WATCH – ADDICTION IS NOT MANDATORY –

Nov. 12, 2021 – “I wanted no narcotics,” said Seminole County resident Andria Herr.

She needed gallbladder surgery in March during the pandemic and she wanted non-narcotic pain relief.

“I’ve witnessed over the course of my lifetime firsthand the devastation that opioid addiction can create for our families and friends, and I didn’t want to be a part of that,” Herr said.

Dr. Luke Elms is a general minimally invasive surgeon at Orlando Health’s Dr. Phillips Hospital.

He says the Covid-19 pandemic made 2020 the deadliest year for overdose deaths.

While not all deaths involved opiates, opioids were involved in a large number of them.

He adds, addiction begins in the hospital, unfortunately.

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