By LaMonte Richardson Jr.
TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS— Indiana has launched a new program that provides medical professionals with information about how many opioid prescriptions they write compared with their peers.

The hope is to eventually reduce the number of opioid prescriptions, members of the Indiana Commission to Combat Drug Abuse were told Thursday during a virtual meeting.

“Our administration has not sat by and watched the side effects of COVID-19,” said Douglas Huntsinger, executive director for drug prevention. “If anything COVID-19 has us working harder than ever, and in more collaborative ways to help those with substance use disorder and mental health challenges.”

To prevent possible opioid addiction, the state launched a program called prescriber report cards to lower Indiana’s prescription rate. Prescriber report cards provide doctors with an understanding of where they rank in terms of the number of opioid prescriptions in comparison to all other prescribers within a particular specialty. Research shows prescriber report cards are likely to result in decreased prescribing rates statewide.

Although actions have been put in place to treat, educate and prevent addiction, the state is seeing substantial increases in overdoses in 2020, according to the Indiana Department of Health. Compared to January through June 2019, Indiana has seen a 25.6% increase in fatal overdoses in 2020. There has also been a 52.7% increase in emergency room visits due to an opioid overdose.

As opioid use rises, more treatment options are being made available. The Next Level progress report provided by the Commission to Combat Drug abuse shows since2017, there has been a 156% increase in residential treatment beds and more than 55,000 Hoosiers have been enrolled in an opioid treatment program. Opioid treatment programs provide medication-assisted treatment in combination with counseling and behavioral therapy. Since 2017, Indiana has opened seven treatment programs statewide, with five more on the way.

After seeing the rise of Naloxone administration by emergency medical staff, Gov. Eric Holcomb announced a partnership with Overdose Lifeline Inc. to distribute 25,000 naloxone kits to Hoosiers at risk of overdose, totaling $1 million. Naloxone is a medication administered to rapidly reverse opioid overdose. Since the start of the partnership on June 1, Overdose Lifeline has fulfilled more than 13,000 requests for naloxone.

“Battling the drug epidemic continues to be Gov. Holcomb’s top priorities,” Huntsinger said. “We’ve made tremendous strides this year.”

FOOTNOTE: LaMonte Richardson Jr. is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.