PROVIDENCE, RI – In an effort to save lives and address the growing number of overdose deaths in the state, Governor Gina M. Raimondo together with U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse today announced that Rhode Island has been selected to take part in the new U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Prescription Drug Overdose Prevention for States Program (PDO PfS).  Rhode Island is one of 16 states that has been funded to scale up interventions to address and reverse the prescription drug overdose epidemic that is causing harm to individuals, families, and communities across the country.  Rhode Island is slated to receive $940,000 per year over the next four years, amounting to $3.76 million in federal funding to boost prevention efforts.

The PDO PfS initiative is aimed at helping states address the growing national overdose epidemic.  Since 1999, overdose deaths involving prescription opioids have quadrupled.  More than 16,000 people died nationwide from prescription opioid overdoses in 2013.  Heroin deaths have also been on the rise, with more than 8,000 overdose deaths involving heroin in 2013—a nearly three-fold increase since 2010.

Earlier this summer, The Trust for America’s Health, together with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, issued a report that found Rhode Island has the 7th-highest rate of drug overdose deaths in the nation, exceeding the cause-of-death rates for car accidents, murder, and suicide.  The Rhode Island Department of Health reported that there were 239 overdose deaths across the state in 2014 – an increase of 73% since 2009.  Rhode Island’s overdose deaths are the highest in New England, at a rate of 19.4 per 100,000 people.  The national average is 13.4 deaths per 100,000 people.

“Like many states, Rhode Island is losing too many people to overdose,” said Governor Raimondo.  “We need to treat the overdose crisis as a public health crisis and focus our attention on treatment, recovery, and prevention so that everyone has an opportunity to make it in Rhode Island.  I applaud Rhode Island’s dedicated Congressional delegation for fighting so hard for these funds, which will go a long way to expand on the work already underway by the Overdose Prevention and Intervention Task Force.”

“The growing overdose epidemic is a public health crisis that has touched too many families and communities, and it demands a comprehensive, coordinated response.  This federal funding will provide critical support for the state’s prevention efforts as we work together to address this complicated problem.  I commend Governor Raimondo and her team at Health and Human Services for their work to secure this grant funding and take on this challenging task.  I will continue doing everything I can at the federal level to ensure Rhode Island has the support and funding necessary to save lives, keep our neighborhoods safe, and stamp out this epidemic for future generations,” said Senator Reed, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, which authorizes funding for the CDC.

In June, Reed joined Governor Raimondo in leading a roundtable discussion with state health and law enforcement officials for a conversation about the growing epidemic of drug overdose deaths in Rhode Island and ways to combat the problem.  Reed has also authored the Overdose Prevention Act, aimed at decreasing the rate of drug overdose deaths by improving access to naloxone, a drug that counters the effects of an opioid overdose.  Naloxone has no side effects or potential for abuse, and is widely recognized as an important tool to help prevent drug overdose deaths, but many communities struggle to get naloxone to those on the front lines who need it most.  The bill would also encourage the implementation of overdose prevention programs, improve surveillance of overdose occurrences, and establish a coordinated federal plan of action to address the epidemic.

“Rhode Island’s prescription drug addiction crisis contributed to too many deaths in recent years.  This funding will help law enforcement, insurers, and health care providers better monitor the distribution and use of prescription drugs – potentially stopping the problem before it starts for many.  I thank CDC for awarding this funding, and I will keep fighting to deliver more resources to help cities and towns support those struggling through addiction or recovery,” said Senator Whitehouse, who has authored the bipartisan Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act to help combat addiction and promote recovery.  Whitehouse wrote to the CDC in support of the state’s grant application.

“Over the last five years, we have lost 1,000 Rhode Islanders from nearly every community in the state to drug overdoses.  Each and every one of those deaths are potentially preventable,” said Rhode Island Director of Health Nicole Alexander-Scott, MD, MPH, who co-chairs the Governor’s Overdose Prevention and Intervention Task Force alongside Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals Director Maria Montanaro.  “I commend our federal delegation for ensuring Rhode Island has the support and resources to develop and implement a national-model for overdose prevention.”

For the next four years, CDC will award Rhode Island $940,000 per year to advance prevention on multiple fronts, including efforts to:

  • Enhance prescription drug monitoring programs;
  • Put prevention into action in hard-hit communities, by educating providers and patients about the risk of prescription drug overdose;
  • Work with health systems, insurers, and providers to help them make informed decisions related to prescribing pain medication; and
  • Respond to new and emerging drug overdose issues through innovative projects, such as developing a new surveillance system or communications campaign.

PDO PfS was a competitive announcement, and in launching year one of this program, the CDC was able to fund 16 out of the 34 states that applied.  With the proposed increase of $48 million included in the President’s FY 2016 Budget request, the CDC would stand equipped to expand this program to all 50 states for a truly national response to this troubling epidemic.

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