Opioid Addiction: Lack of Treatment Options Leads to More Deaths

Oregon has the highest non-medical use of prescription painkillers of any state in the country, according to a new report from the Democratic staff of the United States Senate Finance Committee. Despite that, the report found that treatment capacity in Oregon "is woefully inadequate."

The report - which looks at the situation nationwide with a focus on five states: Oregon, California, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Ohio - determined that enough people in Oregon were suffering from opioid use disorder, 120,000, that if there was a city of just those people, it wold be the state's third largest city.

Investigators determined that as of 2013 - the last year for which federal data is available - there was only 12 facilities in Oregon serving just 4,347 people.

"Sadly, Oregonians are no strangers to the human toll of drug use and addiction devastating families and communities,” Senator Ron Wyden, a member of the Senate Finance Committee, said.

"In an average year, just over one in 10 Oregonians are receiving the treatment they need," according to the report. Oregon had 522 opioid related deaths in 2014, a 13 percent jump from the year before.

The report states Oregon is a symbol of a much larger problem. It states that 78 people die from opioid abuse every day - roughly one person every 20 minutes - a more than 400 percent increase since 1999.

"This country is in the midst of an epidemic," the report states. "Several recent studies have revealed that upwards of 80 percent of people in need of treatment are unable access services - with many put on waiting lists for weeks or even months before there is capacity to care for them."

The report states that more than 30 million people live in counties that do not have adequate services for people in need of help.

The lack of services, the report determined, can be deadly as it makes people wait for much needed treatment.

"For someone struggling with addiction, those hours, days, or even months of waiting can be the difference between life and death," according to the report.

The Democrats responsible for the report state that more money is needed for treatment and say that in July when Congress passed the Comprehensive Addiciton and Recovery Act it was "comprehensive in name only" because it did not include adequate funding for treatment.

"I am deeply disappointed that Republicans failed to provide any real resources for those seeking addiction treatment to get the care that they need," President Obama said at the time.

The Democrats are hoping that Congress reconsiders that decision and fund the $920 million that the White House had requested.

"The White House has specified the amount of funding each state would receive based on the severity of the epidemic in their state and on the strength of their strategy to respond to it," according to the report.

“I’m extremely disheartened that Congress has closed up shop yet again without acting on its core promise to provide essential funding for proven opioid addiction treatment and prevention efforts," Wyden said. "Until states receive real investments in these programs, Congress has failed its job. Families in Oregon and across the country deserve far better."

Dwight Holton, the CEO of Lines for Life, a non-profit dedicated to fighting substance abuse, said the matter is urgent.

“The longer we wait to fund treatment for opioid addiction, the more lives we lose - and the more families who must cope with the havoc of this health crisis," Holton said.

Chart via Democratic Staff of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee