WYTHEVILLE, Va. (WFXR) – It has been said without exaggeration that one pill can kill. Fentanyl is super challenging to detect, and it doesn’t take that much to prove deadly.
Many Americans, including some Virginians, have lost their lives not knowing what they were actually taking within other drugs.
“What we’ve seen is a rise in unintentional deaths,” Vicki Parks, the Chief Operating Officer (CEO) of Wythe County Community Hospital, said. “I know some of the people mentioned that today and that’s just what breaks your heart.”
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares is crusading to end fentanyl and addiction-related overdose deaths.
He gathered civic and law enforcement authorities, as well as substance abuse recovery specialists, inside the library at Wytheville Community College, to discuss what can be done to fight the issue of addiction.
“America loves a comeback story, so it’s powerful when you hear those that have overcome addiction and getting onto their best life and now helping others,” Miyares said. “It’s incredibly meaningful.”
It’s also a chance for Miyares to see the impact of the money Virginia received from its part of the opioid settlement with the drug companies.
“A lot of these lawsuits that we brought in the attorney general’s office against these huge pharmaceutical companies, these billion-dollar-plus settlements, this is money now going to localities to help with treatment,” he said. “I can hear firsthand how some of our successful wins in court are getting people back on their feet to beat addiction.”
The money can also help educate young people about the dangers of fentanyl-laced drugs.
“Education to the parents, education to the schools as early as third grade, which is what they mentioned today,” Theresa Dix, the Chief Nursing Officer at Wytheville Community Hospital, said.
The settlement money can also make the overdose drug, Narcan, more readily available.
“Narcan is one of our most effective tools that can save a life and get somebody back on that path, then they can seek help,” Miyares said,