LSU Health New Orleans Holds Public Forum on Opioid Crisis

Leslie Capo
Director of Information Services

LSU Health New Orleans’s Alcohol and Drug Abuse Center of Excellence and Schools of Medicine and Public Health recently organized a daylong public event to address the opioid crisis and strategies for reducing urban opioid overdoses and deaths.

Opioid overdoses and deaths have increased to epidemic proportions in the United States, including the greater New Orleans area. In 2018, there were 208 fatal overdoses in New Orleans, drastically surpassing the 146 total murders for the year. Of the 208 fatal overdoses, 81% involved opioids, of which 13% involved fentanyl.

A City in Crisis: The Opioid Epidemic in New Orleans  took place on October 31, at the Human Development Center. The public forum was free and open to the public. Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health, Dr. Rebekah Gee, detailed Louisiana’s Opioid Response Plan. A slate of local, state and national speakers shared their expertise and perspectives on underlying factors, impact on the economy, law enforcement and emergency departments, challenges, stigmas, as well as the NOLA Strategy. Regional urban leaders in city government, law enforcement, business, health care, mental health, and emergency medical services and other interested parties were also in attendance.

The goal of the conference was to “try to come up with an integrated, coherent response to this epidemic,” LSU School of Public Health’s Dr. Peter Sharf told WDSU News in an interview.

A lunchtime networking event was also offered.

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