WASHINGTON – The state of Maryland is launching an aggressive new initiative aimed at lowering the number of fatal drug overdoses.
According to the state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH), hospitals across Maryland will work closely with local health departments and addiction specialists.
When a patient is taken to a hospital for a drug overdose, and they survive, doctors and other hospital staff will intervene and try to get them into treatment immediately.
“Every hospitalization and emergency department visit for an overdose is an opportunity to prevent the next one,” says Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein, Secretary of DHMH. “It’s an opportunity to save someone’s life.”
According to DHMH, the initiative will begin as a pilot program with a handful of hospitals.
By March, the department hopes to extend the program to all hospitals across Maryland. An evaluation period will follow in April.
In 2013, 858 people died in Maryland from drug overdoses, according to DHMH.
Among them, 59 percent previously survived at least one overdose that had landed them in the hospital.
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