Monday, Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts and Attorney General Doug Peterson were joined by U.S. Attorney Deb Gilg and UNMC Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, M.D., as they announced the launch of the “Dose of Reality” public awareness campaign.
The campaign is intended to alert Nebraskans to the dangers of misusing opioid pain medications. “Dose of Reality — Prevent Prescription Painkiller Abuse in Nebraska” is a statewide campaign designed to bring attention to this important issue and to encourage the community to take action.
Read the Nebraska Coalition to Prevent Opioid Abuse 2017 Strategic Initiative here.
“Opioid abuse negatively impacts our kids, families, and communities,” said Gov. Ricketts. “Thanks to the work of the attorney general and this coalition, we are taking a proactive step today to prevent future abuse. Working together, we can keep this public health crisis from plaguing our state.”
“We are joining forces to work together in protecting Nebraskans from the harmful impacts of addiction and the ravages it can cause to families and futures,” Peterson said. “Nebraskans are not immune from this problem, we all need to work together and do something about it.”
“Nebraska is in an enviable position of being proactive, rather than reactive, to the opioid problem,” Dr. Gold said. “By working together, we can avert a public health crisis through sharing information about the risks involved in misusing these medications.”
The campaign includes two radio and three television public service announcements, half and full page ads, and a new website, www.doseofreality.nebraska.gov, which contains informational content regarding safe drug acquisition, storage, drug take back as well as direction for those seeking help. Partnering organizations have opportunity to access, utilize and customize campaign materials for their own audiences as they find it beneficial.
The Attorney General’s office has been spearheading the “Dose of Reality” campaign with support from UNMC, DHHS and the US Attorney’s Office. All four agencies were hosts to a fall Nebraska Opioid Summit attended by 300 held at UNMC in Omaha. The summit was the first step in the formation of a Summit Coalition who continues to work in the areas of prevention, law enforcement and treatment in addressing the state’s concerns.
Its unfortunate that we are joining this campaign but are the only hospital in the Omaha Metro not to have IV acetaminophen on formulary as a substitute for narcotics.
Dr. Goede is correct in stating that Nebraska Medicine does not have the intravenous form of acetaminophen on formulary. The Medical Staff P&T Committee has reviewed this formulation for addition to formulary and has determined that it does not offer substantial benefit over our current acetaminophen formulations. The Medical Staff P&T Committee denied the request for addition to formulary due to lack of literature to indicate improvement in opioid related adverse effects, safety concerns for the formulation, and significant cost impact to the institution. It should be noted that Ofirmev (intravenous acetaminophen) is indicated for management of mild to moderate pain, moderate to severe pain WITH adjunctive opioid analgesics, and reduction of fever. For the stated indications, alternative forms of acetaminophen are also effective. If you have questions, please contact Lori Murante, Pharmacy Director at 402-559-7917 or Mike Powell, Executive Director of Pharmacy at 402-559-9555.