Project Lazarus in the News

Here are some of the our recent mentions in online media. 

June 3, 2013 - Project Lazarus to help Southwest VA battle opiate abuse [Kristen Conner, WVVA: television]

• A group from North Carolina hopes to help Southwest Virginia reduce its prescription drug abuse problem. The Lazarus Project, a community effort in NC aimed at stopping opiate abuse, came to Tazewell County Wednesday to hold a forum with leaders there. They brainstormed ideas about how to tackle the problem, together. Police said Wednesday that overdose deaths in Tazewell County are the highest per capita in the Commonwealth. The group wants to save lives, but also motivate the whole community to act. Fred Brason, President of Project Lazarus, said, "We help build coalitions in communities. It's not somebody coming in from the outside saying, 'we're going to fix your problem.' That's not what we're about. We're helping, through technical assistance and training, how community coalitions can address the problem themselves."

May 23, 2013 - New program to target drug overses [Nash Dunn, The Dispatch: newspaper]

• Health, education, law enforcement and other officials gathered Thursday to learn what they could do to slow drug overdose rates that have reached "epidemic proportions." Stakeholders heard from representatives of the seven-county Northwest Community Care Network and Project Lazarus, a nonprofit organization started in 2005 in Wilkes County to help deliver better pain relief while reducing drug overdose risks.Kathy Hitchcock, social work program administrator with child protective services in Davidson County, said prescription drug abuse is the root of the problem in this area, impacting children going to school, leading to break-ins throughout the community and being a leading cause of DSS taking custody of children. "We are here today to take care of a growing problem, which is prescription drug abuse," Hitchcock told a large crowd of stakeholders at the Lexington Police Department Training Center off of Interstate 85 Business Loop. Hitchcock said she and others heard about Project Lazarus and started looking at bringing the program to the county in April. Project Lazarus involves inter-related programs that seek to improve medical care received by chronic pain patients and reduce the misuse, abuse and diversion of opioid medication, said Peter Rives of the Northwest Community Care Network.

May 1, 2013 - Saving lives while giving back to North Carolina [David Pesci, Carolina Public Health: magazine]

• Project Lazarus may be a work in progress, but all the progress has been in the right direction. The organization, which aims to educate about and prevent prescription drug overdose, has developed in less than five years from an effort in one rural North Carolina county to a program that now influences overdose prevention efforts in every county in the state. On the surface, the line of success seems fairly straight; in fact, it was anything but. It might not have happened at all except for a series of serendipitous events - sage admonishment from a mentor at a major pharmaceutical company, the chance finding of a roommate on Craigslist, a meeting with a determined Wilkes County chaplain. Partnering with the county medical examiner, a variety of law enforcement officers and first responders was also pivotal. So were endorsements from the North Carolina Medical Board and The White House.

May 1, 2013 - Wilkes Co. Program To Curb Drug Overdose Deaths Goes Statewide [Catherine Brand, WUNC: radio]

• In 2009, Wilkes County in the northwestern part of the state had the 4th highest rate of prescription drug overdose deaths in the country. Two years later, those numbers dropped by 68 percent. That's because of a program called Project Lazarus, which is now going to be implemented statewide. “It's not just a law enforcement issue; it's not just an emergency room problem; it's not just a problem with the primary care docs and pharmacists,” Lancaster says. “It's a problem in our community. So the idea that can educate our community to work with this program. To work on school problems; to work on pill take-back days; to work on proper storage and dispensing. Don't take other people's medication.”

May 2013 - Project Lazarus [Angie Roark, America's Pharmacist: professional newsletter, NCPA subscription required]

• A picturesque mountain county strives to cut one of the nation's highest overdose death rates from prescribed opioids. Beyond Wilkes County, beyond North Carolina, Project Lazarus needs to become a national health care standard. The organization, foundation, and framework are firmly established. The successes are remarkable. As pharmacists and health care providers, we have a responsibility to keep patients’ health, safety, and well-being at the forefront of our minds. Now rise up to combat opioid overdose in your community.

April 26, 2013 - N.C. program aims to stem tide of prescription drug overdoses [Renee Elder, News & Observer: newspaper]

• A nonprofit program credited with reducing prescription drug overdose deaths by 69 percent in one North Carolina county is going statewide this year with a $2.6 million grant from state and private sources. Community Care of North Carolina will oversee the expansion of Project Lazarus, which has helped bring down Wilkes County’s soaring overdose death rates, said Michael Lancaster, director of behavior health for Community Care, a network of medical providers and services. Project Lazarus promotes safer practices surrounding how drugs are prescribed by doctors, dispensed by pharmacies and stored by consumers. “The program was so successful in Wilkes County that we are ready to take it statewide and see if we can make it work in urban as well as rural areas,” Lancaster said. “The key elements in the program involve public awareness, not only of the issue but the behaviors people have that contribute to the problem,” Brason said.

April 24, 2013 - National Drug Control Strategy 2013 [White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), Director Gil Kerlikowske: government document]

• The 2013 Strategy also includes an enhanced focus on overdose prevention and intervention as an important component in reducing drug-related deaths and connecting those in need with treatment and recovery services. In August 2012, I traveled to Wilkes County, North Carolina, and visited Project Lazarus, an organization helping to address the prescription drug abuse problem in a region hard hit by the epidemic. While there, I met with doctors, community leaders, and law enforcement professionals dedicated to reducing prescription drug abuse—to include preventing drug-related deaths through the use of the life-saving overdose reversal drug naloxone. As a result, the 2013 Strategy includes a section on overdose and highlights a law enforcement professional who is pioneering the use of naloxone by police officers in his hometown of Quincy, Massachusetts.

April 22, 2013 - $2.6 million will expand Lazarus [Wilkes Journal-Patriot: newspaper]

• Funds have been provided for a two-year, statewide expansion of a Wilkes County-based model that addresses chronic pain issues and prescription drug overdose. The Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust and the N.C. Office of Rural Health and Community Care provided $1.3 million apiece to help Community Care of North Carolina (CCNC) implement a community-based approach modeled after the Wilkes-based Project Lazarus. The $2.6 million will fund statewide training in evidence-based approaches to pain management, including provider toolkits tailored for care managers, emergency room physicians and primary care physicians. CCNC will also provide a chronic pain coordinator in each of its 14 regional network locations to work with physicians and others in the effort.

April 19, 2013 - $2.6 million to fund health care initiative Project Lazarus [Richard Craver, Winston-Salem Journal: newspaper]

• Community Care of North Carolina is providing $2.6 million to a statewide initiative that addresses chronic pain issues and reducing prescription drug abuse over the next two years. The money is going to Project Lazarus, which originated from a pilot program in Wilkes County. The funding was given by the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust and the N.C. Office of Rural Health and Community Care.The program began in Wilkes because of a particularly high rate of overdose deaths in that area. Project Lazarus helped drop the overdose death rate in Wilkes by 69 percent and a reduction of substance abuse-related emergency department admissions of 15.3 percent. The funding will pay for statewide training in evidence-based approaches to pain management, including provider toolkits tailored for care managers, emergency room physicians and primary care physicians. In addition, CCNC will provide a chronic pain coordinator in each of its 14 regional network locations to work with physicians and others in the effort.

