Clark County opioid overdoses rise

Emergency rooms across Clark County have seen an increase in opioid overdose visits in the last week.

Between April 15 and 18, Clark County Public Health reported 10 emergency room visits for overdoses on opioids, most of which likely contained fentanyl, according to a news release issued Friday.

All 10 patients survived after being administered naloxone, a drug that blocks some effects of opioids.

“Anyone who uses powdered drugs or takes pills that were not given to them by a pharmacy should assume they contain fentanyl,” said Dr. Alan Melnick, Clark County health officer and Public Health director. “There’s no way to know how much fentanyl is in a drug or if it’s evenly distributed throughout the batch.”

In 2021, Clark County saw 238 nonfatal opioid-related hospitalizations, down from 383 in 2016.

But while nonfatal overdose hospitalizations have been trending down, fatal opioid overdoses in hospitals have consistently increased.

Two weeks ago, Washington released a drug and opioid overdose dashboard which showed a twofold increase in overdose deaths in Clark County, from 58 in 2016 to 117 in 2021.

Clark County Public Health’s Harm Reduction Center provides free opioid overdose prevention, recognition and response training and naloxone kits to community members.