In 2017, Pennsylvania hospitals treated about 37,000 patients for opioid use disorder, representing the highest number in a decade, according to The Morning Call.
About 1 in 10 people admitted to a Pennsylvania hospital for opioid use disorder suffered an overdose in 2017.
Carbon County saw 716 hospitalizations per 100,000 residents, compared to the state average of 346 hospitalizations per 100,000 residents, which make it Pennsylvania's highest opioid-related hospitalization rate.
About 20 percent of patients were admitted for mental health problems, 8 percent were admitted for other substance use disorders, and 15 percent were admitted for sepsis and skin infections due to injecting drugs.
"We have to remember to treat all conditions simultaneously and effectively," Thomas Nappe, MD, director of medical toxicology at Bethlehem, Penn.-based St. Luke's University Health Network, told The Morning Call.
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