April 17, 2013 - New Funding Announced to Fight Prescription Drug Abuse Statewide [Community Care of North Carolina: press release]

• Community-based approach to chronic pain receives $2.6M in support from the State of North Carolina and the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust. Prescription drug overdoses have reached epidemic proportions in North Carolina and across the nation. In response to that challenge, Community Care of North Carolina (CCNC) today announced a $2.6 million investment in Project Lazarus, a statewide program aimed at addressing chronic pain issues and combating prescription drug abuse. Funding from the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust and the N.C. Office of Rural Health and Community Care will allow CCNC to implement a community-based approach to the problem over the next two years. Modeled after a highly successful pilot program in Wilkes County, the statewide Project Lazarus program will assist North Carolina providers in getting the appropriate pain control medication to patients who need it while minimizing the risk of addiction – and dealing effectively with dependence issues that develop.

April 17, 2013 - New program to combat Rx drug abuse [Jason deBruyn, Triangle Business Journal: newspaper]

• In an attempt to stem the increase in prescription drug overdoses, Community Care of North Carolina says it will oversee a $2.6 million project to address chronic pain issues. Called Project Lazarus, the program takes a community-based approach to reducing the overuse and misuse of opioids such as oxycodone. CCNC, a Raleigh-based nonprofit, says a pilot program was tried in Wilkes County in 2008 with resounding success. It led to a 69 percent drop in the overdose death rate, a 15 percent reduction of substance abuse-related admissions to emergency departments, and more than 70 percent of Wilkes County prescribers registering with the state’s controlled substances drug monitoring program versus a statewide average of 26 percent.

April 11, 2013 - Schools seek to ‘put cap’ on prescription drugs [Tom Joyce, Mt. Airy News: newspaper]

• Seeing their teachers and school administrators dressed in drag can make a shocking impression on students — but a surprisingly positive one, members of a local prescription drug coalition learned Thursday afternoon. Dr. Terri Mosley, the county schools’ assistant superintendent for instructional services, was credited by Fred Brason, a Project Lazarus organizer from Wilkes County, with taking the drug issue and “running with it” in Surry. “When education starts at an early age,” Brason said of warnings about prescription drugs, “it starts to bring about change.”

April 10, 2013 - Prescription drug industry needs to be reined in [Allan Zacher, Smoky Mountain News: newspaper]

• The Lazarus Project seeks (so far with increasing success) to get reversal agents such as Narcan into the hands of doctors, patients and significant others to reduce the death rate from these medications. Is anybody telling doctors that maybe trying to treat chronic pain with opioids is a bad idea? No. Why? Because there’s no money in it, and because the drug companies have run such effective campaigns to get entire medical communities to believe that pain equals give prescription for opioids that a doctor is sometimes considered a bit “off” if he or she still thinks “pain medication is addicting.”

April 10, 2013 - Drug coalition to meet Thursday [Tom Joyce, Mt. Airy News: newspaper]

• Ongoing efforts to alleviate Surry County’s prescription drug epidemic will be explored during a meeting Thursday in Mount Airy. “One fatality from the misuse, storage or disposal of prescription medications is simply unacceptable,” according to Buzz Ellis, the coordinator of Project Lazarus, which will sponsor the meeting. Project Lazarus is a program launched through a countywide coalition to attack that problem, which includes representatives of law enforcement, public schools, health providers such as the local hospital and physicians, the ministry, pharmacies, public health workers, counseling/drug-rehabilitation agencies and others. Ellis said the “most vital” component of the Project Lazarus meetings is informing individuals of available prevention interventions for families with members who manage pain with prescription medications. A bill was filed in the present session of the N.C. General Assembly to allow practitioners to prescribe naloxone, also known as narcan, to high-risk individuals along with their families and friends. Legislators also have sought to provide limited “Good Samaritan” protection to those who experience an overdose or who administer an opioid antagonist from being prosecuted for certain drug-related offenses.

April 9, 2013 - Allran authors new law that could be a lifesaver for those who overdose [Sharon McBrayer, Hickory Record: newspaper]

• A bill that gives limited immunity to people who seek help for someone who overdoses and whose primary sponsor is state Sen. Austin Allran got the governor’s signatures Tuesday afternoon. Gov. Pat McCrory signed into law NC Senate Bill 20, referred to as the Good Samaritan Law/Naloxone Access. It also gives immunity to a doctor who prescribes an opioid antagonist and gives immunity to a person who administers the antagonist to someone they think is in the midst of a drug overdose. An opioid antagonist is a drug that counteracts an overdose and can be administered like a nasal spray. If it is administered to someone not using an opioid, it doesn’t have any affect on the person, Allran said. Allran said the bill came out of Project Lazarus in Wilkes County, which is the No. 1 area for the problem in the state.

April 9, 2013 - Big Pharma Company Jacks Up Price of Overdose Live Saver by 1100%: Now, More People Will Die [Tessie Castillo, AlterNet: blog]

• Based on numbers from a confidential industry source, Nabarun Dasgupta, an epidemiologist at the University of North Carolina, estimates it would cost a mere $100,000 for Hospira to supply every harm reduction program in the country with enough naloxone to meet current capacity. “I call Hospira an irresponsible monopoly,” Dasgupta says. “Naloxone is a $20-million-a-year industry; they can afford compassionate pricing for nonprofits.” Ten states have passed 911 Good Samaritan laws to encourage witnesses to an overdose to call for help without fear of criminal repercussions, and a dozen more are introducing bills this year thanks to the efforts of small nonprofits, including the NC Harm Reduction Coalition and Project Lazarus of North Carolina.

March 8, 2013 - NC Academy of Physician Assistants Partners with Project Lazarus to Fight Prescription Drug Abuse [press release NCAPA]

• The NCAPA is teaming with Project Lazarus and Community Care of North Carolina in a state-wide initiative. Don Metzger, NCAPA president, said PAs are uniquely positioned to help in the fight against prescription drug misuse. “Physician assistants are often on the front lines in patient care and can be effective in the early identification of prescription drug misuse. With more than 5000 PAs licensed to practice in North Carolina, our use of the NC Controlled Substance Reporting System can make a huge impact,” he said.

