52 Pills Per Person
DATA SHOWS LANE COUNTY HAS BEEN AWASH
IN PRESCRIPTION OPIOIDS
By Renata S. Geraldo
A
t the height of the prescription drug
crisis a decade ago, Lane County
pharmacies dispensed enough opioid
pain medication to give 52 pills each
year to every single man, woman,
child and infant in the county.
That’s one of the takeaways from
data obtained by The Washington Post under the
Freedom of Information Act from the Drug Enforcement
Administration. The Post released a massive database
charting opioid prescriptions filled between 2006 and
2012.
The national prescription opioid epidemic is still
leading an average of five Oregonians per week to die of
opioid overdose. Oregon has one of the highest levels of
opioid misuse in the country.
With a population of more than 374,000 residents,
Lane County received 128 million opioid pain pills from
2006 to 2012, the data shows.
The store that stood out the most in numbers in
the county was Bi-Mart. Its pharmacy in Springfield
received almost 7 million opioid pills. Two Bi-Marts in
Eugene received about 3 million opioid pills each.
A single Safeway pharmacy in Cottage Grove
received 4 million pills during that period.
Neither Safeway nor Bi-Mart would comment directly
on the data to Eugene Weekly.
Andrew Whelan, Safeway’s director of internal
communications, sent EW a press release from the
National Association of Chain Drug Stores.
“Every day, pharmacists face a moment of truth when
presented with an opioid prescription, making decisions
as a provider of patient care and as part of the solution
to the opioid-abuse epidemic. Patients understand that
community pharmacy is part of the solution, providing
trusted advice and quality healthcare services,” it read.
Bi-Mart did not respond to EW’s phone calls or
emails for comment.
The numbers are staggering but not surprising,
says Dr. Tom Jeanne, deputy state health officer and
epidemiologist from the Oregon Health Authority. They
correspond to the data the OHA already had, he said.
slant
politician in Oregon, but it’s unlikely he will take on
the popular progressive Merkley. It will be good news
if Merkley has only token opposition because that will
free him to help other Democrats try to take back
the Senate from Mitch McConnell and his wrecking
crew. November 2020 is not that far away.
• Climate change isn’t real, right? Tell that
to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, which is
contemplating building a retractable dome over
its outdoor Allen Elizabethan Theatre, according
to a story in the Medford Mail Tribune. OSF lost
$5.4 million during its 2017 and 2018 seasons, largely
because smoke from persistent southern Oregon
wildfires forced cancelations of late-summer outdoor
shows in the iconic 1,200-seat theater. As Hamlet
might say, OSF’s “majestical roof fretted with golden
fire” — that’s perhaps an allusion to the cost of such
a dome — will protect theatergoers from “a foul and
pestilent congregation of vapours.”
• Oregon’s Sen. Jeff Merkley kicked off his re-
election campaign July 27 in Eugene. So far, he has
no opponent. What about Congressman Greg Walden
from eastern Oregon? He’s the leading Republican
• We’re all animal lovers at EW, so it was with
sadness we read this week of the death of Chaser,
said to be the smartest dog in the world. The
enthusiastic border collie was owned by the late John
W. Pilley, a psychology professor who taught her
to understand more than 1,000 English words and
then published an academic paper in 2013 showing
that she could understand not just words but simple
syntax as well. His work with Chaser — he trained
her for up to five hours a day — confirms that many
animals have a deeper ability to communicate than
we give them credit for. Chaser, who was 15, died July
23 of natural causes; Pilley died last year at 89.
• The UO womens’ soccer team opens its
season Aug. 17 against the University of British
Columbia right here in Eugene. We hope good crowds
will gather, playing off the smashing success of the
U.S. team in the World Cup.
UpStream Art
Maple Star provides training, certification,
and support to care for Oregon’s most
vulnerable children.
Small Mural Project
Details and application form available at
5 p.m. Thursday,
August 22.
Mural painting dates:
September 23 & 24.
happyrivers.org
beads
ld
We will be comissioning
several artists to paint
downtown-area storm
drains with images
about stormwater and
water quality.
Applications due:
Grassroots, Community-Focused,
Responsive, and Trauma Informed.
fro
If you are an artist who is
passionate about rivers, wildlife and
clean water, this is your chance to
make a statement in our community.
E U G E N E W E E K LY . C O M
problems. What about prevention? What about more
help from the state and the federal government? This
was a meeting with more questions than answers.
or
Call to Artists
• Is this area a draw for homeless people
because of good social services? The final City Club
of Eugene meeting of the summer was a depressing
one on the grim challenge of homelessness in the
Eugene-Springfield area. The 2019 Point in Time
count showed an increase of 32 percent in the number
of unsheltered people from 2018. Speakers at the
meeting were Lise Stuart from the county, Shannon
Smyth from Eugene Mission and Kris McAllister,
a leader from Carry It Forward, a grassroots
organization supporting unhoused individuals. The
recurring question about drawing people here was
addressed by Stuart, a management analyst, who
said we have no data to support that view. Dan
Bryant said he has been invited to speak in countless
Oregon communities, all seeking help with the same
The period from 2006 to 2012 is significant
because, during that time, opioids were at their peak
as alternatives for pain killers, says Joe Schnabel,
executive director of the Oregon Board of Pharmacy.
But in the past five years, Schnabel said, people
started paying attention to overdoses and opioid
addiction.
Lane County still has a high number of opioid
prescription fills. For every 1,000 residents, 201
prescriptions were filled, according to OHA data for
the first quarter of 2019. The number is higher than the
state average, which has 158 prescriptions per 1,000
residents.
While the Lane County prescription number is
higher than the state average, it is decreasing. In 2012,
Lane County had 271 prescriptions filled for every 1,000
residents.
According to federal law, both the clinician who
prescribes and the pharmacist who fills the prescription
can be held responsible for any misconduct.
“The responsibility for the proper prescribing
and dispensing of controlled substances is upon
the prescribing practitioner, but a corresponding
responsibility rests with the pharmacist who fills the
prescription,” Code 1306.14 of Title 21 of the Code of
Federal Regulations reads.
Jeanne says he is hopeful the epidemic will be brought
under control. The number of patients receiving opioids
dropped 61 percent in the span of five years, he said, and
overdose deaths also decreased.
But according to the numbers, there’s still a long way
to go. ■
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