Moderator: Christopher M. Jones, PharmD, MPH, Director, National Mental Health and Substance Use Policy Laboratory, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and Member, National Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit Advisory Board

CE Certified By: AMA,AAFP,ACPE,ANCC,APA,GA Bar,GA POST

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) partnered with states to develop groundbreaking surveillance programs to provide timely, in-depth examination of opioid overdoses. In this session, CDC researchers will present results from analysis of data collected using the Enhanced State Opioid Overdose Surveillance (ESOOS) program. States submit emergency department (ED) visit data on nonfatal overdoses on a quarterly basis and medical examiner/coroner data on fatal overdoses within eight months of death.

An overview of regional patterns of opioid overdose morbidity and mortality, 2016 to 2017, will be presented. Researchers have documented regional changes in opioid overdoses as well as the drugs most frequently involved in opioid overdoses. Preliminary data suggest overall increases in opioid overdose morbidity and mortality in ESOOS states represented in the Northeast, South, Midwest and West; however, specific drugs and overdose circumstances vary across regions.

Presenters also will examine the role of fentanyl and fentanyl analogs, which are often mixed with heroin or cocaine, or pressed into counterfeit pills. Data for nonfatal opioid overdoses were analyzed from states sharing ED data through the National Syndromic Surveillance Program. Fentanyl overdose death characteristics were examined, including presence of fentanyl or fentanyl analogs, route of drug administration, combinations of drugs involved and suspected fentanyl source. Presenters will outline their findings to date, including the proportion of opioid overdose deaths caused by fentanyl and the proportion of ED visits in which fentanyl was suspected to be involved.

UPON COMPLETION OF THIS COURSE, PARTICIPANTS WILL BE ABLE TO:
- Recognize regional patterns in opioid overdose morbidity and mortality.
- Identify drugs that are involved in opioid overdose morbidity and mortality regionally.
- Describe the epidemiology of fentanyl overdose deaths in 12 states.
- Identify the characteristics of fentanyl overdose deaths, including route of administration.
- Describe estimates of suspected nonfatal fentanyl overdose in several states.