March 6, 2013 - New Project Lazarus official seeks to maintain ‘energy’  [Tom Joyce, Mt. Airy News: newspaper]

• Despite a leadership change, Project Lazarus-Surry is not having to start from scratch, with new coordinator Buzz Ellis saying that one of his main challenges is maintaining its already strong momentum. “I was shocked and amazed and pleased to see how much traction the effort has got,” Ellis said Tuesday of the Project Lazarus task force that was formed in February 2011 in response to local prescription drug problems labeled as epidemic. It is patterned after a similar program in Wilkes County which produced a turnaround in drug problems there. The new coordinator credits Parks and Mount Airy Police Chief Dale Watson, who spearheaded the group, with developing a coalition of community partners that has achieved success with its mission.

February 16, 2013 - Target worker accused of stealing more than 10,000 pain killers [Kirk Hawkins, Fox News Charlotte WCCB: television]

• North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper says a thousand people die in the state every year from prescription drug abuse. That's higher than the national average. "It doesn't matter if rich or poor. It doesn't matter about race or ethnicity. This is affecting all ages, all population groups in North Carolina," said Project Lazarus President and CEO Fred Wells Brason II. Brason's Project Lazarus is working with North Carolina state lawmakers to strengthen good samaritan 911 laws and increase access to drugs that reverse overdose. "This sort of blindsided America. Obviously it's an uphill battle," Brason said.

January 30, 2013 - Group takes aim at Iredell's deadly drug problem [Donna Swicegood, Statesville Record & Landmark: newspaper]

• The meeting was part of an ongoing effort led by Project Lazarus, a community-based organization comprised of local health service, law enforcement and other agencies. Fred Brason, the founder of Project Lazarus, also spoke of the growing problem. Project Lazarus grew out of his experience working with a Hospice organization. At the time, he said, prescription drug abuse wasn’t a common problem. Now, he said, “the headlines are full of the issue.”

January 12, 2013 - County commissioner advocates funds to battle drugs [Tom Joyce,  Mt. Airy News: newspaper]

• County funding support could be in the offing for a local initiative to battle the prescription drug epidemic — if one commissioner has his way. “There are real problems,” Commissioner Larry Phillips said Thursday night during a meeting of the Project Lazarus-Surry group when continuing issues with medication abuse and misuse were discussed. The Surry official said he is impressed by the headway being made by the drug initiative so far, for which educating the public about the dangers has been a major thrust. And he believes it deserves county government support.

January 11, 2013 - N.C. Child Fatalities Task Force notes rise in prescription drug deaths [Renee Elder, News & Observer: newspaper]

• Deaths from prescription drug overdoses are growing at an alarming rate in North Carolina and could eventually overtake motor vehicle accidents as the most common cause of accidental fatalities, according to a report released this week by the N.C. Child Fatality Task Force. Almost all of the overdose deaths recorded involved opiate-derived drugs such as hydrocodone and oxycodone, commonly given for pain relief, said Mike Lancaster, behavior health program director for N.C. Community Care, a statewide network of physicians providing care to low-income residents. “People may think because they’re taking a prescription drug it’s safer, but it doesn’t take that much to cause respiratory depression and death,” Lancaster said. “The whole community has to understand that if you’re taking pain meds, make sure they are safe and secure,” Lancaster said. Fred Brason founded Project Lazarus in Wilkes County to do just that after he became aware that his community had one of the highest rates of overdoses from prescription medications in the country. “Many times in the past, medications were freely shared among family and friends,” Brason says. “But with these new medications, we really can’t do that. They have addictive properties, and people wind up in trouble. People are finding and using it that would never touch heroin or cocaine.”

January 11, 2013 - Mom shares story of son’s overdose death [Tom Joyce,  Mt. Airy News: newspaper]

• Gail Bennett was a reluctant guest of Surry County’s prescription drug task force at a meeting Thursday night. the Stokes County businesswoman said she was compelled to attend to show the task force what “reality” looks like — the reality of a mother who lost her 31-year-old son to a prescription drug overdose 18 months ago. Bennett said she supports efforts of the Project Lazarus-Surry group, which was formed in 2011 to address an epidemic problem with prescription drug abuse and misuse in the county.

November 26, 2012 - Agencies grapple with underuse of prescription drug database [Jeanna Smialek, News & Observer: newspaper]

• The UNC Researcher helped found overdose prevention initiative Project Lazarus in Wilkes County, which at one time had the third highest overdose death rate in the nation, according to data from the U.S. Centers on Disease Control. Based on his experience there, Dasgupta said he worries doctors will refuse to see patients who have sought multiple prescriptions and are exposed by the system – causing dire results. Others say that if the program succeeds in preventing doctor shopping, it could lead to an increase in prescription-related crimes as people turn to theft to obtain painkillers or use other drugs.

November 13, 2012 - Operation OpioidSAFE Rescues Wounded Soldiers From Prescription Drug Addiction [press release]

• The United States Army is taking action to help wounded soldiers avoid the added crisis of a prescription drug addiction. Doctors and researchers are now emphasizing providing non-pharmaceutical treatment for pain related injuries.  Spinal pain is the number one cause for a soldier's discharge, but thanks to Operation OpiodSAFE, veterans are getting back into the field with the help of new programs and technologies developed to improve function without the use of opioids. Since 2008, Major Anthony Dragovich , MD, has worked with the medical team at Ft. Bragg to create and establish Operation OpioidSAFE, a comprehensive program that strives to educate soldiers, their families, and primary care providers of the tragic side effects of long-term prescription opioids.  The primary purpose of Operation OpioidSAFE is to balance the perspective view of the patient abusing drugs, as well as highlight available treatments offering pain therapy without the use of addictive medications. Every year, 10,000 soldiers at Ft. Bragg are prescribed opioids to treat chronic pain.  Up to 40% of them end up abusing their medications. The medical team at Ft. Bragg collaborated with Project Lazarus, a community-wide program foundation dedicated to drug prevention, to establish a way to provide community level support to soldiers and their families struggling with prescription pain addiction.

October 22, 2012 - Leader of Wilkes County Project Lazarus receives health leaders award [Monte Mitchell, Winston-Salem Journal: newspaper]

• Fred Brason II, president of Wilkes County's Project Lazarus, a program that seeks to fight the abuse of opioid-based pain medications, is one of 10 recipients for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Community Health Leaders Award for 2012, the foundation announced today. Nabarun Dasgupta, an epidemiologist at the Gillings School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina and a co-founder of Project Lazarus, nominated Brason for the award. "Fred started Project Lazarus to take a balanced approach to preventing drug overdoses while ensuring pain patients received care," Dasgupta said. "One of the most innovative aspects Fred championed has been providing pain patients and drug users with the antidote naloxone so they can reverse overdoses themselves. Other programs had successfully trained heroin users how to use the antidote, but Project Lazarus is the first time this innovative and compassionate approach was used to prevent prescription overdose deaths. It was groundbreaking when started in 2007, and remains the most comprehensive program of its kind in the nation."

