For years, this town has withstood a torrent of opioid-related deaths, and now claims one of the highest rates of opioid overdoses in the country.
But the battle against opioids in Española is being fought with a paltry force: In a community of roughly 10,000, only three physicians are certified to treat patients with opioid use disorders.
The scarcity of doctors trained to deal with addiction may be particularly acute in Española, but the issue resonates in cities and towns across the country, where roughly 20,000 people die annually from opioid-related overdoses. In the face of one of the country’s most pressing and fastest-growing public health crises, few primary care doctors treat substance abuse disorders, even though they are uniquely positioned to recognize problems and help patients before it’s too late.
[For more of this story, written by Bob Tedeschi, go to https://www.statnews.com/2016/...rs-opioid-treatment/]
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