Innovative appoaches supported at forum
Audience members suggest injection sites, needle exchanges.
Why are we calling programs that saves lives “radical”?
The question, posed by a New Tripoli resident and recovering heroin addict, Dylan Alnutt, elicited a round of applause among the otherwise quiet and captivated audience at The Morning Call Opioid Solutions forum on Tuesday.
The audience of mostly Lehigh Valley residents pushed a panel of doctors, health administrators and health advocates to consider more daring programs to combat the increasingly deadly opioid epidemic: needle exchanges, distribution of test strips for people to detect the potent drug fentanyl, and even safe injection sites, places where health workers would supervise the injection of drugs to reduce the risk of over-
dose.
“Not radical, let’s go with innovative,” said Ray Barishansky, the deputy secretary at the Pennsylvania Department of Health.
While these programs exist in other countries, they don’t appear to have popular support in Pennsylvania and across most of the United States.
The event at Nitschmann Middle School auditorium is part of The Morning Call’s yearlong roundtable story series that brought together health workers, emergency responders and policymakers to discuss solutions to the drug crisis.
The panelists were Donna Jacobsen, an advocate for families dealing with addiction; Dr. Abby Letcher, a primary care doctor; Dr. Kenneth Choquette, a pain management specialist; Barishansky; Betsy J. Martellucci, an administrator at a treatment facility; Chris Peischl, director of operations for Cetronia Ambulance Corps in South Whitehall Township; and Jordan Scott, a certified recovery specialist.
The Morning Call roundtable discussions started with emergency responders outlining the dramatic rise of overdose cases and built toward the community forum Tuesday.
The series has highlighted the difficulty of tightening regulations around prescription opioids without cutting access for people who need long-term prescriptions for chronic pain problems, the uncoordinated efforts among different government agencies and health organizations to beat back the epidemic, and insufficient treatment beds in Lehigh Valley and across Pennsylvania for people on medical assistance.
In the Lehigh Valley, drug overdoses killed more than 300 people last year, nearly doubling the number of overdose deaths the previous year.
These drastic numbers prompted community members to ask for drastic solutions.
Pat Donchez, a Montgomery County resident in recovery, asked the panel members for their thoughts on injection sites.
“I don’t know what other options we have at this point,” said Scott.
Peischl, however, raised the fact that the goal must be to end drug use.
“We can’t just continue to let people to shoot up, overdose, Narcan, wake up, and not stop the cycle,” he said.
The panel also discussed needle exchanges, a program that allows people to swap out dirty needs for clean ones. Only Pittsburgh and Philadelphia have these programs in Pennsylvania.
Martellucci and Jacobsen supported the idea, saying that these programs help educate people about treatment and keep them from contracting diseases.
The two-hour question-andanswer forum also delved deep into the root of addiction. People who lost children, siblings and parents to drug addiction talked about the need to tackle the trauma, poverty and mental health issues that drive so many people to use drugs. They want a solution beyond medication and the typical monthlong rehabilitation that most insurance covers.
Children who suffer, feel unaccepted or don’t feel hopeful for their futures turn to drugs, said Angela Stevens-Carr, a treatment coordinator at Mid-Atlantic Rehabilitation Services.
“We repeat what we don’t repair,” said Carr.
The panel fielded many simple, but tough questions. For example:
If there’s such a demand for treatment beds, why is there a shortage?
Why are people sick from addiction thrown into jail and punished?
My daughter is traumatized after she was stabbed in college, and she later turned to drugs. She’s been in and out of treatment, but not getting better.
“It’s a vicious cycle, and I don’t know what to do,” said Kelly Guffy, a Palmer Township resident.
Long-term treatment, and a commitment to recovery, are necessary, said Martellucci. But accessing and paying for long-term treatment is difficult. Insurance only pays for so many weeks, and people with medical assistance often have to wait longer for treatment beds to become available.
The event allowed people to raise many questions, some without clear solutions.
But panelists agreed that only through these discussions can the community move toward answers.