PR&LA Summer 2018

Summer 2018 • PENNSYLVANIA RESTAURANT & LODGING matters •  17 and, yes, government is part of the problem. Years ago, governmental policy was that Americans need not suffer any pain when drugs are available to relieve it. Even hospital reimbursement rates were calculated based on patients’ pain satisfaction levels. Of course, when we add the illegal drug trade to this mix, we have a perfect storm for an epidemic which takes 15 lives every day in Pennsylvania and 170 lives a day in the United States. DESPITE THE COMMON KNOWLEDGE THAT ADDICTION IS A DISEASE, MANY PEOPLE STILL DO NOT SEEM TO UNDERSTAND THAT IT TAKES A MULTIFACETED TREATMENT PLAN (INCLUDING MEDICATION) TO TREAT IT. HOW WOULD YOU RESPOND TO THOSE PEOPLE? We say that addiction is a disease. In the most part, however, we do not treat addiction as a disease. There are far too many people who look at drug addiction as a personal bad choice and, if the person overdoses, let them die. In the vast majority of cases, nothing could be farther from the truth. There is now significant research which indicates that opioids actually change the brain and once that change is made the person loses the capacity to make rational decisions. Many chastise people for “getting high” to feel good on drugs, but in reality, people are not taking drugs to feel good, they are taking drugs to stop from feeling bad, to prevent the gut wrenching pain associated with withdrawal. Medication Assisted Treatment programs recognize that those of us who have a body structure which is susceptible to opioids, may need a maintenance level of drugs to function. Why is this any different than those in our population who must take insulin, because their bodies do not process sugars properly? If a person can be a contributing member of society by taking a maintenance level of an opioid, how does that differ from the person who must treat a diabetic condition every day? Pennsylvania spends tens of millions of dollars on the drug epidemic in Pennsylvania every year. The focus of many of the programs is abstinence, that is, go through a treatment program and then abstain from using drugs forever. Would we, or do we use the same approach to the treatment of diabetes? Do we tell diabetics or those with high blood pressure, just go through this program and then stop using your medications? Of course, we don’t do that. So, if we are serious about the “disease” of addiction, we must take a serious look at reconfiguring our treatment programs and, especially, medication assisted treatment. WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR GOALS TO SOLVE THIS PROBLEM? I have been asked many times, if we just pass a particular law, will that solve the heroin problem in Pennsylvania. The answer is that there is no one solution to the heroin/opioid epidemic in Pennsylvania. Combating the problem is a community- wide, state-wide, all-hands-on deck problem. We have addressed several major issues legislatively over the last four years. We have enacted legislation directed toward making the antidote naloxone more available, we have limited opioid prescriptions coming from emergency rooms, we have limited the prescription of opioids to minors, we have implemented a Prescription Drug Monitoring Program to prevent doctor shopping, we have enacted legislation making pain management a part of continuing medical education and we have placed inspection requirements on recovery houses. I analogize these efforts to making a rope. Each of these laws is a strand in the rope of recovery from this epidemic. I will be happy if we can make a dent in this epidemic in 10 years. •