Panel likens prescription drug addiction to disease
Gary Tennis, secretary of the state Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs, makes a point about prescription drug abuse during his keynote speech at a forum sponsored by the Fayette County Drug and Alcohol Commission on Thursday at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus.
John F. Brothers |
Herald-Standard
John F. Brothers | Herald-Standard
Fayette County Coroner Dr. Phillip Reilly talks about how prescription drug abuse leads to addiction and death, during a forum presented Thursday by the Fayette County Drug and Alcohol Commission at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus.
John F. Brothers | Herald-Standard
Pharmacist Walt Lizza explains the scheduling of narcotics by the federal government and how prescription drugs are safe if they are used as prescribed by a physician. Lizza, owner of Apothecare Pharmacy in Uniontown, was among those who spoke about prescription drug abuse at a forum presented by the Fayette County Drug and Alcohol Commission at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus, on Thursday.
John F. Brothers | Herald-Standard
Dr. Robert Woolhandler, medical director of the Fayette County Drug and Alcohol Commission, emphasizes a point about prescription drug addiction during a forum the commission sponsored at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus, on Thursday.
The following article is part of a continuing series of articles examining the effects of illegal drugs in Fayette County.
The human toll of drug addiction was palpable during a round-table discussion on prescription medication abuse on Thursday.
“My son died from an overdose. I understand the heartache. Addicts suffer horrifically, try to recover, relapse and then suffer horrifically again,” said Lucy Garrighan, owner of JADE Wellness Center in Monroeville. “It’s the reason I got into treatment. I can’t bear to watch families go through this.”
Garrighan started the outpatient substance treatment center in 2009 following the death of her son, John.
She was one of several people who spoke with a nine-member panel during a question-and-answer session of the forum, “Prescription Drug Abuse: The Cost of Getting High,” presented by the Fayette Country Drug and Alcohol Commission and held at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus.
Panelists, ranging from physicians and pharmacists to law enforcement and recovering addicts, discussed prescription drug addiction and the need to address the escalating problem.
The keynote speaker, Gary Tennis, state secretary of Drug and Alcohol Programs, said 1-in-4 families across the country, state and in Fayette County are affected by drug and alcohol addiction.
“Because of the stigma that exists around drug and alcohol addiction, families are suffering in silence,” said Tennis.
Pennsylvania provides funding to help 1-in-8 of those addicted, according to Tennis.
“The state provides a fraction of the help needed and the problem has grown,” he said.
Tennis explained that in the 1980s a change in the medical community and a drive to reduce pain in patients by making pain a vital statistic, lead to an epidemic of over-prescribed pain medications.
“Over the last 15 years, prescription use of opioids has quadrupled in America,” Tennis said. “People have a sense that prescription drugs are not as dangerous as an illegal substance but an addiction to opioids leads to heroin use.”
He continued, “Left untreated, drug and alcohol abuse always progresses and is always fatal. It’s a fatal disease and it needs to be treated. We owe it to ourselves, our families and our pocketbooks to help people get the treatment they need.”
Tennis cited statistics that claim between 70-80 percent of those in prison have untreated addiction, and, with appropriate clinical treatment, crime can be reduced by 70 percent.
Tennis, along with other panelists including Dr. Robert Woolhandler, medical director of FCDAC, and Fayette County Coroner Dr. Philip Reilly, indicated encouraging physicians to change prescribing practices would help address the problem.
“We have to re-educate doctors on how to treat ongoing, benign pain — trying to stay away from opiates,” said Woolhandler.
Prescription drug overdose deaths are surging in Fayette County due to an availability of the medications, according to Reilly.
“The doctors must have gotten us into this pickle and we better get after them to fix the pickle,” said Reilly.
Walt Lizza, owner of Apothecare Pharmacy in Uniontown, said that in addition to educating doctors, it’s important to make them aware of treatment a patient may be seeking from another physician. Lizza added, 48 states including West Virginia and Ohio have pharmacy-monitoring systems, put in place by legislation that gives pharmacists and physicians a shared database that makes them aware when patients are prescribed certain scheduled substances. Lawmakers in Harrisburg are drafting similar legislation.
“It’s not big government knowing when you’re getting prescription drugs, but it’s meant to stop doctor-hopping,” said Tennis.
Panelists agreed, drug addiction should be treated as a disease before criminal behavior escalates.
Fayette County District Attorney Jack R. Heneks Jr. said 80 percent of the crimes he prosecutes are directly related to drug and alcohol addiction, including homicides, theft, burglary, possession, retail theft and fencing and drunken driving.
“If we could develop a way of getting that addict help before he or she becomes a criminal it would save taxpayers in Fayette County and Pennsylvania millions of dollars and save the addict’s life,” Heneks said.
Attorney Jack Purcell added, “Research shows four to six months of treatment is what hardcore addicts need, not a year of jail time.”
Recovering addict Bill Addis, a panelist and operator of “The (Addis) House,” for recovering addicts, said he abused drugs for 20 years.
“I have a considerable frame of reference to see what it’s like to live on the inside (of addiction),” he said.
Addis has been clean for nearly five years and recommends to families of loved ones struggling with addiction to take a tough-love approach to helping them, not giving them money or anything that can enable the habit.
Brenden Rooney, a recovering addict and patient of Woolhandler, said despite his upbringing in what he called a “blessed environment,” he became a heroin addict.
“Addiction is an equal opportunity provider, it doesn’t care about your background, race or religion,” said Rooney.
He has been clean for nine months and credits a medication called “Vivitrol” with helping him kick his habit by eliminating his cravings.
“It gave me a chance to make recovery work for me,” said Rooney, who had eight relapses when he tried to quit previously.
Woolhandler uses Vivitrol, which is nonaddictive and blocks opiate receptors in the brain, as part of his treatment for patients addicted to heroin and painkillers like Oxycontin.
He said he feels by using a combination of medically assisted recovery and a 12-step program, addicts are given the best chance at success. Woolhandler said he also uses Suboxone in his treatment but only to get his patients through detoxification.
Garrighan testified to the success she has seen among addicts seeking recovery and using Vivitrol. She criticized insurance giant Highmark for not covering monthly injections of the drug.
“It’s $642 a month and it works. Think of what is spent monthly for addiction and recovery methods that don’t work,” said Garrighan.
Highmark does cover Naltrexone in tablet form, however, UPMC and state medical assistance is providing coverage for patients she said.
Recovering addicts can remain on Vivitrol indefinitely, which helps eliminate the possibility of relapse, according to Garrighan.
Barb DiPietro, who also lost a son to an overdose, said it’s time addiction be treated like a disease.
“People take medications for heart disease and diabetes. Why can’t people take medication for addiction? It is a disease.”