Local overdoses reach record highs; fentanyl, pandemic are factors
Observer-Reporter
In this photo from 2018, former Washington County District Attorney Gene Vittone, who has since died, and Cheryl Andrews accept the DEA Red Ribbon Award presented by David Battiste during the Washington Opioid Overdose Coalition at the Courthouse Square.
courtesy Terri Krysak
Ryan Thomas Krysak of Fayette County had been in recovery from drug addiction for three years before he died from an accidental overdose in February 2021. His mother, Terri Krysak, owner of Bittersweet Cafe in Ohiopyle, is working on the launch of Bittersweet Gives, which will donate a portion of proceeds from products to causes that were important to her son. Opioid deaths in Fayette County nearly doubled in 2021, spurred by factors including the prevalence of fentanyl and the pandemic.
In Fayette County, people died of overdoses in record numbers in 2021, and overdose deaths in Washington County are projected to be comparable or exceed 2020’s record-setting numbers.
The rise in deaths mirrors a grim statistic from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that for the first time in U.S. history, more than 100,000 people died from drug overdoses over a 12-month period – from April 2020 to April 2021.
Local officials attribute the rising number of overdoses to several factors, including the spread of more dangerous street drugs laced with fentanyl and interruptions to drug treatment programs that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 50 to 100 times stronger than the painkiller morphine, is increasingly being added to drugs, often without people knowing it.
“People aren’t dying from heroin overdoses, they’re dying from fentanyl; couple that with all the synthetics coming in,” said Cheryl Andrews, executive director of the Washington County Drug and Alcohol Commission. “They’re much more powerful, and when they’re getting cut in with heroin, people don’t many times have an opportunity for a second chance. People might think what they’re using is safe, but you don’t know what may have been cut in.”
Stacey Valenta, a treatment specialist at Fayette County Drug and Alcohol, described the role the pandemic has played in the overdose deaths.
“Pretty much it’s been an epidemic during a pandemic,” said Valenta, who has worked at FCDAA for 22 years. “Isolation played a huge roll on clients and relapses. Not being able to go to meetings. Being able to do the online meetings, but a lot of individuals don’t have the ability to do that or knowledge to work those types of platforms. Then a lack of being able to get any type of services in the health-care world – who knew how to handle this?”
Dr. John Six, president and Chief Medical Officer of Washington Health System, who serves on the Washington Opioid Overdose Coalition and the Overdose Death Fatality Review Team, said the pandemic interfered with progress Washington County had been making regarding the opioid crisis.
In 2018, the Opioid Overdose Coalition, which was formed two years earlier, received a national Red Ribbon Award from the Drug Enforcement Administration for its efforts to reduce overdose deaths in Washington County – one of only two Red Ribbon awards given nationally.
“A lot of that progress hasn’t stopped, but unfortunately, it’s lessened because of COVID and the way it’s affected people’s ability to get treatment,” said Six. “The two years have taken a toll.”
Fayette County Coroner Phillip Reilly said the cheapness of drugs available, too, has been a factor.
“There’s good chewing gum that costs more than a pack of heroin. It’s unbelievable,” said Reilly.
In 2020, Washington County recorded 102 overdose deaths. Of those, 86 were fentanyl-related.
Through October, 67 overdose deaths were reported, Andrews said.
The number of overdose deaths in Fayette County trended down from 2016 to 2019, when the coroner reported only 30 overdose deaths for that year.
But in 2020, that number shot back up.
The number of overdose deaths increased from 30 in 2019 to 46 in 2020, a number that nearly doubled in 2021.
Last year, there were 83 cases of confirmed overdoses, said Reilly.
In Greene County, 10 people died of accidental overdoses through June 2021, and nine of those overdose deaths involved fentanyl. Coroner Gene Rush is awaiting toxicology results on eight additional death investigations in the second half of the year.
In 2020, a total of 12 people died from drug overdoses in Greene County.
Washington County District Attorney Jason Walsh called the opioid crisis “an epidemic that is continuing,” and said the county is using every tool available to combat the opioid addiction crisis.
“But we need more people, more services, more help, more money, and we need to keep at it,” said Walsh. “From the prosecution end, we need more personnel to investigate the people bringing this poison into our communities, and more resources to charge and prosecute those responsible.”
Terri Krysak of Ohiopyle, Fayette County, lost her 33-year-old son, Ryan Thomas Krysak, to an overdose on Feb. 13, 2021.
“He was ridiculously awesome. He was a force, funny and athletic, and he just had a twinkle in his eye. He had an affinity for people and relationships. Relationships were important to him,” said Terri Krysak.
Ryan Krysak had battled heroin addition for 12 years, but spent his final three years in recovery, where he was an advocate for addicts and frequently shared how his faith helped him overcome addiction, before he succumbed.
Terri Krysak said she was “horrified but not surprised” about the number of overdose deaths Fayette and Washington counties saw in 2021.
“I’m surrounded by people who have lost their sons. They are everywhere. Drug addiction doesn’t have anything to do with your status, income, anything,” she said.
Krysak was a cook at his mother’s Ohiopyle eatery, Bittersweet Cafe, and Terri Krysak said he was drawn to people who were fighting addiction.
He wanted to talk to them about the challenges he faced, about his faith and its role in his recovery, and about the celebration of recovery because he knew what that felt like, Terri said.
The week before he died, the recently married Krysak became the father of twins.
Terri Krysak recalled that her son went to a fast-food drive-thru in Morgantown, W.Va., and showed people photos of the twins.
He was happy, but he was nervous about being a new dad, he confided to his mother, and he questioned himself.
“It was good pressure, but it was pressure,” said Terri Krysak. “The night before he passed away, he texted me and said, ‘Thank you for all the grace you’ve given me over the years. The babies are asleep, I’ll see you in the morning.’ He didn’t know exactly how to deal with the pressures, and he shockingly fell back on a coping mechanism he had used. But he was clean for three years, and I got that gift for three years. A lot of parents aren’t gifted with that.”
Andrews said the Opioid Overdose Coalition’s goal is to deploy strategies and programs that decrease overdose deaths and make sure people have access to treatment and recovery.
That includes expanding access to naloxone, or Narcan, which can reverse and opioid overdose, by distributing more than 5,000 kits to first responders and communities; doing warm handoffs at hospitals; and implementing specialty courts that provides programs for defendants struggling with substance abuse and mental health issues; and reducing stigma.
Andrews encouraged those battling addiction to reach out for help.
“The first step is reaching out and saying, ‘I need help,’ and we have those individuals who will step right in and assist and advocate and help an individual get through the process,” Andrews said. “People don’t need to die from an accidental overdose. There is help available, and treatment works. We stand ready and able and willing to assist. We need to, as society, embrace the fact that every life matters and every life deserves to be saved, and that’s what we’re about.”
Terri Krysak is turning her grief over the loss of her son into something positive to help others.
Days before he died, Krysak told his mother that he wanted Bittersweet “to touch people in recovery with the saving power of Jesus Christ.”
She is planning to launch Bittersweet Gives, featuring a product line in which a portion of sales will be donated to the causes that were close to Krysak’s heart, including addiction and recovery.
“We are celebrating those last three years of his life,” said Terri Krysak. “It was a struggle and a journey for 12 years, but for those last three years he was a force for good. I’m grateful for them.”
Note: To seek help for drug and alcohol addiction, please call the following numbers 24/7: The Pennsylvania hotline at 1-800-GETHELP (1-800-438-4357) or the Opioid Center of Excellence (1-833-888-0467). Anyone experiencing an emergency should call 9-1-1.