Overdoses on the Island: Two deaths ‘likely’ this year
There have been two drug overdose deaths on Shelter Island so far this year, according to the Police Department, after reporting no deaths from narcotics in 2020.
But the number of deaths this year comes with a caveat, Police Chief Jim Read said, labeling them “apparent drug overdoses” since the department is waiting for the “Suffolk County Medical Examiner’s office to advise us of actual causes of death.”
Tracking deaths due to overdoses, however, doesn’t give a true picture of drug abuse, since the miracle drug Narcan has brought people back from the coma-like state of an overdose to life in a matter of seconds. According to Jack Thilberg, director and chief of operations for the Island’s Emergency Medical Services, two suspected overdoses were treated with Narcan this year.
During the pandemic year of 2020, the number of non-lethal overdoses from opiates and alcohol reported to the Shelter Island Police Department was seven, up by five from the year before.
The seven calls by people needing immediate medical assistance last year was the same as in 2017 and 2015, according to police records. The lowest number of reported overdoses in the past seven years was in 2016, when there were only two calls for assistance.
Last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said drug overdose deaths rose by nearly 30% nationally in 2020, the highest number of deaths ever recorded. More than 93,000 people died from overdoses in 2020, compared to the 72,151 deaths recorded in 2019.
The CDC reported that overdose deaths from methamphetamine also increased in 2020, as did cocaine deaths and deaths from prescription pain medications.
Nationally — and locally — experts said the COVID-19 pandemic caused deep disruptions in the lives of people who were already living on the edge in terms of drug issues. “We have seen over and over again that people relapsed because of the pandemic,” said Dr. Lloyd Simon, medical director of Stony Brook Eastern Long Island Hospital’s Inpatient Substance Addiction Program.
“All the support systems were cut out,” he said. “You take people who were fragile to start with, take away their outpatient counseling, take away any 12-step help meetings — and some people lost their actual medications — and the pandemic caused this problem to get worse.”
David Cohen, director of Quannacut Outpatient Services in Riverhead, said, “The numbers were all skewed during the pandemic. The numbers trended up while it was going on. Everything was up. We certainly saw an influx of patients. It was pretty dramatic.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James recently announced a whopping $1.1 billion settlement with three of the nation’s largest opioid distributors, which were accused of mass distribution of opioids without regard to the national addiction and overdose crisis.
The Suffolk County Legislature voted to accept $21.5 million from four major pharmacy chains and an opioid manufacturer as part of a settlement charging the companies fueled the opioid crisis across the region.