October 22, 2012 - RWJF award for Brason of Project Lazarus [Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly: newsletter]

• Fred Brason II, founder of Project Lazarus in Wilkes County, North Carolina, has been named one of 10 recipients of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Community Health Leaders Award for 2012. The award is for overcoming obstacles to tackle challenging healthcare problems in the community.

October 19, 2012 - Area program carefully disposes unused drugs [Sandra Phillips, Lake Norman News/Charlotte Observer: newspaper]

• Drug Abuse Free Iredell-Project Lazarus and the Mooresville Police Department partnered to collect and dispose of the drugs. Catherine Arnold, a member of the DAFI-Project Lazarus steering committee, said abuse of prescription drugs can lead to poisoning and sometimes death. Iredell ranks higher than state and national averages for the number of deaths as a result of unintentional poisoning. Members of DAFI-Project Lazarus tackle this issue as they strive to improve the quality of life throughout the county. Some aspects of the program are modeled on Project Lazarus, which was developed in Wilkes County by Fred Brason. The plan addresses the problem of death from prescription opioids, which are used to treat pain. A key component is organizing advisory boards based on a community’s needs. Project Lazarus has become a model for North Carolina.

October 3, 2012 - Authorities collect 31 pounds of pills [Jessica Osborne, Mooresville Tribune: newspaper]

• The Mooresville Police Department and Project Lazarus have partnered twice in recent days to collect 31 pounds of expired and unused prescription medications. “Prescription Pill Take-Back” events were held Saturday at the Goodwill store on Williamson Road and on Sept. 27 at Lake Norman Regional Medical Center. Enough pills were received to fill 11 large paper bags.

October 3, 2012 - Iredell collection sites take in 200 pounds of pills [Donna Swicegood, Mooresville Tribune: newspaper]

• Four events aimed at collecting and destroying unwanted and expired prescription medications brought in more than 200 pounds of various pills. The event Thursday, which was held in partnership with Project Lazarus, a collaborative of various health and human services agencies, collected 4.67 pounds, which included several controlled substances, Childers said.

September 14, 2012 - Grant targets youth drug prevention [Kellen Moore, Wataugua Democrat: newspaper]

• A Watauga County group working to prevent underage alcohol consumption and drug abuse is about to amplify its efforts thanks to a $625,000 federal grant. The grant, provided through the Drug-Free Communities Support Program, will provide the funding over a five-year period to the Watauga County Substance Abuse Prevention Collaborative. The collaborative — which includes members from various disciplines — will work in partnership with Project Lazarus, an initiative that started in Wilkes County and works to prevent drug overdoses.

September 12, 2012 - Putting a spotlight on accidental drug deaths [Jessica Osborne, Statesville Record & Landmark: newspaper]

• North Carolina is one of the nation’s worst states for prescription drug abuse, and Iredell County ranks higher than the state average in accidental drug deaths. That makes September -- National Recovery Month – all the more important, and supporters of Drug Abuse Free Iredell and Project Lazarus are looking to raise public awareness about preventing accidental drug overdose deaths.

September 2012 - Fighting the Rx Epidemic: A Prescription for Worker's Comp [Rising Medical Solutions: white paper]

• "We literally had some Medicaid patients with 50 emergency department visits a year," said Brason. The emergency departments and North Carolina Medicaid flagged these "frequent fliers" and used case management protocols to refer them to an appropriate care provider and opioid-related deaths in Wilkes County decreased by 71 percent between 2009 and 2011.

September 2012 - How some of America's best minds are helping the workers' comp industry battle the epidemic abuse of prescription drugs [Leslie Yeransian, Risk & Insurance Digital Network]

• One successful prevention campaign was led by Fred Wells Brason II, executive director of Project Lazarus, who sought a solution to Medicaid patients shopping for prescription medication among North Carolina Emergency Departments in Wilkes County.

August 31, 2012 - Overdose deaths down, but ‘more work to be done’ [Tom Joyce: Mt. Airy News]

• While economic progress often is measured in dollars, overdose-prevention efforts can be gauged by the number of lives saved — and in Surry County’s case, the “score” is six. That’s the difference between the number of deaths among county residents logged so far this year (11 as of Aug. 10), compared to those at the same time in 2011, 17. “There’s still a lot more work to be done,” said Donna Parks, coordinator of a Project Lazarus program in Surry, patterned after one in Wilkes County which has significantly reduced problems there.

August 27, 2012 - Every Drug Overdose Is Preventable [R. Gil Kerlikowske, Huffington Post: blog]

• Reducing drug use and its consequences -- especially drug overdose deaths -- is essential to our mission, and we support efforts to bring help to people who need it. One organization that is providing this kind of help is Project Lazarus in Wilkes County, North Carolina. Project Lazarus serves an area that has borne a disproportionally large share of the suffering caused by the prescription drug abuse epidemic in America. In 2009, the death rate in Wilkes County due to drug poisoning was four times the North Carolina state average. Project Lazarus assists community groups and healthcare professionals throughout the state to help prevent and intervene in drug overdoses. The organization was founded on the principle that communities are responsible for their own health, and that every drug overdose is preventable. Project Lazarus empowers communities and individuals to prevent drug overdose deaths through training and overdose prevention programs. The services provided by Project Lazarus and other programs like it quite literally save lives.

August 24, 2012 - 'Pioneering example' [Wilkes Journal-Patriot: newspaper]

• The director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy on Wednesday said a program that started in Wilkes County was a striking example of innovative efforts needed to address drug addiction. “Project Lazarus is an exceptional organization, not only because it saves lives in Wilkes County, but also because it sets a pioneering example in community-based public health for the rest of the country,” added Gil Kerlikowske, who is President Obama’s top advisor on drug policy.  Kerlikowske, speaking at the John A. Walker Center in Wilkesboro, said he appreciated having the chance to highlight Project Lazarus and discuss the Obama administration’s approach to overdose prevention.

August 23, 2012 - Obama administration stands for access to drug for overdose prevention [Cengiz Sengul, examiner.com]

• The name of the drug is naxolene [sic] and it is sold as narcan. The property it possesses is that it reverses overdose from drugs such as heroin and painkillers. The Obama administration is pushing this drug to be accessible to drug addicts and their families. A statistic generated from Project Lazarus, a program in North Carolina, was a 67% decrease in overdose related deaths in two years.

