DKICP professor featured on drug overdose awareness TV special

Dr. Roy Goo, DKICP associate professor and Pharmacy Practice Department chair was featured on a TV program on drug overdose awareness, which aired throughout the state. Titled “Overdose Awareness: Prevention and Education,” the 30-minute special assembled four health professionals to discuss overdose causes in Hawaiʻi, the main drugs involved, the best ways to prevent overdoses and resource available to those who have a family member or friend they believe is at risk.

“One of the biggest challenges surrounding this issue is in overcoming the social stigma that surrounds drug overdoses,” says Goo. “Addiction needs to be viewed as a disease, and we need to address the underlying issues causing it, like we would with any disease. Medications are often only one part of a treatment plan.”

Goo serves as co-chair of the Hawaiʻi Opioid Initiative’s Prescriber Education and Pain Management working group. The group’s objectives include developing an increased understanding of the benefits and risks of opioids, increased awareness of unsafe opioid use, expanded patient use of alternative treatment options, and improved patient access to overdose treatment.

The recent program was aired in honor of International Overdose Awareness Day on August 31. It can be viewed online at Overdose Awareness: Prevention and Education | KHON2.