Opioid prescriptions run rampant in Yuba-Sutter

Jul. 21--Over a six-year period, 74 million opioid pills were prescribed to Yuba-Sutter residents, according to newly released Drug Enforcement Agency data.

The Washington Post released opioid prescription data from the DEA as a result of a court order, finding that 76 billion oxycodone and hydrocodone pain pills were prescribed all over the country between 2006 and 2012 -- amidst a surge in opioid-related deaths (nearly 100,000).

To local public health officials, the data came as no surprise: Centers for Disease Control numbers show a higher-than-state average rate of opioid prescriptions in both Yuba and Sutter counties.

In that six-year period, 45 million opioid prescription pain pills were supplied in Sutter County; in Yuba County, 29 million prescriptions pain pills were supplied.

In recent years, greater public awareness of the opioid epidemic has led to changes in education and training.

"Over the past couple of years, we have worked with our local Health Care Coalition to educate prescribers and pharmacists on the dangers of opioid addiction and alternative available treatments," Yuba County Health Administrator Homer Rice wrote in an email Thursday. "There have been major efforts at the national and state level to reduce the number of pills prescribed."

He said the number of opioid prescriptions issued over the last two years in Yuba County has actually decreased: from 81,631 prescriptions in the second quarter of 2017 to 69,328 in 2018.

The local Health Care Coalition, Rice said, is also working to increase the number of drug take-back sites to get unused prescriptions off the street to help prevent overdose.

"In Yuba County we have distributed over 578 doses of Narcan to treat overdoses," he wrote. "It is a complex problem with no easy answer, but the medical community is working on it."

Sutter-Yuba Behavioral Health is also working on combatting the issue. Sutter County Public Information Officer Chuck Smith said Behavioral Health is in the final stages of contracting with Aegis Treatment Centers in Marysville -- a narcotic treatment program that provides medication-assisted treatment, a gold standard for opioid management and treatment. The program, Smith said, will augment existing alcohol and drug addiction counseling and treatment services provided through Behavioral Health.

In an interview with the Appeal-Democrat in March, Dr. J Eileen Morley, assistant medical director in emergency medicine, who is overseeing the project, said two medications are used in medication-assisted treatment: methadone and buprenorphine, the latter chosen for the program for its high safety profile, simplicity in dosage, quick onset and its craving suppression effects in addition to controlling withdrawal symptoms.

A common misconception, she said, is that the medication will get people high -- she said that's not the case, and the emergency room will not be overrun with patients "drug-seeking" for the medicine.

She said that medication-assisted treatment does not mean people rapidly wean off opioids once starting the medicine. In the spring, Adventist Health/Rideout was chosen as one of 31 health facilities to participate in an 18-month accelerated training program to provide innovative treatment for opioid use disorders. It's organized by Public Health Institute's California Bridge Program -- which will provide funding, training and technical assistance.

The DEA data released by the Washington Post also showed the top five distributors, manufacturers and pharmacies that supplied opioid prescriptions. In Sutter County, 16 million of its 45 million pills were distributed by AmerisourceBergen Drug and 26 million were manufactured by Actavis Pharma, Inc.Walgreen Pharmacy in Yuba City received the highest number of pills: 10 million between two locations (the data does not specify which locations). In Yuba County, 8 million of its 29 million pills were distributed by Cardinal Health 16 million were manufactured by Actavis Pharma, Inc.Olivehurst Drug Store, Inc. (on Olivehurst Avenue) received the highest number of pills: 5 million.

Yuba and Sutter counties have also taken legal action against several of the biggest pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors in the nation, joining 28 other California counties in a joint federal suit--some of those which were the top suppliers of pills locally.

Last spring, the counties, as part of the California Opioid Consortium, sued AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health, McKesson Corp, Purdue Pharma, Johnson & Johnson, Rite Aid of Maryland, Inc., Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc., and Wal-Mart, Inc., alleging that the defendants are responsible for creating the opioid epidemic; that they committed violations for racketeer influence and corrupt organizations; that some of the biggest manufacturers misinformed doctors about the addictive qualities of the medication; that distributors failed to report an uptick in suspicious opioid shipments to pharmacies; and unjust enrichment, among other things.

This year, Sutter County also joined a lawsuit against members of the Sackler family, the owners of Purdue Pharma, Sutter County Assistant Counsel Deborah Micheli wrote in an email in April. The suit, she said, aims at holding the owners liable "for their personal actions in contributing to the opioid epidemic."

While a trial date has not yet been set in that case, the national lawsuit is set for trial Oct. 21.

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