Title
A MOTION requesting the executive to develop, implement and report on a pilot program to notify physicians and other medical professionals of patients' deaths when opioid medication is determined to be the primary or a contributing cause.
Body
WHEREAS, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, from 1999 to 2017, more than seven hundred thousand people have died from a drug overdose, and
WHEREAS, according to public health - Seattle & King County and the University of Washington's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute, in 2018, two hundred twenty seven deaths involved in King County involved opioids, and
WHEREAS, in 2016, the King County executive and the mayors of the cities of Auburn, Renton and Seattle convened a heroin and prescription opiate addiction task force to develop short and long term strategies to prevent opioid use disorder, prevent overdose, and improve access to treatment and other supportive services for individuals experiencing opioid use disorder, and
WHEREAS, the task force met over a six-month period and included participants representing various cities, the county, the University of Washington Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute, behavioral health services providers, hospitals, human service agencies, the recovery community, criminal justice partners, first responders and other stakeholders, and
WHEREAS, the task force issued the Heroin and Prescription Opiate Addiction Task Force Final Report and Recommendations on September 15, 2016, and
WHEREAS, raising awareness and knowledge of the possible adverse effects of opioid use was recommended in the task force report to help prevent opioid use disorder, and
WHEREAS, San Diego County's chief deputy medical examiner participated in a study published in the journal Science in 2018 that found that clinicians who received notification of their patients' deaths by overdose reduced their prescribing of opioid medications, and
WHEREAS, the Los Angeles County board of sup...

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