Doctor: Some of the worst impacts of the opioid epidemic go unseen – Journal-News

By Michael D. Pitman

Many experience the opioid epidemic from what they can see. But Dr. Janet Everhard, of New Richmond, calls the epidemic “quite invisible” said said the aftermath of overdoses — whether it’s someone clinging to life following an overdose or the family trying to answer questions after a loved one dies — is what is visible and has a tremendous “ripple effect.”

“It’s the ripples that is so obvious,” she said.

That includes children placed in foster care away from drug-abusing parents, full prisons because of drug activity, and local police and fire departments trying to catch up with the high demand of responding to overdose victims.