UW Health Leadership Calls for Alcohol AWAREness
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In Wisconsin in 2006 at least 1,678 deaths, 5,654 injuries and 88,000 arrests were a direct result of alcohol use and misuse, as well as 239 deaths from alcohol-related liver cirrhosis.
Wisconsin had the highest rates of alcohol consumption, binge drinking and heavy drinking among all U.S. states and territories in 2006.
Statewide costs in 2007 for alcohol-related accidents and medical conditions were $935 million.
The problem has been clearly diagnosed. In response, the three most prominent members of the UW Health leadership team convened a press conference in the Capitol's Senate Parlor to announce their solution.
"Wisconsin is an island of excessive alcohol consumption," said UW School of Medicine and Public Health Dean Robert Golden, who joined UW Hospital and Clinics President and CEO Donna Katen-Bahensky and UW Medical Foundation President and CEO Jeffrey Grossman (all pictured) to speak to a gathering of reporters, state legislators and interested citizens. "We should lead the country in progressive reform."
That reform is now organized under the umbrella of AWARE (All-Wisconsin Alcohol Risk Education), a UW Health-led coalition to improve the health and safety of Wisconsin residents in the fight against alcohol abuse. Its goal is threefold: to combat drunk driving, to reduce underage drinking and to eliminate insurance practices that discourage the reporting of injuries caused by alcohol.
Katen-Bahensky sees the aftermath of alcohol-related accidents in her emergency room nearly every day. She estimated that 30 percent of UW Hospital's ER admissions were in some measure tied to irresponsible alcohol consumption.
"From July 2005 to June 2008 we saw nearly 1,400 patients with a high blood alcohol level," she said.
And most of the patients were not treated and released, never to be seen again. Patients admitted for reasons influenced by alcohol tended to be serial admittees. Those 1,400 people, Katen-Bahensky said, accounted for more than 6,000 hospital encounters.
"Wisconsin is far outside the norm in this area," added Dr. Grossman. "Heavy drinking puts not just the drinkers but the people around them at risk. We see the impact of alcohol abuse in emergency rooms, in clinics and on the mental health of the families we care for."
The human tragedy is compounded by a heavy financial burden. Wisconsin law permits insurance companies to refuse compensation to hospitals if alcohol is noted as a cause for injury in the patient documentation. Those costs have to be absorbed by the hospital and state taxpayers.
Katen-Bahensky estimated 16 percent of UW Hospital's charity care was devoted to people who were impaired by alcohol when treated. The average blood-alcohol level for these cases was .22, nearly three times the legal limit, and of the $35 million required for their care, the hospital received only about one-third in insurance company restitution.
"This catastrophe stretches already thin financial reserves," she said.
The UW Health leadership trio also took issue with Wisconsin's weak penalties for drunk driving. It is one of two states that does not issue a felony charge until the fifth drunk-driving offense. Neighbor states Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa and Michigan, by comparison, have adopted a three-strike policy that mandates a felony charge on a drunk driver's third offense.
First offenders face no criminal charges, a fact which led Dr. Golden to invoke his psychiatry training in describing the ineffectual statutes.
"I believe our current laws are enablers," he said. "Our goal is to change the laws and the culture so our state can be recognized as one of the best (in its relationship to alcohol) rather than one of the worst."
Dr. Golden joined Dr. Grossman and Katen-Bahensky in calling for a statewide coalition of organizations, saying anyone was welcome as long as they were devoted to the cause.
"It is time to take action," Dr. Golden said. "This crisis is also an opportunity."
More information, including an online contact form that can be submitted directly to the AWARE coalition, can be found at uwhealth.org/aware.
"Wisconsin is an island of excessive alcohol consumption," said UW School of Medicine and Public Health Dean Robert Golden, who joined UW Hospital and Clinics President and CEO Donna Katen-Bahensky and UW Medical Foundation President and CEO Jeffrey Grossman (all pictured) to speak to a gathering of reporters, state legislators and interested citizens. "We should lead the country in progressive reform."
That reform is now organized under the umbrella of AWARE (All-Wisconsin Alcohol Risk Education), a UW Health-led coalition to improve the health and safety of Wisconsin residents in the fight against alcohol abuse. Its goal is threefold: to combat drunk driving, to reduce underage drinking and to eliminate insurance practices that discourage the reporting of injuries caused by alcohol.
Katen-Bahensky sees the aftermath of alcohol-related accidents in her emergency room nearly every day. She estimated that 30 percent of UW Hospital's ER admissions were in some measure tied to irresponsible alcohol consumption.
"From July 2005 to June 2008 we saw nearly 1,400 patients with a high blood alcohol level," she said.
And most of the patients were not treated and released, never to be seen again. Patients admitted for reasons influenced by alcohol tended to be serial admittees. Those 1,400 people, Katen-Bahensky said, accounted for more than 6,000 hospital encounters.
"Wisconsin is far outside the norm in this area," added Dr. Grossman. "Heavy drinking puts not just the drinkers but the people around them at risk. We see the impact of alcohol abuse in emergency rooms, in clinics and on the mental health of the families we care for."
The human tragedy is compounded by a heavy financial burden. Wisconsin law permits insurance companies to refuse compensation to hospitals if alcohol is noted as a cause for injury in the patient documentation. Those costs have to be absorbed by the hospital and state taxpayers.
Katen-Bahensky estimated 16 percent of UW Hospital's charity care was devoted to people who were impaired by alcohol when treated. The average blood-alcohol level for these cases was .22, nearly three times the legal limit, and of the $35 million required for their care, the hospital received only about one-third in insurance company restitution.
"This catastrophe stretches already thin financial reserves," she said.
The UW Health leadership trio also took issue with Wisconsin's weak penalties for drunk driving. It is one of two states that does not issue a felony charge until the fifth drunk-driving offense. Neighbor states Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa and Michigan, by comparison, have adopted a three-strike policy that mandates a felony charge on a drunk driver's third offense.
First offenders face no criminal charges, a fact which led Dr. Golden to invoke his psychiatry training in describing the ineffectual statutes.
"I believe our current laws are enablers," he said. "Our goal is to change the laws and the culture so our state can be recognized as one of the best (in its relationship to alcohol) rather than one of the worst."
Dr. Golden joined Dr. Grossman and Katen-Bahensky in calling for a statewide coalition of organizations, saying anyone was welcome as long as they were devoted to the cause.
"It is time to take action," Dr. Golden said. "This crisis is also an opportunity."
More information, including an online contact form that can be submitted directly to the AWARE coalition, can be found at uwhealth.org/aware.
Date Published: 11/12/2008
