Zoeller, Rx Task Force meet with U.S. Surgeon General on prescription drug abuse crisis in Indiana

 Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller and members of the Indiana Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Task Force met with U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek H. Murthy and Indiana State Health Commissioner Dr. Jerome Adams today to discuss the prescription drug abuse epidemic in Indiana, progress being made to combat this scourge and the need for federal support to further such efforts.

Drug overdose deaths in Indiana have increased five-fold since 1999, and half of overdose deaths today are a result of prescription drug abuse according to a Trust for America’s Health report.

Zoeller created the Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Task Force in 2012 to respond to this crisis, reduce the abuse of controlled prescription drugs and decrease the number of deaths associated with these drugs in Indiana. The Task Force is made up of approximately 100 stakeholders including legislators, state and federal regulators, clinicians, treatment providers, educators and law enforcement.

“Prescription drug addiction is at the root of a very serious public health crisis that impacts much of our society today,” Zoeller said. “Prescription drug abuse has fueled high rates of overdose death and greater heroin use in Indiana, and led to unprecedented disease outbreak in Hoosier communities this year through shared needle use among intravenous prescription drug abusers. Preventing prescription abuse is now more pressing than ever.”

Zoeller and other Task Force members discussed Task Force initiatives, progress and additional areas of need during a meeting with Surgeon General Murthy and Commissioner Adams today at the Indiana University-Purdue University (IUPUI) Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health. Topics included public and prescriber education, prescription drug monitoring and addiction treatment.

“At a time when too many of our communities are struggling with prescription drug abuse, we have a responsibility to do everything in our power to fight this crisis head-on,” Surgeon General Murthy said. “That is why we’re committed to working closely with all of our state and local partners, both in Indiana and throughout this country, to put an end to this epidemic.”

“We’ve seen in Indiana this year the steep toll that prescription drug abuse can have on our residents and their families,” Commissioner Adams said. “It’s encouraging to know that our U.S. surgeon general is willing to listen to some of the lessons we’ve learned as he looks for ways to fight opioid abuse on a national level.”

Since its creation, the Task Force has advanced a number of initiatives to reduce prescription drug abuse. The Task Force has hosted five annual prescription drug abuse symposiums reaching 2,500 stakeholders with plans underway to host its sixth-annual symposium on Oct. 28-29. Additionally, the Task Force helped establish safer prescribing rules, developed statewide training efforts to reduce drug diversion, supported safe disposal efforts and launched a public awareness campaign through www.BitterPill.in.gov.

“The confluence of opioid over use, heroin accessibility, and social determinants has created an enormous burden of addiction and mental health challenges,” said Dr. Palmer MacKie, clinical educator with the Indiana University School of Medicine and Task Force member. “Indiana is not alone but rather representative of this nationwide crisis.  It is imperative that additional resources and coordination be engaged to confront these issues collectively and address the symptoms as well as the root causes. Combining local, state and national resources is required.  We are therefore pleased and optimistic the Surgeon General has joined our efforts in understanding the issues and tackling this urgent and costly, in human as well as financial terms, health crisis.”

The Task Force has also worked on many legislative efforts to reduce abuse, including providing more oversight for pain clinic operators, stronger reporting requirements to the state’s prescription drug monitoring program, greater access to addiction treatment services and to the overdose antidote naloxone, and – most recently – allowing communities with an HIV or Hepatitis C outbreak to establish syringe exchanges that discourage shared needle use and direct people to treatment options.

“On behalf of the Task Force, we are grateful for the U.S. surgeon general’s attention to this public health battle in Indiana and to receive his input,” Zoeller said. “There is a not a quick or simple fix to stopping deadly prescription drug abuse, but we believe we are beginning to make important progress to reverse this trend.”

More information on the Task Force and the Attorney General’s efforts to reduce prescription drug abuse can be found at www.BitterPill.in.gov.