August 23, 2012 - Obama drug adviser speaks at Wilkes [Monte Mitchell, Winston-Salem Journal: newspaper]

• President Barack Obama's top drug adviser visited Wilkes County on Wednesday, drawn here by a community-based effort that has seen a marked decrease in the number of prescription drug overdose deaths. Kerlikowske told a story about a 26-year-old woman who was saved by a naloxone kit distributed by Project Lazarus. The woman's brother found her unresponsive and not breathing, her face blue. He was a patient of Project Lazarus and used his naloxone kit to save her life. "Four days after her near-death experience, the young woman entered treatment," he said. "Without naloxone, she wouldn't have had that choice." Kerlikowske said the kits could be used by people beyond health professionals, as a piece of a broad spectrum of drug-abuse prevention. "When it comes to preventing an overdose death, naloxone is an extremely valuable tool, but we know that one of the most effective and sustainable ways to prevent overdose is also to prevent drug use itself," he said.

August 22, 2012 - Preventing Overdose: Obama Administration Drug Czar Calls for Wider Access to Overdose Antidote [Time, Maia Szlavitz: magazine]

• Speaking on Wednesday at a North Carolina overdose-prevention program, the Obama administration’s drug czar Gil Kerlikowske called for increased action to prevent drug overdose deaths. Notably, Kerlikowske urged wider distribution of a medication called naloxone, an antidote to overdoses of opioid drugs, including prescription pain relievers and heroin, saying that “naloxone can be expanded beyond public health officials.”

August 22, 2012 - N.C. Program Slashes Opioid Overdoses [David Pittman, medpagetoday.com]

• In 2007, Wilkes County, N.C., had the third highest drug overdose death rate in the country. But it used an innovative program working with physicians, pharmacists, law enforcement, public health officials, and community leaders to address the issue, producing 28 straight months of declines in overdose deaths. Now, officials are trying to spread the project throughout the entire state with hopes it could be set up as a model in other states throughout the nation. Gil Kerlikowske, President Obama's top drug policy officer, spoke at a forum in Wilkesboro, N.C., Wednesday morning, publicizing the administration's goal to cut unintentional drug overdose deaths by 15% over the next 5 years.

August 22, 2012 - Drug Czar: Overdose deaths preventable [UPI: wire service]

• The Obama administration's top drug adviser visits North Carolina Wednesday, calling for increased action to prevent drug overdose deaths. Kerlikowske will speak during a meeting with officials from Project Lazarus, a non-profit overdose prevention program operating in North Carolina. The meeting comes in advance of International Overdose Awareness Day on Aug. 31.

August 22, 2012 - US drug policy adviser to speak in Wilkesboro [MyFox8.com WGHP: television]

• President Obama’s top drug policy adviser is scheduled to speak in North Carolina about drug overdose deaths as part of a meeting with a nonprofit overdose prevention program operating in the state. Gil Kerlikowske is set to speak Wednesday during a meeting with officials of Project Lazarus at the Walker Center in Wilkesboro. He’s the director of national drug control policy.

August 22, 2012 - US drug policy adviser speaks in Wilkesboro [NBC WCNC Charlotte: television]

• President Obama's top drug policy adviser is speaking in North Carolina about the issue of prescription drug abuse, which he says is a national epidemic.

   Gil Kerlikowske spoke Wednesday during a meeting with officials of Project Lazarus in Wilkesboro. He's the director of national drug control policy. Project Lazarus is a nonprofit overdose prevention program.

August 21, 2012 - Drug deaths drop as coalition plans major meeting [Mount Airy News: newspaper]

• The good news is, deaths linked to prescription drugs have dropped dramatically in Surry County. The bad news is that more work needs to be done, officials say. It is scheduled on Aug. 29 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Surry County Human Services Building on State Street in Mount Airy (behind Arby’s), with everyone invited. An effort known as Project Lazarus Surry — based on a similar initiative that has been successful in Wilkes County — was launched last year to combat what has been termed an epidemic here.

August 21, 2012 - Program’s success shows need to maintain focus [Editorial, Mt. Airy News: newspaper]

• To eliminate an epidemic of any kind takes time, and patience, and sustained effort. Resting on laurels of any sort, losing the focus of an effort, can quickly undo its effects. So it is with local efforts to eliminate overdoses of prescription drugs, and the sometimes tragic consequences that often follow. A year ago an organized, focused effort to eliminate such drug abuse began in Surry County, known as Project Lazarus Surry. Make no mistake, misuse of prescription drugs had reached epidemic proportions, with more than 30 deaths from such overdoses in 2011. Local emergency service and medical workers will tell you the total number of local folks who overdosed on these drugs would number in the hundreds that year, maybe even higher.

August 20, 2012 - Fed advisor on drugs to speak here [Wilkes Journal-Patriot: newspaper]

• The director of the National Drug Control Policy is scheduled to be at the John A. Walker Center in Wilkesboro Wednesday morning to discuss ways of preventing drug overdose deaths. Kerlikowske will speak during a meeting with officials from Project Lazarus, a statewide nonprofit overdose prevention program that began in Wilkes County.

August 20, 2012 - Drug deaths drop as coalition plans major meeting [Tom Joyce, Mt. Airy News: newspaper]

• The good news is, deaths linked to prescription drugs have dropped dramatically in Surry County. The bad news is that more work needs to be done, officials say. An effort known as Project Lazarus Surry — based on a similar initiative that has been successful in Wilkes County — was launched last year to combat what has been termed an epidemic here. A coalition of law enforcement, pharmaceutical, educational, medical, ministerial and other representatives, along with members from the community at large, has been leading the charge.

August 15, 2012 - SPD: Small box to make 'a big difference [Statesville Record & Landmark: newspaper]

• It takes up just a small amount of floor space in the lobby at the Statesville Police Department, but the newly installed drug drop box is going to make a huge impact. The drug drop box is part of the effort by a local collaborative called Project Lazarus, which was formed to address the growing trend of prescription drug abuse and deaths by overdose in Iredell County and across the nation.

August 9, 2012 - Drop-box to target prescription drug abuse [Statesville Record & Landmark: newspaper]

• On Wednesday morning, the SPD, in conjunction with Project Lazarus Iredell and the Greater Statesville Chamber of Commerce, will host a ribbon cutting to celebrate the installation of a drug drop box – the first of its kind in Iredell County.

July 31, 2012 - The Partnership at Drugfree.org Announces New Partners in National Medicine Abuse Action Campaign [press release]

• The unifying campaign is bringing the public and private sectors together in a national education initiative and call to action to stop teen medicine abuse, one of the biggest drug problems in the United States today. The growing list of strategic partners include: Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacies; American Association of Poison Control Centers; The American Medicine Chest Challenge; American Society of Anesthesiologists; Any Lab Tests Now; Association of State Criminal Investigative Agencies; Caron Treatment Centers; The Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, Dallas; F.A.T.E. (Fighting Addiction Through Education); Healthcare Distributors and Manufacturers Association; Major County Sheriffs; National Association of Boards of Pharmacy; National Association of Drug Diversion Investigators; National Association of School Nurses; National Education Association; The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA); Partnership for a Drug-Free Kentucky; Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey; P.E.A.C.E. Foundation; Phoenix House; Power of Pain Foundation; Project Lazarus; Schuylkill County Drug and Alcohol Program; SIMmersion and Treatment Research Institute.

