(COLUMBUS, Ohio) -- Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced today the recommendations issued by the Overdose Prevention Task Force, which was formed by Attorney General DeWine last year to address issues regarding the real-time reporting of drug overdose deaths in Ohio.
Attorney General DeWine created the task force, which was chaired by Montgomery County Coroner and Ohio State Coroners Association Chief Forensic Officer Kent Harshbarger, M.D., after efforts by the Attorney General's Office to gather up-to-date statewide statistics on heroin overdose deaths revealed that Ohio lacks a standard protocol for classifying drug overdose fatalities. There is also no method in place to publicly obtain up-to-date overdose death statistics.
In addition to reviewing the methods in place for collecting overdose death data, the task force also examined the value of non-fatal overdose data and other data sources that could be utilized to prevent overdose deaths.
The task force issued the following recommendations:
- Make drug overdose death data available in online Ohio Public Health Data Warehouse: The task force recommends that the Ohio Department of Health continue their efforts, which began in August 2014, to expand mortality data available in its online Ohio Public Health Data Warehouse. The forthcoming system will provide the most recently available data regarding overdoses as causes of death in Ohio.
- Encourage coroners to adopt uniform reporting practices: In an effort to gather uniform data on deaths caused by one or more drug, the task force recommends that all coroners specifically report on death certificates each drug responsible for, or that interacted to cause death.
- Review data collected in current state reporting systems: The task force recommends further collaboration between state agencies to determine what additional data the state currently keeps that could also be used to gain a better understanding of the drug epidemic for purposes of community and law enforcement awareness and prevention.
- Review EMS and non-fatal overdose data sources: The task force recommends the study of existing non-fatal overdose data in an effort to determine how the data can be used to help prevent overdose deaths.
"Drug addiction, especially heroin addiction, is a problem across this state, and law enforcement, policy makers, and members of the public need current information to help them make data-driven decisions on how to combat this epidemic and save lives," said Attorney General DeWine. "I applaud the work of this task force to examine the need for up-to-date data and uniform overdose death reporting, and my office will continue to collaborate with other agencies to determine what other data could be useful in this fight."
"Ohio already has a very strong system for reporting overdose deaths, but I believe these recommendations will make a good system even better," said Dr. Harshbarger. "With up-to-date data and more specific overdose death classifications, we can better understand emerging trends and develop strategies to address them."
The task force included representatives from the Ohio State Coroners Association, Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police, Buckeye State Sheriffs' Association, Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association, and Ohio Attorney General's Office, with input from the Ohio Department of Health.
A copy of the full Overdose Prevention Task Force report is available on the Ohio Attorney General's website.
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