Opioid-related ER visits decline in Massachusetts

BOSTON — A state panel says the number of emergency department visits by people with opioid-related issues dropped by nearly 6 percent in Massachusetts from 2016 to 2017.

The report released Wednesday by the Health Policy Commission is based on a state database of hospital discharges up to 2017, the most recent year available.

The HPC says even though opioid hospitalization rates are down the opioid epidemic is still hitting Massachusetts harder than some other states. And it may be hitting some unintended targets.

Until recently, professional musician Ellie DeOrsey was able to perform with a Rhode Island Orchestra thanks to the use of oral fentanyl.

But when she was forced to change doctors because hers moved away, her treatment changed.

"It didn't affect my judgment, my thinking, it just took my pain away," Ellie told Boston 25 News. "And my first office visit with this doctor, his first thing was: I will not prescribe you fentanyl."

Ellie, like many patients with chronic pain, believes the opioid epidemic is forcing doctors to sometimes turn away from pain-killing drugs that work in favor of ones that won't draw the attention of the DEA.

The commission analyzed emergency department visits, and inpatient hospital stays, for people who have an "opioid-related diagnosis," such as opioid dependence, misuse, or overdose.

Nearly 68,000 opioid-related hospital visits occurred in 2017, a little more than 2 percent of all discharges.

The drop came after years of increases.

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Associated Press