June 2012 - Project Lazarus: Using PDMP Data to Mobilize and Measure Community Drug Abuse Prevention [Prescription Drug Monitoring Program Center of Excellence at Brandeis: white paper]

• Project Lazarus combines a number of prevention approaches, including use of prescription history information collected by North Carolina’s prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP) to motivate, guide and track its prevention efforts. Understanding how medical provider use of PDMP data can facilitate safe prescribing of opioids and reduce their diversion has made increased provider participation in the PDMP a goal of prevention efforts. Increased PDMP participation in Wilkes County may in turn be a factor in the decline in prescription opioid overdoses in the county since the inception of Project Lazarus.

May 11, 2012 - People are dying of drug overdoses, despite lifesaving medications [Huffington Post: blog by EL Winstanley]

• Naloxone is a safe and easy-to-administer drug; even non-medical people can administer it with minimal training.  A pilot naloxone program in Massachusetts estimated that 1,000 overdoses were reversed over a period of four years. Preliminary data from Project Lazarus in North Carolina found that their overdose prevention program reduced the death rate by 38 percent in Wilkes County. 

April 26, 2012 - Drug-overdose antidote is put in addicts' hands [Associated Press: wire news service]

• In Wilkes County, N.C., an Appalachian area with an alarmingly high rate of prescription drug deaths, a nonprofit organization called Project Lazarus has taken a slightly different approach: It persuaded doctors to prescribe naloxone in tandem with painkillers to certain patients. The practice, along with an all-out education campaign, has been credited by the organization with reducing overdose deaths 69 percent between 2009 and 2011. Fred Wells Brason II, chief executive of Project Lazarus, said he had never heard of naloxone when the group began to develop its overdose prevention plan. "Then I found out it was used in emergency rooms to reverse opiate overdoses," he recalled. "My first question was, 'Well, that's great, but not one person from Wilkes County who overdoses made it that far. They were all found at home dead.'"

April 25, 2012 - Pharmacy to host drug disposal event [Sun Journal: newspaper]

• Saturday is Drug Take Back Day at the Bayboro Pharmacy. Representatives from the Coastal Coalition for Substance Abuse Prevention are scheduled to talk with participants about “Project Lazarus,” which aims to educate the public about ways to be more responsible with prescription drugs and offer advice on how to safeguard drugs to minimize access to people who may abuse them.

April 14, 2012 - New battle launched against drug overdoses [Gaston Gazette: newspaper]

• To enhance pain control while preventing injury and death, local leaders in the health care and prescription drug fields have launched the Chronic Pain Initiative. The program is aimed at reducing opioid-related overdoses, optimizing treatment of chronic pain, and managing substance abuse issues affiliated with opioid misuse and abuse. The idea is bringing together a coalition of people who have a stake in lowering the overdose rate. It includes hospital and physician groups, pharmacies, civic organizations, law enforcement agencies, churches, schools and many others. The model is an overdose prevention program known as Project Lazarus

April 14, 2012 - New battle plan launched against drug overdoses [WSOC TV: television]

• Brason met recently with more than 50 members of the local Chronic Pain Coalition at Pathways in Gastonia. He provided sobering statistics as evidence of the overdose predicament here. In Wilkes County, Project Lazarus was used to change the way people have access to prescription drugs. It produced a 69 percent drop in overdose deaths from 2008 to 2010, Brason said. The emergency department there changed its prescribing policy, Brason said. Doctors began using different measures to help patients with chronic pain. Pharmacies adhered even more to a program that tracks customers who pick up controlled substances. Local law enforcement can now refer drug abusers to mental health resources and treatment programs.

April 10, 2012 - Project Lazarus at Operation Unite National Rx Drug Abuse Summit [online multimedia slides and audio]

April 7, 2012 - Program in Philadelphia helps save overdose victims' lives [Philadelphia Inquirer: newspaper]

• Evidence for community-based use is anecdotal but compelling. Rural Wilkes County, N.C., had the third-highest overdose rate in the nation in 2007. In 2009, a grassroots organization launched a comprehensive prevention program that asked every doctor in the county who prescribed opiates to show a DVD about overdosing to anyone who was at risk because of other medical conditions, combinations of drugs, or history of addiction - and also to prescribe a naloxone kit that was available, free, at the pharmacy. Fatal overdoses dropped 70 percent in two years while rising elsewhere. Project Lazarus is expanding statewide.

April 6, 2012 - Fighting prescription painkiller abuse [Shelby Star: newspaper]

• Most people never dream that they could become addicted to a pain drug. To address this public health issue, a broad coalition of stakeholders has launched the Chronic Pain Initiative. Cleveland County is now working to bring this statewide initiative here to address the challenge of prescription drug misuse, abuse and overdose on a local level. The CPI approach is modeled on a highly successful Wilkes County overdose prevention program known as Project Lazarus. An evaluation published by members of the Project Lazarus study team found that the implementation of their program in Wilkes County generated a 47 percent reduction in the overdose death rate from 2009-10.

March 28, 2012 - Project Lazarus Saves a Life [Janaburson's Blog]

• I’ve mentioned Project Lazarus in a previous blog entry. In that blog, I was cautiously supportive of this project, which provides kits to opioid addicts to reverse a life-threatening overdose with intranasal naloxone. Since that blog post, I’ve become a whole-hearted supporter of Project Lazarus, due to an incident in a community where I work. Last month, a young lady seeking admission to the opioid treatment program said she came for help because she’d almost died four days earlier. After calling 911, he used his kit and shot the naloxone into his sister’s nose. He says the medication worked quickly, and she woke up within a minute or two. "Every time I see her around the clinic, I’m reminded that she may not be alive today if not for her brother’s naloxone kit."

March 27, 2012 - Group wants to curb prescription pill overdoses [Salisbury Post: newspaper]

• Community Care of Southern Piedmont wants to help implement a new Chronic Pain Initiative in Rowan, Cabarrus and Stanly counties. Fred Brason, president and CEO of Project Lazarus, spoke Monday about the program at the Rowan County Chamber of Commerce. Project Lazarus has significantly lowered not only the number of deaths and hospitalizations, Brason said, but also the number of prescription drug seekers at the emergency room. “We need to get this started, because if you talk about it and don’t get started, nothing’s going to change,” he said. “You can’t just leave it on the hospital. You can’t just leave it on law enforcement. It’s everybody.”

