The opioid crisis continues to gain momentum in NC. Unintentional opioid poisonings took the lives of 1384 North Carolinians in 2016, a 39% increase over the previous year and has risen 800% between 1999 and 2016. Preliminary data indicates the trend continued in 2017 and in NC, there are approximately 4 unintentional opioid overdose deaths per day.
Prescribers play an important role in prevention by following prescribing recommendations for both acute and chronic pain conditions whenever possible and co-prescribing naloxone to at-risk patients. Likewise, physicians play an important role in treatment by identifying opioid use disorder (OUD), offering office-based medication assisted treatment (buprenorphine and naltrexone), and connecting patients with specialized SUD treatment. Providers also play an important role in sustaining recovery.
The problem is enormous, but there are concrete, actionable steps that healthcare providers and systems can take to address this crisis and prevent overdose and other fallout from opioid misuse. To that end, this site provides useful clinical and training resources that can assist healthcare providers in taking those steps.
The Opioid and Prescription Drug Abuse Advisory Committee (OPDAAC) (See OPDAAC Partners) is a multi-disciplinary group established by the NC General Assembly and led by DPH and DMH. The OPDAAC workgroups strive to coordinate a state response to the opioid epidemic and is focused on North Carolina’s Opioid Action Plan. The primary purpose of this website is to provide useful clinical resources for prescribers, dispensers, and other healthcare providers.
OPDAAC’s goals are simple: reduce overdose deaths and reduce ED visits.