
10 May I Didn’t Truly Understand Opioid Addiction Until It Killed My Son | MedPage Today
Over many years, I have resuscitated countless numbers of patients dying from a drug overdose while working as an emergency physician. I knew I had to stop everything else I was doing and treat the overdose patient immediately because they could die within minutes. We had to clear a resuscitation room and start ventilation on arrival, get an IV into their scarred veins, and quickly inject naloxone (Narcan). They usually started breathing again and woke up confused and angry, suddenly in acute withdrawal, writhing in pain, vomiting, and moaning in agony. Most ripped out their IVs and looked for an exit. If they had to fight their way out, they did. Nobody said, “Thank you.”
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