BY KARISSA MILLER
N.C. Attorney General Josh Stein visited Iredell County on Monday to meet with local health department workers, EMS, police, jail, local government leaders and others in the community to share news about the ongoing opioid epidemic settlement.
Opioids are usually prescribed to treat moderate to severe pain following surgery, injury, or maladies like cancer. Prescription opioids include oxycodone, hydrocodone, morphine, and methadone. Other addictive forms are fentanyl and heroin.
“People are dying across the state. They are dying here. Last data I had seen there were 30 overdose deaths in 2020 in Iredell County,” Stein told the group.
More than 100,000 Americans died of a drug overdose in 2021, and roughly eight North Carolinians die every day from an opioid overdose.
A group of attorneys general across the nation reached a $26 billion settlement last year with three major drug distributors — Cardinal Health, AmerisourceBergen and McKeeson — and Johnson & Johnson, which manufactured and marketed opioids.
The coalition of attorneys general continues to work to hold other manufacturers accountable, Stein said, and that they have almost doubled funds in the settlement.
Soon county governments will have an opportunity to sign another Memorandum of Agreement. North Carolina’s MOA is unique because the state structured its share of the settlement so that counties and municipalities receive 85 percent of the funds.
“We wanted to make sure the funds were distributed (locally) and well utilized,” Stein said. “This meeting is frankly emblematic of what I’m experiencing around the state. People of good faith, of diligence, compassion and creativity working together to address a deep-seeded problem.”
Stein served as one of the two lead negotiators for the settlement, and local governments have already received their first payment.
Iredell County will receive approximately $13.6 million over an 18-year period, including a payment of $1.5 million that has already been disbursed. (At this time, the amount from the second MOA settlement agreement is unknown).
The funding Iredell County has received from the settlements has enabled the county to not only sustain past grants and program startups, but also expand capacity and resources dedicated to the opioid epidemic while refining other internal processes.
Iredell County EMS
Through a grant and a partnership with the local health department, Iredell County EMS added a peer-support specialist position to the overdose response team in 2019 and added community paramedics shortly after that to create a community response team.
According to EMS Director Blair Richey, these positions are helping reverse overdoses and save lives.
Community paramedicine is a model of “community-based health care in which paramedics work outside their normal emergency response and transport roles.” The initiative enhances access to primary care for underserved populations.
“Peer support specialists are able to meet people where they are with a deeper understanding of what they’re going through and the barriers they face. They work extremely hard to maintain professionalism while removing shame, judgment and stigma with the clients,” Richey said.
Iredell County made history by launching an EMS-based MAT Medical Assisted Therapy Bridge program last year. The department works with the Drug-Alcohol Coalition of Iredell, Iredell Homeless Coalition, the Iredell Domestic Violence Task Force, and others.
“We saw how critical it was during those days a client was waiting for an outpatient treatment appointment or while waiting for a bed to open at inpatient treatment or detox,” Richey explained. “This allows our community paramedics and peer support specialists to provide suboxone daily until the patient is established with a provider.”
EMS has:
♦ Served 223 individuals and their families;
♦ Made 84 referrals for inpatient and outpatient treatment;
♦ Made 537 referrals to services, such as food pantries and primary care; and
♦ Distributed 520 Narcan kits (naloxone), which can reverse or reduce the effects of opioids
EMS uses the opioid settlement funds for a full-time peer support position and covers the cost of the other three existing peer supports. As a result, more EMS paramedics and staff can be trained on this type of work. They also distribute naloxone and funds will help fund the MAT program.
Richey emphasized that EMS is not trying to duplicate services, but serve as a bridge to existing services while identifying gaps.
Health Department
Norma Rife, Iredell County director of public health, said that opioid funds will be used to implement a youth and young adult primary prevention program.
She introduced the two new employees, Latoya Sneed, a youth substance prevention community health assistant, and Charzette Brown, youth substance prevention coordinator.
Iredell County Detention
Captain Richard Adams said officials at the Iredell County Detention Center recognized opioids were a major problem long before the epidemic and partnered with Partners and then with Daymark, which links inmates with services once are released from jail.
Some of the treatment facilities, however, don’t like taking people with criminal records, he said.
The opioid settlement funds pay for a full-time employee from Daymark and a part-time peer support position to reach more people.
In the jail, there are approximately 380 inmates, including 220 who are on some sort of medication, he said.
Adams said that they have a few inmates in safe-keep in Raleigh because they won’t take their mental health medications.
Board of County Commissioner Vice Chair Bert Connolly thanked all of the different agencies and groups for their work in combating opioid abuse.
“Don’t forget the source. Don’t forget the problem. These pills don’t fall out of the sky. We have providers who write too much. We have too much that comes into this country,” Connolly said. “We have a lot of people locked up in the jail with serious charges and serious detox.”
Do you need help or know someone who does?
Iredell County’s EMS Community Response Support Team has a large number of available services. Contact information for Iredell’s Community Response Support Team Programs:
♦ Peer Support specialist: 704-832-2194 or peersupport@co.iredell.nc.us
♦ Community Paramedic: 704-878-5442 or community.paramedic@co.iredell.nc.us