October 11, 2021

The sad case of Keith McCants – The opioid crisis during the pandemic – Autumn foliage – Evening statistics

Keith McCants played professional football from 1990 to 1995, for a total of 88 games in his career.  After he left the NFL he became the first black marine police officer for the state of Alabama, working for the Department of Conservation and Natural resources.  But as a result of the painkillers doled out to him by various coaches during his NFL years, he became addicted to opioids, an addiction that led to the dwindling of the wealth he had acquired as a celebrity player and eventually to his living on the streets for two years, as well as some months in prison, during which at one point he attempted to hang himself.  He had made strenuous attempts to overcome his addiction, seeking professional help on numerous occasions, but to no avail; he died of an overdose this past Thursday at the age of 53.

McCants is one of the many victims of the rising toll of opioid addiction.  In 2019 the number of opioid overdoses was just short of 50,000; this past year the number was 93,000.  The COVID pandemic has exacerbated the situation.  In particular, the supply chains for fentanyl, an extremely potent synthetic opioid, have been interrupted, and authentic drugs have been replaced with deadlier synthetics.  Moreover, the pandemic has cut people off from churches, cultural centers, and family events that provide social support to combat such addictions. 

The American medical profession is far from guiltless in this sorry state of affairs.  It has prescribed painkillers with reckless abandon.  I can remember an incident in which I bruised a rib in an accident and went to the hospital to have it X-rayed.  The X-ray verified that there was no fracture and that only soft tissue had been affected.  I felt a certain amount of pain and some constriction in the chest that would restrict physical exertion for a time because breathing heavily increased the discomfort.  I was told that it would take several days for this condition to subside.  The course that was indicated, I therefore assumed, was to put with the pain until it diminished and to refrain from activities that aggravated it during the interim.  To my astonishment, however, the physician who examined me asked if I needed him to write out a prescription for Vicodin – a suggestion that I turned down with what may have been, in his estimation, an overly brusque display of speed and decision.  He meant well, but I was not pleased to be offered such a treatment when it seemed quite unwarranted.  I would, I suppose, resort to opioids to cope with pain that was severe and long-lasting, but they seemed to me (and still do) thoroughly inappropriate for a condition as limited and temporary as this one.  I am told that initially some medical experts were taken by surprise by the addictive properties of synthetic opioids when they were first developed; which seems odd to me, considering that the addictive properties of opium itself – which after all is the substance that these drugs are supposed to emulate – have been thoroughly documented for over 5,000 years.  

On a somewhat more pleasing note, the foliage is beginning to change color at last.  The previous month has been warmer than usual, and as a rate the transformation of the leaves to russet and scarlet and golden-yellow has been delayed; but the cooler nights of this past week are beginning to have their effect and the leaves of the maples are now fringed with scarlet on the edges.

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 238,994,058; # of deaths worldwide: 4,872,270; # of cases U.S.: 45,298,560; # of deaths; U.S.: 734,476.