Connect with us

Healthcare

73% uptick in overdose deaths in 2020 so far in Ohio county: Coroner’s report

Published

on

Fentanyl 1031234188 scaled

An Ohio county’s coroner’s office on Wednesday reported that it saw a disturbing 73.4% increase in overdose deaths during the first six months of 2020.

The Franklin County Coroner’s Office report states that it saw 437 individuals die from overdoses during the first half of this year, a 73.4% increase from last year. The Coroner’s office published the numbers in a press release as part of its preliminary report on 2020 overdose statistics.

The press release also detailed the numbers tied to various kinds of narcotics.

Most startling were the fentanyl figures. Fentanyl comprised the lion’s share of overdose deaths, making up 85.5% of all those so far in 2020, compared to 79% from the same six-month period in 2019. Heroin-related deaths increased to 5% of total drug fatalities this year compared to 2.5% last year.

The remaining data on drug-related fatalities shows that the victims were mostly males, 71% of them, while females made up only 29%.

Additionally, the 25-44 age group had the highest numbers of drug-related deaths and the victims were disproportionally African American, amounting to 27.4% of deaths. The group represents roughly 24% of the county’s population, according to June 2019 estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau.

This Franklin County report reflects the broader, ongoing opioid epidemic that has wreaked havoc in many communities across the nation. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a spike in drug use and overdoses, since millions of Americans have been confined to their homes for months on end. More than 40 states saw a jump in opioid fatalities this year, according to an October report by the American Medical Association.

It should be noted, however, that cannabis saw the largest portion of the increase in drug usage during the pandemic whereas party drug usage fell, according to a more internationally focused study by The Economist. While two out of five people they surveyed reported an increase in consuming cannabis, they found that the use of ecstasy, cocaine, and ketamine plummeted by 41%, 38%, and 34% respectively.

You can follow Douglas Braff on Twitter @Douglas_P_Braff.

You may like

Continue Reading

Healthcare

Nebraska woman who detransitioned sues doctors who facilitated removal of ‘healthy breasts’ when she was a teen battling mental health

Published

on

Screen Shot 2023 09 17 at 10.05.58 PM

Nebraska woman Luka Hein is suing Nebraska Medicine, the Nebraska Medical Center, and University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) Physicians who facilitated in her gender transition when she was a teenager; Hein has since detransitioned.

Hein, who is being represented by the Center for American Liberty, filed the suit last week, for removal of her healthy breasts when she was a depressed teenager who struggled with mental health.

“Proceeding straight to breast amputation in a depressed, anxiety-ridden, gender-confused adolescent, who was incapable of understanding the lasting consequences of her decision, constitutes negligence for which Defendants are jointly and severally liable,” the lawsuit states.

Fox News reports:

Throughout adolescence, Hein struggled with her mental health and traumatic experiences, including being allegedly groomed and threatened by an adult man. She had serious mental-health struggles at age 13. By 15 she was diagnosed with “gender identity disorder” and put on a fast track to have her breasts removed, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit claims that despite Hein’s history, doctors rushed her into gender transition without considering her psychological comorbidities. It says the defendants used deceptive euphemisms and unscientific terminology to sell gender-transition procedures to Hein.

For instance, their use of the phrase “masculinizing hormone therapy” was misleading as the process does not heal the patient but does “inflict harm that causes malfunctioning and malformation of the teenage body and brain,” according to the lawsuit. Testosterone injections, which Hein received as part of her attempted sex change, can cause many negative side effects including high blood pressure and permanent bodily changes such as the development of an Adam’s apple, deepening of the voice, abnormal hair growth, and male pattern balding of the scalp.

The lawsuit says defendants were also negligent in other ways, such as in their shifting from a standard medical diagnosis to the “affirming care” model, which embraces a person’s gender delusion as fact and discourages questioning.

Allegedly one doctor, Nahia J. Amoura, was prepared to go even further. “About a year after starting Luka on testosterone, Dr. Amoura recommended to Luka that she surgically remove her uterus in a partial hysterectomy as the next step in her ‘transition,’” the lawsuit states. The hysterectomy would have permanently sterilized Hein and created hormonal imbalances that would have required long-term medical follow-ups.

You may like

Continue Reading

Trending