KVRR Local News
May 4, 2021
According to the Minnesota Department of Health, 1,008 people died of drug overdoses in 2020.
Drug-related deaths increased 64% in March 2020 compared with the previous year, then peaked at more than 100 fatalities in the months of May and August.
Dr. Ryan Kelly, at the University of Minnesota Medical School, says it became a “terrible storm” of lack of access to treatment medications and facilities and housing.
Drug overdose deaths up 27% in Minnesota in 2020 apnews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from apnews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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The COVID-19 pandemic helped fuel a 27% increase in drug overdose deaths in Minnesota last year.
Overdose fatalities reached 1,008 in 2020, with the first large increase coming in March as the state saw its first coronavirus cases and deaths, according to the Minnesota Department of Health.
The onset of a previously unknown virus that already had taken many lives across the world led many treatment and outreach resources to abruptly shut down, limiting access and support to those with substance use disorders. With COVID there s this terrible storm about lack of access to treatment medications, housing and treatment facilities, said Dr. Ryan Kelly, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota Medical School. It made it more difficult to access those things and people died because of that.
Fentanyl pushes Minnesota drug overdose deaths up 27% msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Memorial crowdfunding effort aids wilderness medicine at WVU
It’s been 10 years since former West Virginia University Emergency Medicine resident Greg Seftick died in an avalanche at Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park.
Shortly after the tragic accident, the WVU Foundation worked with Seftick’s family and the School of Medicine to establish the Dr. Gregory Seftick Wilderness Medicine Fund. The memorial fund promotes and enhances wilderness medicine education, outreach, patient care and research within the WVU Department of Emergency Medicine.
Now, Seftick’s family has partnered with the Foundation again to launch a crowdfunding effort that builds upon his legacy. All contributions made via the secure crowdfunding page will help ensure that Seftick’s interest in wilderness medicine influences future generations of students and provides opportunities for involvement in the activities and conferences he enjoyed.