A18
NEWS
Blue Mountain Eagle
Opiods
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figures, Multnomah’s 134 pharma-
cies sold about 262 million pills
from 2006-2012, ranging from a
high of 18.6 million pills to a low of
7,010. Dividing the total number of
pills sold in the county by the county
population and by seven years gives
a per capita annual rate of 52.7 pills
— significantly more than the phar-
macy rates calculated of six or less.
By The Oregonian’s calcula-
tion, the top three Oregon pharma-
cies were Howard’s Drugs in Lake
County with a rate of 68 pills sold
per county resident per year, fol-
lowed by Len’s Drug in Grant
County at 37.5 and Safeway in
Wallowa County at 35. Using this
method nationally, Howard’s Drugs
is ranked as No. 10 in the U.S. for
pill sales per county resident per
year, and Len’s Drug is No. 89.
According to the figures used by
The Oregonian, from 2006-2012,
Len’s Drug sold 1.91 million pills,
Prairie Drug in Prairie City sold
270,260 pills and John Day Phar-
macy sold 34,000 pills. Both smaller
pharmacies closed, leaving Len’s
Drug to supply the entire county.
Together, the pharmacies sold 2.21
million pills in Grant County, which
gives a per capita annual rate of
43.5. This is significantly below the
52.7 rate in Multnomah County and
lower than most counties in Oregon.
Rural-urban divide
The top three Oregon pharma-
cies based on pharmacy rate were
located in rural frontier counties,
and 26 of the top 100 pharmacies
were in Eastern Oregon — Baker
with five pharmacies, Union with
five, Malheur with four, Umatilla
with three, Morrow with two, Har-
ney with two, Grant with two (the
drug store in Prairie City is now
closed), Lake with one, Wallowa
with one and Gilliam with one.
But pill sales by these stores
paled in comparison to pharma-
cies in urban counties. The phar-
macy with the highest pill sales in
Oregon was Kaiser Permanente in
Multnomah County with 18.6 mil-
lion. The next three highest pharma-
cies also were in Multnomah at 12.7
million, 10.9 million and 10 million.
The fifth largest was a phar-
macy in urban Washington County
at 8.7 million. No. 6 was another
Multnomah pharmacy at 8.5 mil-
lion, followed by three from urban
Clackamas County. Urban counties
accounted for nine of the top 10 sell-
ers, as well as six of the next 10, nine
of the next 10, eight of the next 10
and seven of the next 10.
Using a per capita rate based on
total county pill sales, rather than
The Oregonian method by phar-
macy, a sampling of Oregon coun-
ties reveals:
• Wallowa County’s three phar-
macies sold 1.97 million pills from
2006-2012. With 6,893 residents,
the rate was 40.89 pills per county
resident per year.
• Umatilla County’s 13 phar-
macies sold 22.1 million pills. Five
sold more than 2 million pills. With
74,520 residents, the overall rate
was 42.36.
• Union County’s seven pharma-
cies sold 10.07 million pills. Only
one pharmacy sold more than 2 mil-
lion pills. With 25,274 residents, the
rate was 56.91.
• Baker County’s six pharmacies
sold 7.07 million pills. One phar-
macy sold more than 2 million pills.
With 16,118 residents, the rate was
62.66.
• The 13 pharmacies in Clat-
sop County sold 17.51 million pills.
Four stores sold more than 2 mil-
lion pills. With 36,866 residents, the
overall rate was 67.85.
• With the single pharmacy sell-
ing 3.7 million pills and 7,782 resi-
dents, Lake County’s rate of 68 is an
accurate representation of the total
annual rate per person, but at least
five counties in Oregon had higher
rates.
• The highest rate in Oregon was
Curry County, where 13.03 mil-
lion pills were distributed with only
22,294 residents. Only two stores
sold more than 2 million pills, but
seven of the eight stores sold more
than 1 million pills. Although the
analysis by pharmacy gives rates of
6.7-24.8 for the top seven stores, the
total annual county rate per resident
was 83.5.
In terms of market share, the
pharmacy per capita figure for rural
frontier counties is relatively high.
Lake County has one pharmacy for
7,782 residents, and Grant County
currently has one pharmacy for
7,278 residents.
According to The Oregonian’s
figures, the pharmacy per capita fig-
ure for urban counties is lower —
Marion at one per 5,530 residents,
Multnomah at 5,295, Washington at
5,168, Clackamas at 4,884, Jackson
at 4,656, Deschutes at 4,407, Lane at
4,125, Linn at 3,679 and Douglas at
3,949. Curry County had one phar-
macy per 2,786 residents.
Multnomah had 134 pharmacies,
Washington had 100 and Clackamas
had 76.
Rural factors
Simply dividing the number of
pills sold by each individual phar-
macy by the population of the county
where the pharmacy was located not
only significantly skewed the rate
for each pharmacy — it also did not
take into account other factors that
differentiate counties.
Residents in frontier rural coun-
ties can’t easily travel out of the
county to shop because of distance
— more than two hours to the next
nearest pharmacy outside of Grant
County — and difficult driving ter-
rain. At the same time, out-of-county
residents are not likely to drive to a
frontier rural county to fill prescrip-
tions. This is not the case with urban
counties on Oregon’s west side.
