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Series: The Opioid Epidemic In Wisconsin
Milwaukee Emphasizes Public-Health Approach As Opioid Deaths Swell
City Health Commissioner Points To Role Of Doctors, Federal Support In Effort To Stem Epidemic
Scott Gordon
WisContext
Frederica Freyberg
PBS Wisconsin
June 21, 2017 | 10:25 a.m.
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The opioid crisis is hitting rural and suburban areas hard, but that doesn't mean people in Wisconsin's largest city have been spared. Officials and health-care providers in Milwaukee have worked over the past couple of years to better understand and take on the city and county's rash of overdose deaths.

The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office announced in April that it expected to record more than 400 drug-related deaths by the end of in 2017, and its Twitter account (@mkemedexamine) often focuses on opioid-related updates. Despite frequent news updates that declare the arrival of a deadly new drug, though, the reality is more complicated and insidious — the supply illicit opioid users are exposed to constitutes an ever-evolving mix of prescription medications, heroin, fentanyl and chemically novel synthetic opioids.

The city and county of Milwaukee launched a new drug task force in March 2017, and its members include city health commissioner Bevan Baker. In a June 16, 2017, interview with Wisconsin Public Television's Here & Now, he discussed what he thinks is the best approach to tackling the opioid epidemic in Wisconsin's most populous county.

"This is certainly the crisis that's hot on our list at this time," Baker said. He also said Milwaukee has "great support from the state of Wisconsin." The state legislature is continuing its efforts and prevent opioid-related deaths through its HOPE Agenda.

Baker emphasized that state and local officials will need both the federal government and medical community to step up their efforts. He said recent talk at the federal level about increased illegal drug interdiction and border security might be helpful, but doesn't strike at the root of the epidemic nor its human costs.

"I want to see federal support at any level ... but this is not just a law-enforcement issue alone, this is truly a public-health epidemic that we need to curl back," Baker said. He would like to see federal officials provide local governments with more funding for prevention efforts, and make it easier for mental-health and substance-use counselors to bill Medicare and Medicaid.

Prescription painkillers certainly helped to set the stage for the ongoing explosion of opioid abuse. Health care providers in Wisconsin and beyond have been grappling with how to continue to treat chronic pain without doing further damage. Baker said he believes doctors are doing a better job at reining in potentially addiction-seeding prescriptions and spreading awareness, but added "there are people who go from provider to provider to get medications once they have an addiction."

It's not clear how prevalent so-called "doctor shopping" is in the state — though recent state efforts to track opioid prescriptions has found evidence that people do it. And, of course, not everyone using illicit opioids is dealing with medical professionals or prescription drugs. Still, Baker stressed the role that doctors have in the collaborative effort to prevent addiction and overdose deaths.

"We need everyone including physicians to wrap their arms around this issue," he said.

Milwaukee Emphasizes Public-Health Approach As Opioid Deaths Swell was originally published on WisContext which produced the article in a partnership between Wisconsin Public Radio and PBS Wisconsin.

Wisconsin Public Television
Baker: "This is truly a public-health epidemic that we need to curl back."
The opioid crisis is hitting rural and suburban areas hard, but that doesn't mean people in Wisconsin's largest city have been spared. Officials and health-care providers in Milwaukee have worked over the past couple of years to better understand and take on the city and county's rash of overdose deaths.
The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office announced in April that it expected to record more than 400 drug-related deaths by the end of in 2017, and its Twitter account (@mkemedexamine) often focuses on opioid-related updates. Despite frequent news updates that declare the arrival of a deadly new drug, though, the reality is more complicated and insidious — the supply illicit opioid users are exposed to constitutes an ever-evolving mix of prescription medications, heroin, fentanyl and chemically novel synthetic opioids.
The city and county of Milwaukee launched a new drug task force in March 2017, and its members include city health commissioner Bevan Baker. In a June 16, 2017, interview with Wisconsin Public Television's Here & Now, he discussed what he thinks is the best approach to tackling the opioid epidemic in Wisconsin's most populous county.
"This is certainly the crisis that's hot on our list at this time," Baker said. He also said Milwaukee has "great support from the state of Wisconsin." The state legislature is continuing its efforts and prevent opioid-related deaths through its HOPE Agenda.
Your browser does not support iframes, but you can use the following link. Link
Baker emphasized that state and local officials will need both the federal government and medical community to step up their efforts. He said recent talk at the federal level about increased illegal drug interdiction and border security might be helpful, but doesn't strike at the root of the epidemic nor its human costs.
"I want to see federal support at any level ... but this is not just a law-enforcement issue alone, this is truly a public-health epidemic that we need to curl back," Baker said. He would like to see federal officials provide local governments with more funding for prevention efforts, and make it easier for mental-health and substance-use counselors to bill Medicare and Medicaid.
Prescription painkillers certainly helped to set the stage for the ongoing explosion of opioid abuse. Health care providers in Wisconsin and beyond have been grappling with how to continue to treat chronic pain without doing further damage. Baker said he believes doctors are doing a better job at reining in potentially addiction-seeding prescriptions and spreading awareness, but added "there are people who go from provider to provider to get medications once they have an addiction."
It's not clear how prevalent so-called "doctor shopping" is in the state — though recent state efforts to track opioid prescriptions has found evidence that people do it. And, of course, not everyone using illicit opioids is dealing with medical professionals or prescription drugs. Still, Baker stressed the role that doctors have in the collaborative effort to prevent addiction and overdose deaths.
"We need everyone including physicians to wrap their arms around this issue," he said.
This report was produced in a partnership between PBS Wisconsin and Wisconsin Public Radio. © Copyright 2021, Wisconsin Educational Communications Board and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The Doctor-Patient Relationship In The Opioid Crisis
Wisconsin's First Responders Take Steps To Avoid Opioid Exposure On The Job
The Toxicology Mysteries Posed By Synthetic Opioids
How Public Health Recordkeepers Struggle With Tracking Synthetic Opioids
New Synthetic Opioids Test Limits Of Wisconsin's Drug Analysis
Most COVID-19 Patients In Wisconsin Have Recovered, But What Does That Mean?
The Pace Of A Pandemic Meets The Speed Of Science As Wisconsin Takes On COVID-19


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Summary of all Mount Etna eruptions that took place on February 2021. Eruptions distinguished by violent explosions of Strombolian type. Strombolian eruptions involve moderate bursts of expanding gases that eject clots of incandescent lava in cyclical or nearly continuous small eruptions. After that, one of these explosion caused the subsidence of a small portion of the south-east crater. The rockfall raised a large cloud of gas and pyroclastic material that rapidly reached Catania and the nearby towns.
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Mount Etna, fiery nights
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