Two hundred people died of opioid overdoses in Iowa last year. And experts say the wait for getting into a drug treatment program in Iowa is sometime as long as 10 weeks. Malissa Spranger is with the Mercy Turning Point Treatment Center in Dubuque.
Iowa legislators are holding a two-day hearing on the opioid epidemic. Deborah Thompson of the Iowa Department of Public Health told lawmakers of her personal story.
Joe became addicted to pain killers after a serious auto accident. Deborah says the doctor treated her husband’s pain with a “fire hose” of pain killers. The number of opioid pills sold in Iowa is predicted to decline this year, but — still — about 90 opioid pills will be sold for each man, woman and child in the state.
