Warren County officials on Wednesday discussed a proposed resolution to expand the county’s standing order for opioid overdose reversal medication but chose not to move the item to the full board pending additional professional guidance.

Rob (unnamed county staff) introduced Jessica Perkins, clinical director for Baywood Center, who described Baywood’s jail and outpatient services and the agency’s community outreach team. "We provide group and individual counseling as well as, MATs, which would be the Suboxone, Sublocade, and Vivitrol," Perkins said. She added Baywood offers naloxone kits to patients, "to include at discharge," and that a community outreach team distributes harm-reduction and hygiene kits, often to homeless encampments.

Perkins said the current standing order authorizes a single naloxone formulation dosed at 4 milligrams and that the proposal under consideration would add an 8 milligram formulation and another medication to the standing order. "There's really not any evidence that these other formulations are any more effective in reversing overdoses and may have some complicating factors," Perkins said, citing guidance included in the meeting packet from the New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS). She explained higher doses can provoke more severe withdrawal symptoms, which may increase the risk that a person seeks additional opioids and could be at risk for another overdose.

Perkins provided local data pulled for committee members showing that year to date through May the county had 20 overdoses, including two fatalities, and that 10 overdose incidents received naloxone. She also presented a four‑year trend showing a spike to 80 overdoses in 2024 while fatalities trended downward; Perkins and staff attributed lower fatalities in recent years in part to expanded access to the 4 mg naloxone formulation and opioid settlement funds used to distribute naloxone publicly.

Committee chair outlined three procedural options: bring the resolution forward for a committee vote and, if approved, send it to the full board; bring it forward and defeat it; or leave it on the committee table pending further professional advice. After discussion, no committee member made a motion to advance the resolution. Mr. Driscoll said he preferred to "let it sit" until more information is gathered from Rob and Perkins. The chair said the item would remain on the committee’s radar and that local providers could reintroduce the resolution if they believe it is appropriate.

Perkins also noted a community event on July 15 at the Crandall Public Library — "community conversations on opioid use disorder" from 5 to 7 p.m. — where residents can learn about local services and supports. The committee took no formal vote on the proposed standing-order expansion and left further action to providers and staff to develop additional evidence and recommendations.