March 26, 2012 - Nearly 45,000 units collected during Operation Medicine Drop [Statesville Record & Landmark: newspaper]

• The Statesville Police Department collected nearly 45,000 dosage units of prescription and over-the-counter medications during the two-day Operation Medicine Drop campaign conducted last week. The SPD is partnering with a collaborative of various health and human service organizations in order to implement an initiative called Project Lazarus in Iredell County. This initiative was created to address the growing trend of prescription drug abuse and deaths by overdose in Iredell County.

February 2012 - Healthy North Carolina 2020, Reducing Unintentional Poisonings: A Success Story in Progress [NC Division of Public Health: newsletter]

• Project Lazarus – a community-based drug overdose prevention program that originated in Wilkes County – is using a public health  approach to address this injury epidemic. The results of Project Lazarus’s efforts in Wilkes County are encouraging. The project works  through community organizers who are well-connected to the community and who help raise  awareness of unintentional drug overdose. Further, Project Lazarus engages the people who are the focus of the intervention to help formulate responses that are acceptable to the community. Project Lazarus also acknowledges prevention must be supplemented with risk reduction strategies; hence, the distribution of naloxone is another key component of Project Lazarus’s strategy. Naloxone is a “rescue” medication that can be administered by a friend or family  member to someone who has overdosed from an opioid medication.  Many patients in Wilkes County who fill an opioid prescription also receive an overdose rescue kit that contains naloxone along with training on how to use it.

February 28, 2012 - Iredell officials to tackle prescription drug abuse [Statesville Record & Landmark: newspaper]

• Concerned with the growing abuse of prescription drugs in Iredell County, medical, social services and law enforcement representatives met with Project Lazarus officials to learn about the program, which has been a success in Wilkes County. Project Lazarus Director Fred Branson [sic] discussed with the group the success officials in Wilkes County have experienced in decreasing unintentional drug poisoning death --- or overdose --- rates since the public health initiative started in that county in 2006. “It took a comprehensive county effort,” he said at Fifth Street Ministries on Tuesday. “It is a cultural and a social issue.”

January 24, 2012 - Headway being made in prescription drug problem [Mt. Airy News: newspaper]

• Slowly but surely, progress is being made in combating Surry County’s prescription drug problem, according to comments at a meeting Monday night. Fred Brason, who led Monday’s session, said some steps are spreading on a statewide level which should help with the problem overall, such as a chronic pain initiative. It is based on an effort in Brason’s home county of Wilkes, where “Project Lazarus” has greatly reduced overdose deaths.

January 5, 2012 - Project Lazarus [HAMS Radio - Radio Blog]

• Project Lazarus in North Carolina is fighting these drug overdose deaths with overdose prevention kits and naloxone, and they are succeeding in turning the tide. Our guests tonight are Project Lazarus workers Fred Wells Brason II and Nabarun Dasgupta who will fill us in on what is happening.

December 14, 2011 - Progress on local health issues [Wilkes Journal-Patriot: newspaper]

• In response to having the third highest drug overdose death rate nationally, Wilkes initiated a public health prescription opioid overdose prevention program that includes supply reduction, demand reduction, diversion control and harm reduction. The intervention includes community coalition building, epidemiologic monitoring, primary overdose prevention efforts, naloxone prescribing to community members, and program evaluation. Primary prevention efforts included one-on-one physician education, pill take-back days, fixed disposal sites, community awareness, expanded access to drug treatment, and other measures. Backed by the N.C. Medical Board, the first implementation of Project Lazarus in Wilkes County has been evaluated and published. Project Lazarus has facilitated overdose prevention in Wilkes in collaboration with the health department, law enforcement, schools, clinicians, local hospital, and faith community. In the past three years: overdose deaths decreased over 40 percent; drug-related hospital emergency department) visits decreased 15 percent; and the number of prescriptions for controlled substances stabilized. In 2009, Wilkes County had 46 deaths as a result of unintentional poisoning (over dose). Deaths decreased in 2010 to 24.5 and through Dec. 2, 2011, Wilkes has had seven deaths from unintentional, accidental poisonings.

December 12, 2011 - Buckley Report: Project Lazarus [WGHP MyFox8 Greensboro: television]

• Six counties in the northwest Piedmont are helping people stay away from the dangers of prescription drugs. In the video, Bob Buckley shows us how Project Lazarus is expanding rapidly across North Carolina. It will take two years for the program to be implemented throughout the state. The FDA has shown interest in taking it nationwide.

December 1, 2011 - Overdose fatalities are 'epidemic' [News Herald: newspaper]

• Drug abuse is endemic in rural areas across America and Burke is no exception. Fred Brason, executive director of Project Lazarus in Moravian Falls, is teaming up with local officials through the Burke Substance Abuse Network to help curb deaths. Project Lazarus is an overdose-prevention initiative that aims to decrease accidental drug deaths across the state.

November 30, 2011 - Prescription drug abuse seminar Friday [Salisbury Post: newspaper]

• Prescription drug abuse is a problem in Rowan County — and there are things the community can do about it. That will be the message of a free presentation by Fred W. Brason II, set for 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.Friday at First United Methodist Church in Salisbury.

November 27, 2011 - Drug task force coalition to meet [Mt. Airy News: newspaper]

• The next “battle” in the war on prescription drug abuse in Surry County will be staged Tuesday, when a newly formed coalition meets to plan strategies. Attendance by the general public is encouraged at the meeting, the latest in a series that began earlier this year over concerns about an alarming number of overdose deaths. As of the end of October, at least 27 fatalities had occurred linked to misuse of prescription medications locally, including the teen population. Tuesday’s session is planned from 5 to 7 p.m. in the commons area of Mount Airy High School at 1011 N. South St.

November 13, 2011 - Around the Region [Charlotte Observer: newspaper]

• The Burke Substance Abuse Network will hold a breakfast meeting 7:30-9 a.m. Friday at the Community House, 120 N. King St., Morganton. The speaker will be Fred Brason, founder of Project Lazarus. Brason will discuss the topic of overdose prevention.

November 10, 2011 - Project Lazarus Chronic Pain Initiative [Salisbury Post: newspaper]

• Rowan Regional Medical Center in partnership with Community Care of Southern Piedmont will host a community forum to educate the community on The Project Lazarus Chronic Pain Initiative. First United Methodist Church, 217 South Church Street, Salisbury, NC. Friday, December 2, 2011. 11:45 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. (Light lunch will be served at 11:45 a.m.)

October 16, 2011 - Project Lazarus shows decreases in prescription drug overdoses [The Athens Messenger Ohio: newspaper]

• As the misuse of prescription drugs continues to infiltrate the county, area coalitions are actively trying to reverse the trend and put an end to the abuse. Thursday, an expert on the subject matter was brought in to help point the coalitions in the right direction. Fred W. Brason, founder of Project Lazarus, spoke to members of the Athens County Opioid Coalition as well as similar coalitions from Hocking County and Vinton County.

