MONTICELLO – Sullivan County has experienced 33 deaths this year due to opioid overdoses, and 16 occurred in the two-month period of July and August.
Acting Sullivan County District Attorney Meagan Galligan, Wednesday, announced the formation of a task force, with community medical personnel, law enforcement officials, lawmakers, and other members of the community, to tackle the problem.
“I was really pleased the legislature stepped up and signed on. Now we’ll be able to move forward in a much more innovative and collaborative way,” she said.
“We’re clearly alarmed by the increase in opioid-related deaths this year,” Galligan said. “Many of our in-patient treatment facilities cannot take as many individuals as they normally would,” she said, “and that creates a barrier to treatment that we are trying to break down with the task force.”
There was some hope in the last month when no overdose deaths occurred, but Galligan blames the carnage through July and August on stress possibly caused by the pandemic and a lack of funding for in-patient care.
