Baltimore health officials are running low on naloxone, the opioid overdose reversal drug used hundreds of times by bystanders in the last couple of years to save lives.

Dr. Leana Wen, the city health commissioner, said demand has jumped significantly along with the drug epidemic and the health department needs funding for more supplies.

"We are rationing," she said. "We're deciding who is at the highest risk and giving it to them."

The city has about 4,000 doses left to last until next May. The department will distribute them, two at a time, to residents, including IV drug users encountered by the city's needle exchange vans or by outreach workers in "hotspots," areas where a spate of overdoses recently occurred.

"If I had 10,000 doses and gave them to everyone who requested them, I'd run out in about two weeks," Wen said.

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State health officials said 2,089 people died of an overdose in 2016 in Maryland.

The deaths represent the largest year-over-year increase in overdose deaths ever recorded in Maryland history, state health officials said.

State health officials said almost 90 percent of the deaths were opioid-related.

Carin Miller, with Maryland Heroin Awareness Advocates, said these deaths are the latest sign of a health crisis in the state.
“We have a 68-year-old grandfather who is injecting heroin with his grandson,” Miller said. “We had an 86-year-old woman in Frederick County and the family went in and thought she had the flu and they said, ‘We're sorry your grandma is in withdrawal.’”

In Frederick County, 88 people died of overdoses last year, a 100 percent increase from 2015.

“The numbers are absolutely devastating,” Baltimore City Health Department spokeswoman Michelle Mendes said. “In Baltimore City we had 694 total overdoses in 2016.

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Baltimore city council members have an update now on what the city is doing to help prevent the spread of Zika, the mosquito-borne illness.

Dr. Leana Wen, Baltimore City Health Commissioner, met with the city’s public safety committee at city hall Tuesday. Wen told the committee her office is prepared. She’s also reminding residents of what they can do to help stop Zika.

Kimberly Lodge said she pays close attention to the Zika warnings made by public officials. That includes keeping a close eye on her bird baths in the backyard of home in Roland Park.

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The Baltimore City Health Department launched a program Monday to encourage city employers to increase employee health.

Under the program, city businesses can earn a Workplace Wellness Designation if they meet certain criteria.

“We recognize the important role our business sector plays in a healthy Baltimore,” Baltimore City Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen said. With rising health costs, “It’s more critical than ever to meet the needs of an employee population.”

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