Obion County Stories

Heather

As a provider who has worked in different fields from the Emergency Room, primary care and urgent care, I have seen opioid abuse and its affects directly to the patient and their family members. I have seen how the addiction has torn families apart. Patients have died because of addiction including opioids and left behind their loved ones. Patients steal, lie and seek from multiple providers in search of opioids. It places a hardship on the medical community due to tracking patient’s usage of opioids and then verifying when the patients continue to deny. I have seen people use maiden names and married names to get controlled substances from multiple providers. My patients have private insurance, TennCare and no insurance. I see patients from multiple socioeconomic classes, and it is a problem in all of these areas. The ethnic groups are predominantly Black and Caucasian that I have seen with opioid abuse/use but not limited.