Tulsa County’s top prosecutor is requesting an Oklahoma department be investigated over alleged misspending.
In an opinion piece published in the Tulsa World, District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler said the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services created a “financial boondoggle” following the launch—and abrupt shuttering—of several vending machines that distributed free naloxone, which can stop opioid overdoses.
“You don’t need to buy a machine and then pay some vendor to stock those shelves, especially to the tune of $14 million,” he said. “It’s outrageous.”
Kunzweiler thinks the program was fraught to begin with, arguing there are already free naloxone kits available at various nonprofit agencies.
Oklahomans can order naloxone by mail from the mental health department.
Kunzweiler said he’s long had issues with the mental health department’s spending and the failed vending machine launch is another example.
“My demand is that the legislature and the executive branch demand some more answers out of the state agency,” he said.
In a statement provided to Public Radio Tulsa via email, ODMHSAS Commissioner Allie Friesen said “much of the public's awareness of these concerns stems from our commitment to transparency, and we will continue to be open as we uncover more issues. Our priority remains the implementation of our new vision, mission, and strategic plan, which will be announced in the coming weeks.”
According to the Oklahoma Department of Health, “the rate of unintentional prescription opioid overdose death decreased 68% from 2013 to 2019. From 2019 to 2022, the number of fentanyl overdose deaths increased 12-fold, from 50 deaths in 2019 to 609 in 2022.” Recently, however, NPR reported that overdose deaths have plummeted.
