Opioid crisis intensifies in Florida

According to a recent report by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, opioid deaths in the state increased by 35% in 2016.

The report, based on data compiled by medical examiners throughout the state, shows that deaths due to the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl increased by 97% in 2016 and that the presence of fentanyl in individuals who experienced drug overdoses increased by 80%.

The impact of Florida’s opioid epidemic reaches far beyond those who use the drugs recreationally. Dr William Liu, a health neonatologist from Lee County, said that the amount of drug-dependent newborns with mothers addicted to drugs increased by 1,200% over the past 12 years. Also, the Florida Department of Health announced that more than 1,200 children in Lee County were removed from their parent’s custody and in excess of 600 new-born babies in Lee County and the surrounding four-county area had been removed from their homes, mainly due to problems related to drug abuse.

As the opioid epidemic in Florida and throughout the US continues to intensify, lawmakers in the state are planning to introduce several new bills when they begin the 2018 legislative session in early January. The proposed legislation includes expanding the utilisation of Florida’s Prescription Drug Monitoring Database, launching a pilot program in Southwest Florida to assist new-born babies suffering from neonatal abstinence syndrome, and limiting the supply of specific opioids that physicians could prescribe to their patients.