DELAWARE - The Delaware Drug Overdose Fatality Review Commission released its second annual report to Gov. John Carney and the General Assembly, which examines a sample of 108 cases from fatal overdoses that occurred in 2020. It includes data collected from death certificates, medical records, legal records, and treatment history.
Significant findings include that 93 percent of those that had died in the sample had fentanyl in their system at the time of death. Forty-two percent had mental health diagnoses and of those, 83 percent suffered from depression and 49 percent had anxiety. The report also noted that 31 percent of people who died had a history of chronic pain, and that 68 percent of those people suffered from chronic back pain in particular.
The report issued two new recommendations. The first is to incorporate mental health and trauma-centered practices into services that address substance use disorders and move towards a whole-person approach for treatment. The second is to broaden non-opioid alternate options for individuals with chronic pain.
"We have reached a critical point in Delaware where, I believe, the recommendations of this commission must be used to end this public health emergency," said commission chair Erin Booker.
These recommendations are in addition to five from 2021 that the commission said remain relevant. These include:
- Providing safe and secure housing for unhoused or unstably housed individuals.
- Expanding continuing education availability for licensed clinicians to increase their knowledge of trauma intervention services.
- Intervening for those whose contact with law enforcement does not result in arrest or incarceration and initiating substance abuse treatment services immediately following incarceration for inmates awaiting sentencing.
- Establishing a notification system within the prescription monitoring program to ensure prescribers are aware of patient non-fatal overdoses.
- Improving outreach and follow-up with individuals who engaged in substance abuse related treatment.
"We are truly fortunate to have a robust community of support in the war against the opioid crisis in Delaware, but the battle is far from over," said Attorney General Kathy Jennings.
