In a robust push against the opioid crisis choking their community, Fort Worth firefighters are poised to roll out a frontline assault with a fresh injection of funds dedicated to stemming the tide of drug overdoses. The city council has just green-lit over $157,000 for the fire department's Homeless Outreach Programs and Enforcement Team (HOPE Team), sourced from Texas's share of the opioid settlement war chest, according to NBC DFW.
The Fort Worth Fire Department's HOPE Team, which has traditionally catered to the city's homeless population by offering elemental aid such as water and hygiene kits, now finds a new adversary in its crosshairs—opioids, with Fire Chief Jim Davis, spotlighting a troubling surge in opioid use and consequent uptick in the use of naloxone, a drug reversing the lethal grip of overdose. As firefighter Chuck Moreland, a HOPE Team member, said, the team's mission is prevention, aiming to intervene before a 911 emergency call becomes the only option left on the table, per NBC DFW.
On a broader scale, Tarrant County and the city of Fort Worth are expecting a cash influx from opioid settlements to the tune of millions, targeting a reversal of opioid overdoses and channeling victims toward treatment. These funds are part of the fallout from numerous lawsuits accusing opioid manufacturers, distributors, and retailers of fueling the opioid epidemic, which last year claimed over 100,000 lives, as reported by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Central to this financial booster is a $225 million settlement with Teva Pharmaceuticals, which includes a hefty $75 million in Narcan, a nasal spray form of naloxone that has been rightly dubbed a 'wonder drug' by MedStar spokesman Matt Zavadsky for its immediate, lifesaving effects, with Tarrant County first responders already having administered Narcan over 500 times since March of 2020. However, Fire Chief Jim Davis stresses that while Narcan may snatch lives from the jaws of death, it's merely "a bridge to tomorrow," a stopgap rather than a cure, and access to long-term treatment remains critically vital.
Further settlements with pharmaceutical giants are underway, with aims to cover an expanded spectrum of the opioid crisis, including access to medication-assisted treatment and support programs essential for sustainable recovery. Tarrant County has also signed on to agreements with major opioid distributors McKesson Corp., Cardinal Health Inc., and AmerisourceBergen Corp. and another with Endo, as confirmed by Anna Tinsley Williams of the Tarrant County District Attorney's Office. With these settlements, local authorities reveal a determination to transform combative strategy into practical measures, seeking to dismantle an epidemic that continues to cast a shadow over Texas.
