King County in Washington state has set up a new hotline for opioid addicts suffering from withdrawal to get immediate help.
People who call 206-289-0287 will receive a prescription for the drug buprenorphine, also known as “bup.” The phone line is available 24 hours a day. It’s staffed by physicians from the University of Washington’s Department of Emergency Medicine. Calls to the hotline will be free, though the callers will still need to cover the cost of the prescription if they don’t have insurance. The doctors will also follow up with callers within 72 hours. It’s available for everyone in King County, which is home to Seattle, the state’s largest city.
Buprenorphine binds to the same receptors in the brain as opioids, but only affects them half as much, according to Dr. Lauren Whiteside and Dr. Chris Buresh, the heads of the program. Since the receptors aren’t fully activated, it stops addicts from feeling dopesick without actually getting them high. In addition, if someone uses opioids while on buprenorphine, the medicine can keep them from overdosing.
READ MORE: Supreme Court Throws Out Perdue Bankruptcy Plan That Protects Sackler Family
The hotline was launched at the beginning of the year, and has picked up steam. In the first six months, the hotline issued 210 prescriptions. But in the last two months, there have been an additional 96 prescriptions, according to KUOW-FM. The number of overdose deaths in King County has gone down 15% since last year, the station reported.
“Historically, starting treatment included jumping through all these hoops,” Whiteside told KUOW. “This program harnesses that exact moment [when someone is ready to start treatment] with a lot of support … so starting treatment doesn’t feel like this insurmountable task.”
The Seattle Fire Department responds to 15 overdoses a day, according to the Capitol Hill Seattle Blog, attributed to the fentanyl crisis.
“Substance use disorder is complex, and there is not one single cause, nor one simple solution. That’s why King County is connecting people to treatment and lifesaving interventions that are proven to work, and clear paths to recovery for all,” King County Executive Dow Constantine said in a statement.