Concord, Mass.-based Emerson Hospital on Jan. 25 hosted a community forum dubbed "Youth at Risk: The opioid epidemic in our communities" at Blanchard Middle School in Westford, according to Wicked Local.
At the event, prevention and treatment experts, recovering addicts, local law enforcement and families harmed by the epidemic met to discuss signs, symptoms and treatment options for individuals suffering from opioid addiction.
"It's not an inner city problem. It's not a minority problem. It has nothing to do with socio-economic status," said Deborah Greene, MD, associate chair of Emerson Hospital's department of emergency medicine, according to Wicked Local. "These overdoes are happening all across the board in every town."
In 2016, the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission found opioid-related hospital visits — including inpatient admissions, observation stays and emergency department visits — nearly doubled from 2007 to 2014, reaching a new annual average of more than 55,000 a year.
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