CLARION, Pa. (EYT) – Deaths from drug overdoses have been rising in Pennsylvania at alarming rates, and it’s enough to get even the most casual observer to sit up and take notice.

While it may be easy for some to ignore the street junkie who is addicted to heroin or methamphetamine as a terminally lost cause, many are realizing that countless individuals have been “prescribed into addiction.” Thus, addicts became that way somewhat by accident, often by taking prescription medicine.

Heroin was the most frequently identified drug in toxicology test results, as nearly 55 percent of those who died in drug-related overdoses in Pennsylvania showed the presence of heroin in 2015.

Heroin remains a pervasive drug of abuse, as it was present in overdose decedents in 59 of the 62 counties that reported drug-related overdose deaths and associated toxicology results.

As far as the rates go, there is debate on how accurate they are in some counties.

According to figures in a report from a Drug Enforcement Agency Intelligence Report from the Philadelphia Field Division office released earlier this summer, of the nearly 3,400 people who died of drug overdoses in Pennsylvania in 2015, only four were reported in Clarion County. Venango County listed 13 overdose deaths, and Jefferson County recorded eight a year ago.

Meanwhile, in neighboring counties such as Armstrong, Butler, and Indiana, drug-related death rates jumped substantially.

For Butler, there were 47 drug-related deaths in 2015, while Indiana had 36 and Armstrong 29.

Interestingly, other neighboring counties that are more rural reported similar drug-related overdose deaths. Clearfield County had 13, while Elk reported three and Forest two.

For Clarion County District Attorney Mark Aaron, he believes reporting has a lot to do with the statistics.

“I don’t think our overdoses have actually went down in number, but what are reported,” Aaron said. ”I think there are some reporting issues in the overdose levels that might be more an issue than anything else.”

Aaron hopes a new partnership with Allegheny County will show a more accurate picture.

“We are just now starting to participate in an overdose reporting project with Allegheny County led by Dr. Karl Williams.”

County coroners are not bound by the state in how drug-related deaths are investigated.

Thus, before any information is given to the state, county coroners have different factors that could affect a decision on how a death is ruled, be it a heroin overdose, another type of drug overdose, or a multi-drug toxicity.

Clarion County Coroner Terry Shaffer (pictured on right) explained his office’s procedure.

“If there is nothing obviously physically wrong with the person, we take a blood sample and send it to the NMS Lab in Willow Grove.”

“The screening is for mostly known drugs such as marijuana, heroin, cocaine, and prescription drugs. If they’re in the person’s system, they’ll find it,” Shaffer added.

And certainly, not every death results in an autopsy.

According to a 2015 article by Ben Allen at witf.org, reporting is major issue.

State Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs Secretary Gary Tennis (pictured on left) was quoted as saying some coroners may defer to the decedent’s family and mark an overdose as a respiratory arrest on the death certificate.

In early 2014, the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs started to collect more information. It now asks coroners and medical examiners across the state to fill out a two-page form, with room for listing out every substance that was found in someone’s system, plus any evidence collected from the scene.

There are also efforts to collect data from hospitals and ambulance providers; however, in the witf.orf article, Tennis indicated frustration with the fact that reporting systems aren’t complete in providing necessary information to give an accurate account of what is going on.

“Drug Crisis in Clarion County” is a five-part series focusing on the area’s drug epidemic. In the final article of the series, we’ll take a look at realistic solutions to the opioid addiction problem plaguing Clarion County.

Drug Crisis in Clarion County — Part 1: District Attorney Aaron Says County’s Drug Problem Took Lethal Turn When Heroin Arrived
Drug Crisis in Clarion County — Part 2: A Comprehensive Look at Recreational Drugs
Drug Crisis in Clarion County — Part 3: Coroner Terry Shaffer Predicts More Traffic Fatalities with Legalization of Marijuana in Pa.