OPIOID NATION

Fighting the opioid epidemic by making treatment more accessible and comprehensive.

The White House has launched a new national online database, which tracks the rates of nonfatal opioid overdoses. That website went live just yesterday -- and officials say the goal is to help direct resources to the areas where they're needed the most.

Jacksonville Fire and Rescue paramedics are seeing hundreds of overdose cases every month among the many calls they respond to.

For 10 years, a Clay County man took so many prescription pills that he almost died the day his wife found him unconscious on their living room floor. Today, Matthan Poole is a local pastor, and he and his wife, Sara, are using his near-death experience to bring others hope.

According to the most recent data from the Center for Disease Control, roughly 50,000 people died from an opioid-involved death in 2019.

Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry and the Drug Enforcement Administration announced an effort to cut down on prescription drug abuse.

Clay County officials will work together to break opioid addiction in the community.

COVID-19 infections aren’t the only things parents have to worry about now that kids are back in school for a new school year.

The St. Johns County School Board voted Tuesday to join a multi-district lawsuit targeting pharmaceutical companies that manufacture opioids, as well as companies that distribute the drugs.

The group Drug Free Duval says overdoses have increased significantly in Duval County, and studies from across the country show opioid use has grown significantly amid the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department, there has been a 38% increase in drug overdose calls in Duval County for the year to date. “We began to see some downward trends in 2018 but now we’re seeing really sharp increases,” explained Susan Pitman, founder of Drug Free Duval. It says the use of the opioid overdose reversal medication Naloxone is another source for people to use to respond faster and save lives. An online course provided by JFRD and Drug Free Duval helps train people about the signs of overdose and how to administer an opioid overdose reversal drug.

The state later added CVS and Walgreens to the lengthy list of defendants in the case. Moodys lawyers accused the pharmacy companies of filing the third-party complaint in January to delay the already complex litigation. Adding hundreds of unidentified doctors to the case introduces new elements that are not already part of the lawsuit, Migdal said. Litigating these new issues and causes of action would take time and really would divert resources from the states case against the pharmacies, she added. Byrd agreed to strike the third-party complaint but said the pharmacy chains could try again, with the names of specific doctors.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – As COVID-19 cases continued to rise and the state and city began putting restrictions in place, the number of overdose calls went up. Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Cheif Keith Powers said Monday the agency saw a 20% increase in overdose calls from February to March. The new data from JFRD shows every week in March 2020 there was an increase in overdose calls when compared to 2019. Since the increase in overdose calls, JFRD has distributed over 900 nasal Narcan kits. And as Pietak and other health officials continue to monitor the coming months April is also showing an increase in overdose calls.