MILWAUKEE — Families and loved ones are gathering around Milwaukee on Wednesday to talk about a problem that has only gotten worse during the pandemic: overdoses. Wednesday is International Overdose Awareness Day.
Jason Fritz is using today to talk about his brother. Terry Fritz was 26 years old when he died of a heroin overdose. He says for years his family hid his brother’s drug addiction while they privately struggled. Now he wishes they spoke up sooner.
"There is no more shame, no more embarrassment. Just guilt and grief. This is a disease and overdose death is preventable,” said Fritz.
The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office says overdose deaths have been at record levels for three consecutive years. There was a 53-percent increase according to the ME's office from 2019 to 2021 and the numbers don’t appear to be going down.
“The data is showing that fatal and non-fatal overdoses are continuing to increase throughout Milwaukee County. There is no ZIP code left untouched. There is no neighborhood left untouched. It has increased dramatically,” said Courtney Geiger, public health strategist at the Milwaukee Health Department.
The numbers are also bleak for non-fatal overdoses. In 2019, there were 3,300; by 2021 that number more than doubled to 6,800 overdoses. And so far this year there have been 2,200.
"Most of the people we interact with, it is not their first time overdosing. Some of them are multiple ones within the last year. Some are multiple within multiple years. But it has definitely increased,” said Milwaukee Fire Captain David Polachowski.
He serves as the head of the Milwaukee Overdose Response Initiative. It is a team of fire and EMS workers that try to follow up with anyone who overdoses within the city to offer services to the individual and their family. He says the reason for the increase in overdoses comes a combination of factors.
"We are seeing an increase in overdoses and that is really due to Fentanyl. I think part of it is also the behavioral health issues as far as coming from COVID and the lack of services that people were able to get. I think that kind of compounded,” said Polachowski.
"Today, any substance you use, you have a chance of overdosing. This isn't going anywhere. We are never going to stop having people use illicit substances,” said Fritz. “I love my brother and I miss him.”
There will soon be more money coming to combat drug addiction because of a recent settlement with pharmaceutical companies connected to the opioid epidemic.
Wisconsin is currently expected to receive $400 million according to opioidsettlementtracker.com. Milwaukee County should receive $72 million and the City of Milwaukee $28 million. The goal is to use that money to add more recovery houses and expand recovery programs.