October 10, 2011 - Mt. Airy Police Discuss Prescription Drug Abuse Problem [Fox 8 Surry County: television]

• Mount Airy Police tried to do their part Monday to reduce the 20 percent of Americans who abose prescription drugs. Police spoke with dozens of people at Mount Airy High School about the dangers and side effects of prescription drug abuse.

October 9, 2011 - Meeting on prescription drugs planned Monday [Mt. Airy News: newspaper]

• A meeting is planned Monday evening in Mount Airy to further address the problem of prescription drug abuse in Surry County. It will begin at 5 p.m. in the commons area at Mount Airy High School, with the public invited.

September 30, 2011 - Success with Rx drug abuse shared [Wilkes Journal-Patriot: newspaper]

• Wilkes County has gone from third among all counties nationwide in accidental drug overdose deaths per capita in 2007 to "being off the radar screen" now for these types of deaths, said a leader in local efforts to address the problem.

September 29, 2011 - Drug Use Down In Wilkes County [WXII12 Winston-Salem: television]

• Project Lazarus is helping patients from having overdoses in Wilkes County. Doctors and pharmacists are working together to help patients know what they are taking and whether they need to take medicines or not.

September 23, 2011 - Special Edition Focus on the Foothills [3WC: radio]

• Angela talks with Fred Brason of Project Lazarus about the prescription drug abuse problem in Wilkes and an upcoming public forum.

September 13, 2011 - Commissioners view community health data [Mt. Airy News: newspaper]

• The department plans to remain involved with Project Lazarus, a project among various community agencies to identify and tackle the prescription drug abuse problem in the county. 

September 2, 2011 - Solutions prescribed for deadly drug problem [Mt. Airy News: newspaper]

• However, there is hope on the horizon in the form of improvements seen with a similar situation in neighboring Wilkes County, where a program called Project Lazarus has greatly reduced issues associated with prescription drugs.

July 9, 2011 - Project Lazarus: Solving Opioid Problems Sensibly [pain-topics.org: blog]

• While much has been said and written about problems associated with opioid analgesics, relatively little has been effectively done as yet to stem the tide of misuse, abuse, overdoses, and deaths. Rather than waiting for federal or state agencies to come to their rescue, one rural coalition took control themselves in developing a successful opioid overdose prevention program. This truly demonstrates the power of the community for solving its own public health problems.

May 2011 - North Carolina-Based Project Lazarus Presented as Model for Taos Prescription Drug Abuse Effort [New Mexico Prescription Improvement Coalition: newsletter]

• The keynote speaker for the Taos event was Fred Brason from Project Lazarus, an effort based in Wilkes County, North Carolina, which initiated the first community oxycodone drug abuse study at the county level. Project Lazarus is one of the more innovative public health interventions against fatalities from prescribed opioids in the United States. It is currently being piloted in Wilkes  County and at Fort Bragg to help teach opioid overdose recognition, prevention and response in civilian and military populations. 

May 19, 2011 - Rx News - New Mexico Pharmacists Association [newsletter]

• Pease join us at NMMRA to hear Fred Wells Brason II talk about his very successful Project Lazarus.Fred Wells Brason II is our keynote speaker for our first learning session for the Taos Regional drug abuse Collaborative. 

April 21, 2011 -  Robeson County takes action against prescription drug use [WMBF Myrtle Beach: television]

• A [drug] that works to reverse the effects of a drug overdose may soon come to Robeson County. Naloxone is a prescription drug used to counter the effects of opiate overdose. "So literally, it's waking somebody up from a dead scenario," Fred Wells Brason explained. He is the co-founder and president of Project Lazarus, an education group committed to preventing drug overdose from prescription drugs.

March 14, 2011 - Forum on Prescription Drug Abuse Coming to Lumberton [WBTW Myrtle Beach: television]

• According to a news release from Southeastern Regional Medical Center, Fred Wells Brason II, CEO of Project Lazarus, will present a program entitled Developing a Community Response to Address Prescription Drug Abuse.

February 5, 2011 - Herbert Neuman: There are ways to help, prevent prescription drug abuse [Charelston Gazzette: newspaper]

• At the local level, the Department of Health in Wilkes County, North Carolina, collaborated with community members, industry and providers to create Project Lazarus. Representatives of this program visited every doctor's office in the county to provide information and training on the state's prescription monitoring program. Today, Wilkes County leads North Carolina in registering physicians for the monitoring system.

November 9, 2010 - Living to Tell the Tale: Prescription Drug Abuse and Overdose Response [Traverse City, MI: film festival]

• The Project Lazarus video was shown at the State Theatre, in Traverse City, Michigan, owned by Michael Moore.

July 8, 2010 - New Directions California: A Public Health and Safety Appraoch to Drug Policy [conference DPA and CA Society of Addiction Medicine]

• Fred Wells Brason II is the President/CEO of Project Lazarus, a community opioid overdose prevention model.

May 2010 - Addressing Substance Abuse in Guildford County [Wake Forest University: white paper]

• The Chronic Pain Initiative (CPI) is a collaborative, multi-faceted prescription drug prevention initiative that  uses a harm reduction approach to reduce overprescribing of pain medication, limit unauthorized  access to prescription drugs, and reduce the chances of accidental poisoning deaths among  individuals who are known to be patients that are at an increased risk of misusing opioids and abusing narcotics and dying from unintentional drug overdoses

June 12, 2009 - Prescription drugs leading killer in NWNC [Danville Register and Bee: newspaper]

• Brason is the director of Project Lazarus, a pilot program set to begin this summer to provide anti-overdose kits to at-risk patients who are starting methadone treatment to try to kick opioid addictions. The kits include the drug naloxone (known as Narcan), which reverses opiate overdose by blocking the brain's opioid receptors.

May 29, 2009 - Do DIY Anti-Overdose Kits Help? [Time: magazine]

• In North Carolina, a program called Project Lazarus, which is slated to launch this summer, will target that very group of at-risk patients, who are not often included in other initiatives. Project Lazarus will hand out naloxone kits and offer training, including instruction on rescue breathing, to patients who are starting methadone treatment for pain — methadone is stronger and lasts longer than other painkillers, which puts users at a higher risk of overdose — and those beginning treatment for addiction with the anti-addiction drug buprenorphine, who are by definition at high risk for drug relapse and overdose.

December 11, 2007 - Emergency Antidote, Direct to Addicts [The New York Times: newspaper]

• With overdose death rates from such drugs increasing sharply, officials in Wilkes County, N.C., are working on a program to dispense a naloxone nasal spray to users leaving hospital emergency rooms, detoxification centers and jails. The program, Project Lazarus, received approval from the state medical board in November. “Lazarus, biblically speaking, is one who was raised from the dead, and that is essentially what naloxone does for these people,” said the director of the program, the Rev. Fred Brason II.