MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia’s opioid overdose epidemic has gathered diverse players at the same table hoping to make a difference from a federal level to a community level.
U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) joined a roundtable discussion at the WVU Health Sciences Center Monday where statistics were met with potential solutions.
“We lost 627 West Virginians to opioids last year alone. In 2013 we lost 570. Sixty-one thousand West Virginians used prescription painkillers for non medical purposes in 2014,” Manchin said.
WVU students, faculty and staff who attended addressed the educational, treatment and research approaches they are taking to address opioid abuse.
Olivia Pape is a WVU graduate student, program assistant on campus and a recovering addict. She’s been instrumental in the development of a WVU Collegiate Recovery Program and was lobbying for it to be a continued resource on campus.
“If we just sweep it under the rug, it’s only going to get bigger. This is a public health crisis. The WVU Collegiate Recovery Program only has space and funding for one year. It’s going to take longer than that. I believe our students deserve this resource and our state deserves this resource,” Pape told Manchin and a number of guests on hand for the discussion.
Lacking resources for people struggling with addiction is a familiar issue Manchin said.
“Forty-two thousand people in West Virginia, including 4,000 youth, sought treatment for illegal drug use and failed to receive it. They wanted help and couldn’t fine it.”
According to Herb Linn, Deputy Director Assistant Director for Outreach WVU Injury Control Research Center, work is progressing at the university and state level.
“West Virginia was awarded almost $1 million a year for five years to work with the high burden communities in West Virginia to plan comprehensive overdose prevention programs that include naloxone distribution as well as public education.”
Naloxone is the antidote used in opioid-related overdoses. The university has worked with 5 police departments in Monongalia County and elsewhere in the state to equip officers with the medicine. It’s being used at alarming rates. Morgantown police reported 30 drug overdose calls from July to October. Naloxone was used to save the lives of 7 people who were unresponsive and in distress from an overdose.
Higher education programs have been charged with arming future medical professionals with knowledge that could cut the use of opioids as a first line of defense for a patient.
Patrick Marshalek, MD, serves WVU through the Addiction Services and Consultation/Liaison Service and as an Assistant Professor in Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry.
He’s also a thread director for addiction and pain management.
“That affords me time to audit the curriculum from the first through the fourth year and make sure the appropriate concepts regarding pain management and addiction treatment are introduced at the right times and right places, build upon each other making sure it’s relevant and decreasing redundancy,” said Marshalek.
During the discussion, Manchin called on prescribers to cut back on administering opioids.
“This is what’s unbelievable, doctor. And, we need help. In West Virginia, providers wrote 138 painkiller prescriptions for every 100 West Virginians.”
That is also part of a collaborative opioid education effort at the university. Melanie Fisher, MD, is a member of WVU’s Addiction Task Force. She talked about online education on pain treatment and prescribing practices.
“Over 600 West Virginia physicians took this course in 2014. Now, over 1,700 have taken the course in 2016 so far. A course like this is required for physicians in our state to continue their licensure to practice medicine,” Fisher said.
The Monday roundtable also included presentations by behavioral medicine and pharmaceutical experts from the university.