Another factor is the industries
within a county. According to a
May 2019 Economic Opportunities
Analysis by Johnson Economics,
the timber and forest-related indus-
try has been a significant economic
driver in Grant County, with local
employment in natural resources
jobs running nearly six times the
national average. Compared to the
state average of 3.8 incidents of
nonfatal occupational injuries and
illnesses per 100 full-time equiv-
alent workers in 2017, the natural
resources industry as a whole had a
rate of 5.5, and logging had one of
the highest rates in the state at 9.1,
according to the Oregon Depart-
ment of Consumer and Business
Services.
An aging population might also
see a higher opioid prescription
rate, but changes in medical opinion
since 2014 may have reduced those
numbers, according to pharmacist
Greg Armstrong, owner of Len’s
Drug in Grant County. Prescriptions
for opioids for any reason are down
now because of the negative public-
ity and new ideas about pain man-
agement, he said, but elderly people
get opioid prescriptions for various
chronic injuries, cancer or other ill-
nesses that cause severe pain.
According to the 2010 census,
30.5% of the Grant County pop-
ulation was 65 or older compared
to 13% for the nation and 13.9%
for Oregon. Figures for urban Ore-
gon counties were 10.5% for Mult-
nomah, 10% for Washington, 13.6%
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
for Clackamas, 15% for Lane,
12.8% for Marion and 17.6% for
Jackson.
Armstrong serves on a regional
committee studying opioid use. He
said much has changed in how opi-
oids are prescribed since 2014, but
a need still exists for this class of
drugs.
Pharmacists, doctors, health
administrators, government offi-
cials and the public need to look at
the human side of this issue, Arm-
strong said. Opioids currently are
the best drug available for dealing
with severe chronic pain and cancer,
he said.
Overdose deaths
The high ranking for these fron-
tier counties also does not match up
with data on opioid impacts pro-
vided by the Oregon Health Author-
ity. The statewide rate in 2000-2017
for overdose deaths from any opi-
oid was 3.5 per 100,000 residents
in 2001, nine in 2007 and seven in
2016. During this same time period,
the figures for Grant County and
other Eastern Oregon counties were
too low to count.
Figures for urban counties
include Multnomah, 7 per 100,000
residents in 2001, 15 in 2007 and
10.5 in 2016; Washington, 2.5, 5 and
4.5; Clackamas, 2, 8 and 5; Lane, 6,
11 and 5; Marion, 3.5, 7.5 and 5.5;
and Jackson, 2.5, 10.5 and 5.5.
For the years 2008-2012, the top
counties for deaths by any opioid
were Clatsop at 17.8 per 100,000
residents, Baker at 14.9 and Lincoln
at 11.3. The counties with the high-
est rates were found along the west
side of the state and in a narrow band
along Interstate 84 on the east side,
including Umatilla, Union, Baker
and Malheur counties. The lowest
numbers were mostly for frontier
counties, including Grant, Harney,
Lake, Crook, Wheeler, Hood River,
Wasco, Sherman, Gilliam, Morrow
and Jefferson, and the far north-
eastern county of Wallowa. The top
three pharmacies for pills sold based
on the rate used by The Oregonian
were in Lake, Grant and Wallowa
counties, but the number of deaths
by any opioid from 2008-2012 for
these three counties was too low to
count, according to OHA.
To view The Oregonian’s fig-
ures, visit projects.oregonlive.com/
opioids.
To view The Post’s fig-
ures, visit washingtonpost.com/
graphics/2019/investigations/
dea-pain-pill-database.
Palmer
Continued from Page A1
worth $500.
Larson said he lost the pole in the
John Day River near Kimberly and
offered a $200 reward for its return.
Sgt. Hutchison called Larson in
summer 2018 and informed him he
believed Palmer had, or had knowl-
edge about, the pole after a meeting his
son had with Palmer, Larson said.
“(Sgt.) Hutchison told me that Dep-
uty Brandon Hutchison told him that
during this meeting Sheriff Palmer
made a comment to ‘guess what I
have’ motioning to his closet,” Larson
said in the complaint. “Sheriff Palmer
then tells Deputy Brandon about hav-
ing my fishing pole and describes it to
Deputy Hutchison with clear detail.”
Larson said Palmer told him in April
2019 he did not have the pole, but it
was in the possession of Wes Ham-
mond, a friend of Palmer’s from Spray.
“I asked Sheriff Palmer if he knew
the pole belonged to me, and he said
yes,” Larson said. “I asked why I don’t
have it back then. Sheriff Palmer did
not reply.”
Larson said he asked OSP to inves-
tigate the theft of lost or mislaid prop-
erty and that Hammond told OSP
Trooper Travis Ring he had posses-
sion of the pole but gave it to a friend
in Texas, who refused to return Ring’s
calls.
Palmer was present at the event
when the fishing pole was presented,
Larson said, and he has a recording
of a secondary phone call in which
Palmer “acknowledges his interactions
with Hammond and admits he did not
tell Hammond to return it.”
Larson said it “is likely that at some
point Sheriff Palmer was in possession
of lost or mislaid property and still
refused to fulfill his lawful responsibil-
ity as a sworn law enforcement officer
and return it to its lawful owner in vio-
lation of the code of conduct for police
officers.”
Larson said he planned to file a sec-
ond complaint regarding misuse of
public office and use of special depu-
ties to initiate false complaints and doc-
uments to obtain a political objective.
Palmer posted Larson’s complaint
online with his statement to be trans-
parent, he said.
“It is because of issues such as this,
that make me keep fighting for what is
right,” Palmer said in the statement. “I
have taken an Oath and I will fulfill the
Oath and I intend to complete my term
as your Sheriff.”
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