Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Grand jury pushes six moves to battle opioid epidemic
A Montgomery County Investigative Grand Jury’s report into the opioid crisis offers six recommendations about what can be done to curb the spread of what’s been described as the largest public health crisis since the AIDS epidemic.
The 23-member grand jury reviewed evidence and testimony presented to it during a 13-month period from April 12, 2016, to May 12, 2017. Included in the 82-page report were calls for a statewide online system to identify treatment bed availability; the establishment of treatment protocols; mandatory minimum sentences for heroin dealers, traffickers and/or suppliers; increased collaboration and better data collection with regional partners; pre-arrest drug court for young offenders at the magisterial district court and collaboration with the Pennsylvania Medical Society and insurance industry.
“The report itself labels this as a once in a lifetime drug epidemic that threatens our lives, our safety and our community,” Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele said at a press conference Wednesday to mark the release of the grand jury report.
“The district attorney mentioned that this is a public health crisis and I couldn’t agree more,” said Val Arkoosh, a physician and chairwoman of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners. “I’m asked on a daily basis what I think is the most important next step to solving this crisis. And I will tell you that the number one problem that we continue to face is that of stigma. Substance use disorder is a chronic disease.”
A disease, she said, no different than diabetes, asthma or high blood pressure in that it requires treatment and the acknowledgement that patients may relapse, just like someone suffering from diabetes may go off their diet.
“We have to create a community that is supportive to these individuals and is helpful to these individuals,” she said.
The number of total drugrelated deaths in Montgomery County has steadily risen from 39 cases in 2002 to 249 cases in 2016, according to the grand jury’s report. Included in that was a 40 percent increase in drug related deaths from 2015 to 2016, as an additional 77 people died.
“In simple terms, we are facing a very big problem and it is getting bigger,” the report states.
Among those who’ve been directly impacted by this crisis are Philadelphia attorney Tad Decker, of Lower Merion, and Marissa Wadsworth, of Collegeville, who both had sons die from opioid addictions.
Decker’s son John, a star athlete and graduate of Haverford High School, died at 31 from a heroin overdose. He’d become addicted to painkillers following three knee operations. Decker said every government agency should read the Grand Jury’s report.
Wadsworth’s son T.J., a 2011 Methacton High School graduate, died at 21 from a heroin overdose in the middle of his junior year at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Since then she’s become an advocate.
“I’ve met hundreds of parents who’ve lost their kids and the number one thing that comes out from all of them is they don’t want this to happen to anyone else,” she said fighting back tears. “Because it’s like a living hell.”
Part of the reason why people don’t get help for addiction is the stigma attached, she said. She warned parents to stay vigilant and seek help when its needed.
“Once they start it is so hard to get them to stop,” she said.
In it’s report, the grand jury agreed on six recommendations to combat the epidemic. The first focused on the formation of a state-wide treatment bed availability online system.
“This online system should be accessible so that doctors, first responders, treatment specialists and family members and friends can locate treatment facilities for those who are seeking help in order to save lives,” the report states.
The second recommendation focuses on the establishment of treatment protocols including a warm and hard handoff programs. Warm handoff programs directly transfer overdose survivors from hospitals and emergency centers to a drug treatment provider, rather than giving them a phone number to call.
“We believe the warm hand-
off program should include a mobile response unit that is tasked with directly responding to overdose victims who may not make it into an emergency room but who are treated by our first responders and police for an overdose,” the report states. “(It) … should include trained caseworkers who are certified treatment specialists and who are available 24 hours a day to respond.”
The hard handoff, focuses on the bill known as the ‘Involuntary Drug and Alcohol Act,’ currently in the state House of Representatives, which would allow loved ones and/or family members to involuntarily commit those in their care who have experienced an opioid overdose. If the bill does not become law, the grand jury recommended the effort continue to evaluate this type of measure in an effort to find a balance between the rights of an individual and rights of the community.
The third recommendation calls for mandatory minimum sentences for heroin dealers, traffickers and/or suppliers.
“The implementation of mandatory sentences … would send a strong message to these criminals,” the report states. “This epidemic knows no politics.”
The fourth recommendation calls for increased collaboration and better data collection with regional partners. The grand jury recommends the formation of a regional taskforce consisting of public health, public safety and private corporation stakeholders, including those from insurance and pharmaceutical companies and researchers from Southeastern Pennsylvania. It also recommends Montgomery County become a member of OverDoseFreePA, a free service offered to communities to provide support in the effort to target and prevent opioid abuse.
The report’s fifth recommendation focused on prearrest drug court for young offenders at the magisterial district court.
“We have learned that early intervention and support for young offenders could save lives, and the (Drug Education and Addiction Prevention) program is designed to do just that,” the report states.
The report’s final recommendation is for collaboration with Pennsylvania Medical Society and the insurance industry. By expanding membership into the Montgomery County Opioid Task Force to include a representative from the Pennsylvania Medical Society or Montgomery County Medical Society along with representatives from the insurance industry, “we are hopeful that not only will more addicts receive long-term impatient treatment, but also that they will receive highquality care from an accredited facility.”