A week after addressing the Spokane City Council and presenting data on the county's opioid epidemic, former Spokane County Health Officer Dr. Bob Lutz has resigned from his position at the state Department of Health.
Lutz worked for the state health department for more than three years. The exact reason for his resignation remained unclear as of Tuesday afternoon, and the doctor did not respond to a Spokesman-Review reporter's request for comment this week.
In a presentation to Congress, Lutz laid out alarming data on opioid deaths and hospitalizations in Spokane and called on his former employer, the Spokane Regional Health District, to update its overdose data in line with what some say is They called for the document to be made public and accessible to the public. The same goes for other densely populated counties in the state, such as King County and Snohomish County.
A spokesperson for the state Department of Health confirmed this week that Lutz resigned from his position in the state agency on March 11.
“We wish to pray for Dr. Lutz and thank him for his contributions to public health,” the state health department said in a statement to the Spokesman-Review on Monday.
In response to a public records request filed by the Spokesman-Review with the state agency this week seeking Lutz's resignation letter, complaints filed about him, and internal communications regarding the doctor, the agency said the requested records were ” We plan to provide it by September 2nd.'' 17th, 2024. ”
Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown told a spokeswoman she was surprised to hear of Lutz's resignation.
“It's disappointing,” Brown said. “I value his role in the Department of Health and our community.”
On March 4, Lutz presented a 42-slide PowerPoint presentation about drug overdoses in Spokane County to the City Council's Public Safety and Community Health Committee. In it, Lutz reviewed data showing that synthetic opioid deaths in Spokane County exceeded the statewide average in Washington state in 2021 and 2022.
Spokane County saw a 2,000% increase in synthetic opioid deaths between 2019 and 2022, Lutz told the City Council.
“If you look at the data for 2023, you would expect an even bigger (increase),” Lutz said at the meeting.
Towards the end of his presentation, Lutz noted that the Spokane Regional Health District is not currently releasing all 2023 data on overdose deaths and hospitalizations, and that the data that is released is “preliminary.” It added that the following will be finalized by the state: later this year.
Lutz then presented a slide showing the Seattle-King County Health District's overdose database showing the number of deaths reported through 2024.
“I just wanted to present this as a possibility,” Lutz said in reference to King County's overdose website. “What they'll be able to do is combine the best resources. There's coroner data, (emergency medical services) data, hospital data, all the data sources that the state of Washington provides that are very important to the community.” I would argue that it provides a good source of information.”
After the March 4 presentation, Councilman Paul Dillon asked Latz which county he thought had a strong response to the opioid crisis.
King County and Snohomish County are two counties that particularly stand out to Lutz, the doctor said.
“They've really made the data available and they've got a lot of resources,” Lutz said.
Lutz noted that some counties in the state classify fatal drug overdoses as what the medical industry calls “notifiable” conditions. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, notifiable diseases are diseases that health care providers must report to state or local public health authorities.
The CDC's definition says, “A notifiable disease is one that is of public concern because of its contagiousness, severity, or frequency.”
“These are opportunities that we can look at more closely,” he said. “I urge Spokane, given the size of our community, the magnitude of the disease burden that we see here, to really come forward and take this crisis seriously going forward.”
The online overdose dashboard for King and Snohomish counties lists the county's number of fatal overdoses involving fentanyl in 2023 and 2024 to date.
Spokane County's online overdose dashboard does not currently list data on the number of fatal overdoses related to fentanyl in 2023 or 2024.
Spokane Regional Health Department spokeswoman Kelly Hawkins said counties with more up-to-date data, such as Snohomish and King counties, each have agreements to release overdose death data before the state reviews it. It is said that the agency is affiliated with the Office of the Medical Examiner. district.
Hawkins said this preliminary data was “inaccurate.”
“If we want to release data to the community that is not accurate, we are considering that,” Hawkins said. That poses a risk to us…it doesn't help the community if the data needs to be changed after publication. ”
Hawkins said he doesn't know why Spokane County's dashboard doesn't list the number of fatal overdoses involving fentanyl in the county in 2023.
On March 5, the day after Lutz's City Council presentation, Mayor Lisa Brown sent a letter to the Spokane Regional Health District asking the agency to update and make more available opioid overdose data to the public. .
“We are aware that no single agency or department is comprehensively providing this data to policymakers and responders across Spokane County,” the letter states. “Without comprehensive and reliable information, it will be difficult to properly allocate resources and implement targeted strategies to help those struggling with substance abuse in our communities.”
Brown went on to urge county officials to ensure all overdose incidents are “properly documented and reported,” adding that the Seattle-King County Department of Public Health will provide public access to public information, including overdose information. I pointed out that it provides a dashboard.
Spokane County Health Officer Dr. Francisco Velasquez responded to Brown's letter via email on March 8, thanking the mayor for the letter and asking him to arrange a meeting time.
As of Tuesday evening, City Hall spokesperson Hawkins said despite two follow-up emails after the initial March 8 response, the mayor's office still has no time to meet with the Spokane Regional Health District. has not been set.
“We welcome collaboration and information sharing with the City of Spokane and other municipalities in Spokane County,” Hawkins said in a statement.
Dillon said he has heard that Lutz's ability to practice public health in Spokane County is limited.
On October 29, 2020, Lutz was abruptly fired from her position as Spokane County Health Officer. About a year later, Lutz filed a lawsuit against the county, seeking reinstatement of her job and compensation for her termination, which she claims violates state law. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lutz drew the ire of local residents who were demanding an easing of lockdown restrictions such as distance learning and business operating guidelines.
Dillon said he felt the limitations on Lutz's ability to practice public health were “totally unreasonable.”
“Dr. Lutz has so much expertise and experience that he had to step in if we couldn't get an answer. I'm really sad and sorry to hear that.” ” Dillon said, referring to Lutz's resignation.
