Waltham Opioid Deaths on the Rise, Data Shows

WALTHAM, MA – Despite aggressive efforts to curb abuse, the opioid epidemic continues to plague the country. Bay Staters know this all too well – Massachusetts has been hit hard, in some communities more than others, and opioid-related deaths continue to rise.

On Wednesday, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) released updated 2015 and 2016 data on opioid-related overdose deaths in the state. The DPH last year began including fentanyl and its relationship to opioid-related deaths, and also emergency transportation related to overdoses and naloxone data.

Waltham has seen two spikes in the number of opioid-related deaths over the past five years. In 2016, 15 deaths were reported, a jump from the 10 confirmed the previous two years. Before that, the number of deaths spiked from four in 2012 to nine in 2013.

Waltham's case is not the exception. In fact it mirrors an upward trend statewide.

There were 1,933 opioid-related overdose deaths across Massachusetts in 2016, a 16 percent increase from 2015. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is still waiting on additional cases from 2015 and 2016, and the report is updated quarterly.

Meaghan Ritcey, a registered nurse and the Waltham Health Department's substance abuse counselor, stressed the importance of prevention efforts in curtailing opioid abuse. Her hiring was the first step.

Ritcey's role was the health department's first foray into community outreach, Director of Public Health John Zuppe said. She has helped organize narcan youth training nights with Waltham Overcoming Addiction and information sessions for city officials about the opioid crisis.

She is currently helping to oversee the health department's most ambitious endeavor yet – a multi-community collaborative to share resources, provide patient follow-up within 24 hours of an overdose and hold resource nights attended by police, substance abuse counselors and health professionals.

"The importance of prevention is to make people aware of the dangers associated with even trying drugs or alcohol because we don't know if a person's going to struggle with it," Ritcey said. "That's what's been great in Waltham – we've gotten the conversation going."