The drug is an opioid antagonist that can reverse the respiratory depression that can occur during an overdose.

Several municipalities across the state, in addition to State Police, are currently equipped with the drug. State Police have successfully administered the drug more than 60 times.

“Naloxone should be everywhere,” Mendell said. “It should be in every school, every college in state, every treatment program and every patient in a treatment program should have it along with their family.”

Stigma

Doonan continues to advocate for Connecticut to add new laws and take steps to reduce the stigma of addiction.

She advocated among many measures at the State Capitol for education programs to start in elementary school about opioids.

She also said that Connecticut could take a cue from other nearby states that have stronger public education campaigns.

Mendell also said getting rid of the stigma attached to addiction is imperative to saving lives.

Someone who can’t produce enough insulin is a diabetic and gets treatment. With opioid addiction, a person’s dopamine levels are affected and thinking about addiction as a disease rather than a choice would go a long way in saving lives.

“My son died because he felt like an outcast and not a patient, and he took his own life,” Mendell said.