She said her son Dane was adventurous and full of life.

“He was a fun-loving kid, liked to be in the center of everything, and very fearless,” Olsen said during a news conference Tuesday at Intermountain Health Utah Valley Hospital.

In 2007, Dane was severely injured in an ATV accident that nearly cost him his leg. Initially, doctors were able to save his life and his leg, but as a result of the accident, Dane endured years of surgeries and was prescribed opioids to manage his pain. 

“All of the things that took place and the many surgeries over a couple of years required management for the extreme pain that he was in,” Olsen said. “He missed the whole last half of his senior year of high school, mostly with an open wound in his leg.”

Curtis Booker, Daily Herald

Olsen said her son battled years of addiction, which eventually led to his death from a heroin overdose in November 2014 at just 25 years old. 

Since that time, she has been committed to educating and supporting families through her work with the Changes Parent Support Network, Sobriety Foundation, Utah County Opioid Task Force, Utah Opioid Task Force and Survivors Council of the Utah State Medical Examiner’s office.

Olsen said she wishes more information about the dangers of overusing prescriptions was apparent prior to her son’s death.

“It was kind of right at that crux when things were exploding but before people were really talking about it or before there was really any guidance or instruction or information given along with the prescriptions,” Olsen told the Daily Herald.

Despite the loss she and family has had to deal with, Olsen said that through her advocacy and work, she wants to make sure other families have the awareness of opiates and don’t have to endure similar pain from losing a loved one.

Curtis Booker, Daily Herald

“If this work saves even one family from the pain we’ve endured, then Dane’s story will have made a difference,” Olsen said.

Doctors and health officials across Utah are also concentrating their efforts on spreading knowledge of the impacts of prescription overdose while reducing the number of deaths from the substance in the state.

Officials with Intermountain Health and the Utah Department of Health and Human Services report that since 2017, collaborative efforts between health care providers and organizations as well as state- and community-led campaigns have resulted in a 41% reduction in daily opioid prescriptions.

According to data from Utah’s Controlled Substance Database, daily prescriptions declined from 7,000 in 2017 to 4,102 in 2023, a press release from Intermountain Health stated.

During Tuesday’s press briefing, Intermountain Health, in conjunction with the statewide opioid prescription misuse prevention campaign Know Your Script, unveiled a 20-foot chandelier symbolizing the ongoing and continued commitment to reducing opioid prescriptions in the state.

The display in the form of two pill bottles represents the drop of nearly 3,000 daily prescriptions recorded to date.

“At Intermountain Health, we make it a priority to promote awareness, educate and discuss acute and chronic pain with our patients, to help them live a functional, high-quality life,” said Nathan Richards, medical director of Intermountain Utah Valley Hospital. “This display represents all the hard work of our caregivers and patients and many lives saved.”

Overall, Intermountain Health reports the number of prescribed pills was reduced by 13,710,955 between 2017 and 2024 – a reduction of 45% since 2017 – by using alternative methods to help patients effectively manage their pain, the release stated.

While the current numbers mark progress in the fight against opioid addiction, doctors acknowledge that more work needs to be done in combating the issue.

“We need to recognize that pain is something that contributes to people’s healing, but we also need to be able to give alternatives,” said Stacey Bank, executive medical director of DHHS. “We also need to provide education to our providers to make sure that providers, patients, everybody is aware of the risks and benefits of these medications.”

A recent report by the DHHS found there were 606 drug overdose deaths in 2023 with 75% of those deaths being opioid-related. The proportion of overdoses involving at least one opioid prescription has decreased from 66% in 2014 to 28% in 2023, according to the Intermountain Health release.

“This significant reduction in opioid prescriptions in Utah highlights the effectiveness of focused efforts to address this issue,” Bank said. “Our department is committed to continuing these prevention efforts and will keep working to reduce opioid prescription misuse in Utah.”

Olsen, who carries a cardboard cutout of her son, said by channeling her grief into action, she hopes to continue raising awareness of the issue and prevent future tragedies.

“We can’t change the outcome for our loved ones, but we can help them change the outcome for someone else,” Olsen said.