Preventing drug deaths in Pa.: moving forward, too slowly

Over the past few months the Pennsylvania legislature has taken some important steps forward in addressing the burgeoning epidemic of opioid overdoses in this state. But before we start applauding – let's take a moment to review where we are, what the legislation will and will not do, and what could be done to properly address this critical threat to our national health and safety.

Will this new legislation fix it?
The short answer is no – but they are important steps forward. The new laws will help families, law enforcement, and clinicians to better prevent and treat drug overdose. Senate Bill 1164 is a very important step in the right direction towards saving lives. Effective at the end of November, it provides immunity from arrest and prosecution to those who call 911 when witnessing a drug overdose and training for families and first responders to administer Narcan (naloxone), a medication that reverses the opioid effects that cause death by overdose. These two practices should produce a noticeable decrease in overdoses. And make no mistake - keeping people alive is THE most important first step towards getting them the treatment they so desperately need.

But we can do more and it is in our collective interests to do more. We CAN and we must prevent drug abuse before it starts. We CAN and we must identify early drug use and intervene early before "drug use" turns into "addiction." Finally, we CAN and we must provide more and better addiction treatment to prevent re-addiction and reoccurrence of drug overdoses. There are effective, economical and practical prevention, early intervention and treatment options currently available. Many of these have been developed and pioneered by researchers, clinicians and policy experts in Pennsylvania – but VERY few are actually available to the public, and none are available at the scale that is necessary to stop the drug epidemic. But they could be.

We have to address this epidemic on many levels. Misunderstandings and misinformation can be deadly. Just the other day, a colleague was being treated at a prominent hospital by a leading surgical team. His anesthesiologist reassured him that they use "really GOOD drugs" and that they were "very generous" with the narcotic administration. ("Wink, wink.") No one on the treatment team inquired if our colleague had a history of a substance use problem. He was sent home with an excessive prescription for a very strong opioid. Without a better understanding of addiction as a disease, our healthcare providers are unwittingly contributing to the epidemic; they are violating the very principle of their profession to "first, do no harm."

Read more about The Public's Health.