“Addicts take opiates and other sedatives specifically to induce a pleasant stupor. If they’re lethargic and hard to arouse, but still breathing effectively, it’s not an overdose. It’s a dose.” –Boston paramedic This is a quote I included in a presentation I put together for the state of Connecticut back in 2014 when we designed…
Month: June 2025
Uptrend
Once a month, the CDC releases their provisional fatal overdose data based on a 12-month rolling average. The CDC’s data is 4 months behind. Lately, each month the release of the data has led to glowing articles about overdoses going down, which they had been for some time — quite substantially. That was until this…
Father’s Day 2025
This is my first Father’s Day without my own father who passed away last August at 90. I think of him everyday. While I can’t call him, it is not hard for me to remember him. I see him hitting a home run in a company picnic softball game when I was a little boy….
Drop in Seizures Mystery Controversy
The Washington Post published an article on May 31, 2025 called: The mysterious drop in fentanyl seizures on the U.S.-Mexico border: The reasons behind the decrease of fentanyl seizures in the U.S. and along the Mexico-U.S. border are complex. The article has brought the Post some scathing criticism from President Trump supporters, who claim the obvious…
Time is Brain
Every June Rich Kamin, my EMS Medical Director and I give a talk on EMS Stroke Care at our hospital’s annual Emergency Stroke Symposium. This has been going on for a decade now. We are a good team. I am the play by play man and he is the color commentator. I put the presentation…
Disappointment
I am part of a statewide harm reduction advocacy group, called SHArP (Statewide Harm Reduction Partnership), who have been working to pass legislation in Connecticut to create overdose prevention centers (OPCs) similar to those already established in New York and Rhode Island, where people can use drugs in clean, safe conditions where trained staff are…