Using blockchain technology to support data collection related to the opioid epidemic
The opioid epidemic has emerged as a massive public health crisis in the US over the past few decades. In its wake, it has left hundreds of thousands dead and whole communities in a state of despair. According to CDC data, there have been three waves of opioid overdose deaths. The first of these waves began in the 90s with the increase in opioid prescriptions driving a surge in overdose deaths. The second wave, which began in 2010, involved rapid increases in overdose deaths related to heroin. The third wave began in 2013 and involved significant increases in overdose deaths related to synthetic opioids such as fentanyl.
This unprecedented crisis in the US has resulted in 500,000 people dying from opioid overdoses from 1999-2019, and 136 people dying every day. Unfortunately, the crisis has only worsened during COVID-19, as lockdowns and the economic devastation of COVID have created a distressing situation resulting in an all-time high of drug overdose deaths in 2020 of 90,000.
The opioid crisis is an extremely complex issue that has emerged as a result of decades of corporate malfeasance by big pharmaceutical companies. This is obviously too large of a topic to discuss in this post, but I highly recommend the HBO Documentary The Crime of the Century for a comprehensive breakdown of the causes leading to the opioid crisis.
Since the beginning of the opioid crisis, many efforts have been made to address the rising death toll. A large proportion of these efforts are within the realm of the war on drugs, and have pointed the finger solely at substance users as the problem. These efforts, as could be expected, have been an absolute failure. Then there have been a series of efforts related to harm reduction including safe consumption sites, safe supply, and decriminalization. An overview of some of these strategies can be found here.
Effectively addressing the opioid crisis will take a multi-faceted approach involving advocacy groups, the health care sector, governments, corporations, and substance users. It will involve not only harm reduction approaches, but also efforts to more effectively collect and distribute data related to opioid prescribing, use, and overdose deaths.
One project, involving TAAL, nChain, and EHR Data, seeks to provide “a real-time single source of truth for all opioid prescriptions and eventually all prescriptions, so providers and pharmacists will have access to the most current and complete patient records.” More specifically:
If successful, this would be a huge accomplishment in helping doctors make informed decisions with their patients while allowing for greater monitoring of opioid prescribing and the identification of potential predatory prescribing practices.
However, this doesn’t solve the problem, and the potential use cases for this blockchain-based technology, in this context, goes well beyond tracking prescriptions. As has become evident during the COVID-19 pandemic, accurate, real-time data is essential in tracking and responding to public health crises. As such, similar blockchain-based technologies could also be used to track emergency medical incidents involving opioids. This real-time data could help public health agencies more quickly identify problematic upticks in opioid-related overdoses and deaths, which could potentially be related to new synthetic opioids, or “bad batches”. This could then be used to inform responses including the rapid deployment of harm reduction efforts, and public education initiatives in affected communities.
Beyond opioids, this technology could also be deployed during future pandemics, to ensure a singular source of data can be used internationally. Having access to real time and trustworthy data on an immutable blockchain, could allow medical authorities like the WHO to more quickly identify and respond to outbreaks of future pandemics and deploy necessary supports.
Overall, this project could help provide reliable and trustworthy data to replace systems that are disjointed, outdated, and unreliable. However, it is important to note that this is simply a tool to help in the fight against the opioid crisis, but is in no way a solution in itself. As highlighted above, the opioid crisis is a complex public health issue that will require a combination of harm reduction approaches, decriminalization, and increased investment in public health agencies and education. However, this doesn’t take away from the great work being done on this project, and reliable, real-time data, is certainly an important piece of the puzzle.
What do you think about the potential of blockchain to provide a more efficient and trustworthy way to collect and monitor health data? Tweet us at @Crypto_Altruism, we’d love to hear from you!
