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<br />Orozco, Norma <br />From:Nelson, Ariana <arianamn@hs.uci.edu> <br />Sent:Monday, September 07, 2020 11:58 AM <br />To:eComment <br />Subject:Benefits of a Syringe Exchange Program - an OC Physician's Perspective <br />To our Honorable Mayor and City Council, <br /> <br />As a pain physician and anesthesiologist at UC Irvine health I am in strong support of a syringe exchange <br />program for our county. I have witnessed the increased burden on our healthcare system when patients <br />struggling with substance abuse and without insurance are admitted for long hospital stays due to infections <br />and abscesses caused by contaminated needle use. Measure 85D is not only fiscally irresponsible but also <br />morally unconscionable as it increases the burden of preventable infections treated by OC healthcare workers <br />at a time when our resources are stretched thin due to COVID 19. As I am sure you can imagine, a patient with <br />addiction will not cease to abuse opioids because of needing to re-use a needle. Absence of clean supplies is <br />not a barrier to substance abuse. However, providing a clean syringe in exchange for a used syringe improves <br />access of patients with substance abuse to social services and programs to help them overcome addiction. <br /> <br />Lastly, OCNEP collected more needles than it distributed - and the current needle exchange clinic is also <br />collecting more needles than it is distributing. Most populous counties have more than one SEP (LA has at <br />minimum 7 in operation) and Orange County should follow this example. I see only positive ramifications <br />from permitting a safe needle exchange clinic to keep our town healthy, streets clean and help fight addiction. <br /> <br /> <br />Sincerely, <br /> <br />Ariana M. Nelson, MD <br />Associate Clinical Professor <br />Dept of Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine <br />UC Irvine School of Medicine Dean's Scholar <br />Clinic: (949) UCI-PAIN | Page: 714.506.6396 <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />This message may contain confidential information and is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s). If you are not the intended recipient, do not use, distribute, <br />or copy this e-mail. Please notify the UC Irvine Health – Compliance and Privacy Office via email at hacompliance@uci.edu or by phone 888-456-7006 <br />immediately if you have received this e-mail in error. E-mail transmission cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free as information could be intercepted, <br />corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive late or incomplete, or contain viruses. The sender therefore does not accept liability for any errors or omissions in the contents of <br />this message, which arise as a result of e-mail transmission. <br />1 <br />