Ramsey County and St. Paul brief council on opioid response: settlement funds, naloxone distribution and Suboxone pilot

Ramsey County Public Health Director Amy Kieran and Deputy Director Ray Eden Frank told the Saint Paul City Council Policy Committee about local opioid overdose trends, settlement funds and current county programs. St. Paul Fire Department Assistant Chief Steve Samson and regional Medical Director Dr. Aaron Burnett briefed the committee on an EMS Suboxone pilot and other prehospital responses.

Kieran said the national and state opioid overdose death counts decreased in 2023 and that provisional 2024 data showed a continuation of that trend, but cautioned that nonfatal overdoses can still rise. "Drug overdose is the leading cause of accidental death in The United States with opioids being the most common classification of drugs responsible for those overdoses," she said. Kieran and Ray Eden Frank flagged persistent racial disparities in overdose mortality: Minnesota data cited by the presenters showed American Indian Minnesotans had substantially higher age‑adjusted overdose mortality and Black Minnesotans had higher rates than white Minnesotans; provisional 2024 figures the presenters cited showed a decline in American Indian deaths and an increase in Black deaths.

Frank summarized opioid settlement distributions: he said state agreements with…