When it comes to the Republicans, particularly the House Republicans, I like to throw sharp elbows, but I am going to try a more conciliatory tone here because I think there’s some small sliver of hope that they might do the right thing. Back on March 10th, the Senate overwhelmingly passed the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016 in a 94-1 roll call. (I wrote about the effort to pass that bill here).
You would think that a bill that can get 94 votes in the Senate (with only Republican Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska dissenting) should be able to pass in the House. But it’s not a sure thing for the precise reason you might guess. A significant number of House Republicans don’t agree on the cause of the huge spike in opioid overdoses that has overtaken our communities over the last decade. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that there were 29,000 opioid-related deaths in 2014, of which only 10,500 were due to heroin use. Unfortunately, prescription opioids are the biggest killer, and most heroin addicts today got started on prescription drugs. Nonetheless, House Republicans cling to the idea that drug interdiction is the key. They also blame a relaxation of marijuana restrictions for creating a permissive culture for drug abuse, and they think the president isn’t being aggressive enough in prosecuting drug crimes.
Still, other largely partisan differences could complicate passage of any House-altered version of the Senate’s bill.
That’s because Republicans and Democrats agree that the country’s opioid drug abuse epidemic affects most states and districts, but a House hearing just before the recess period began exposed partisan rifts over key factors driving the addiction epidemic problem.
Democrats largely link the uptick in prescription painkiller-related deaths to a lack of access to treatment and drugs designed to prevent overdoses. But House Oversight and Government Reform Republicans see the root problems as subpar efforts to stop drug traffickers, laws making marijuana illegal, and fewer drug-related prosecutions.
There’s really two fights going on here. One fight is over whether to put any real money into this bill (and when to appropriate it), and the other is over what the bill should pay for.
The opioid epidemic requires a comprehensive approach, but this bill is supposed to address addiction and recovery, which means the focus should be on how to help people survive and beat their dependency on opioids. Once your kid is hooked on heroin, it’s a little too late to interdict the drug at the border.
Regardless, Congress ought to agree to authorize the spending now and then they can hopefully hold hearings and better educate themselves about what the recovery community needs. The bill should not die because there’s a disagreement over what causes people to get addicted. That fight won’t save one person who is currently at risk of overdosing.
Now, the president is going to be attending a summit on this issue today that was organized by House Appropriations Chairman Harold Rogers of Kentucky. This powerful Republican lawmaker knows very well how urgent this matter is because his home state has been ground zero for the epidemic. Hopefully, Rogers can have some influence on his colleagues. I certainly hope so.
Just last night, I got word that a friend of a friend had to bury her 21 year old daughter who overdosed last Tuesday in her college dorm room. I spend a lot of time in the local recovery community here in Pennsylvania, and we’ve been burying a lot of kids lately, including the children of some of our most prominent and respected citizens.
Our country needs Congress to stop squabbling and get to work on this issue. I’m hoping the House Republicans can find a way to do that.
P.S. See also the story of Jessica Grubb.
I’m voting this guy.
Isn’t that the guy who’s mayor of that little town outside Pittsburgh?
yes.
Too bad he has no money raised. He’s who I would vote for as well.
I hear the problem may also be due to drug interactions with opioids, most often the “benzo” class of sedatives (e.g. clonopin, tamazepam) which affects breathing and lowers blood pressure.
We had a scare a few nights ago, I couldn’t wake my wife on the way to the ER. They were about to intubate her but a shot of narcan woke her and stopped her blood pressure from crashing.
They are pretty sure it was an interaction between tincture of opium (for diarrhea due to small intestine transplant) and “edibles” (for sleep since they took away the tamazepam). They weren’t sure about this interaction, opinions varied, but the sequence of events pretty much confirms it. They mentioned valerian as something that could interact with opioids.
P.S. See also the story of Jessica Grubb.
From that linked story:
While the cause of death was, in fact, an overdose, it wasn’t heroin. After unrelated surgery, Grubb was prescribed 50 pills of oxycodone, a powerful opiod pain medication. She was discharged from the hospital with an IV port in her arm that makes it easier to pump medications into a blood vessel. She never had a chance.
Anyone see the problem there? 🙁
It’s a big problem when someone who is in recovery needs pain medication. There are alternatives to opioids, but nothing comes close to being as effective. And doctors just are not trained well enough to screen for this kind of thing. They killed her.
But so many doctors kill patients with opioids that it’s killing tens of thousands of people a year now. And we get a lot of excuses instead of people taking culpability seriously.
The list of people who died after getting hooked to drugs they were prescribed is getting as long as the Vietnam memorial wall.
They need to be hospitalized longer for pain management. I’d be surprised if insurance takes an addiction diagnosis as reason to pay for that.
I had some non-illness, not too serious surgery a few years ago. Doctors routinely prescribe a min dosage of Oxycodone. I didn’t realize at the time that I could have asked for a smaller dose (with refills, if needed) from the Pharmacy. I ended up having to find a way to get rid of most of the pills. I took one right after surgery but probably didn’t even need that one.
I can see, though, how easily people become addicted. It’s all part of the cycle, though, of forcing out patient surgeries where people are mostly sent home much too soon to fend for themselves. I was ok bc of the nature of the surgery I had, but this young woman is released with a frickin IV port in her arm.
It no longer astonishing that this happens, but this is a huge issue.
I’ve stated here before that I work with someone with a giant prescription drug addiction. Person’s work performance has seriously and noticeably declined over the past several year. Person is endlessly going for different joint replacement surgeries but refuses outright to do any physical therapy/exercise after surgery. Seems like they mostly want the surgery drugs more than anything else. It’s really pretty bad. Yet, despite having lost well over 100 pounds (was heavy before) in less than 9 months, no doctor questions anything, including the shrink who continues to prescribe heavy duty meds for pain, anxiety, etc. But no other treatment options – just drugs and lots of them!
I know we joke about the reality-based community, but having Republican members of congress opine on issue after issue as if there were never any research at all is just super depressing. I really wish a left-leaning group would turn it into a national campaign – this is what scientists say, this is what your republican representative says. Why are you voting for stupid?
Doubt the House will do bupkiss. As has been stated, Nixon started the egregious and expensive and useless War on Drugs as means to demonize minorities – at the time, mostly AAs – and hippies. It was a two-fer.
It’s been an expensive money sink boondoggle ever since and hasn’t done a bit of good for anybody in any way, except for those raking in the mega-buck$ profits from it.
It certainly has done nothing to curb any kind of abusive drug use in this country. Positing that relaxing marijuana laws is the ONLY thing that’s led to this Oxy (and other drugs) crisis will be the rally cry. Wait for it.
The GOP is nothing if not punitive, and if it appears that they can crush under anyone they deem “unworthy,” then they’ll do it. Plus they’re bought off by BigPharma who profits royally from this decades-long scam.
Maybe not. Maybe even probably not.
http://www.vox.com/2016/3/29/11325750/nixon-war-on-drugs
No, they can’t raise to the challenge.
.
Probably not. I had a cousin die over the weekend (Friday) from heroin (also in Pennsylvania). I think she’s still on life-support, but she’s brain dead. 22 (I think), soon to be 23.
I’m so sorry, seabe. No words.
Me too, Seabe. My thoughts go out to you and your family.
To address addition you need 2 things. First empathy and second believe government has a role to play. The house, lead by the GOP, has neither. But, I predict they will cover their butts by including drug addiction in the medicade state grants.