First Annual Fed-Up Rally

“Fed Up” with the epidemic of opioid use in town and in the state a small group of concerned citizens gathered on the green last week for the first annual International Overdose Awareness Day.

The rally coincided with legislation signed on Thursday by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy designed to strengthen the state’s efforts in combating the opioid crisis.

Branford’s legislators, State Reps. Sean Scanlon (D‑Guilford, Branford) and Lonnie Reed (D‑Branford) and State Sen. Ted Kennedy (D‑12th District) have been instrumental in providing legislation to control prescription opioids, make anti-overdose drugs like Narcan more accessible, and bring attention to the problems locally. Click here to read the story.

Reed recently proposed a new program at BHcare customized to meet the specific needs of teens and adolescents struggling with substance abuse, obtaining a $10,000 grant from AT&T. “I’m grateful to the company for stepping up to help fund such an urgently needed resource to reach and rescue our children,” she said.

Local Legislative Actions

In 2015, Scanlon co-sponsored Public Act 15-198, a landmark law that required education for doctors and other prescribers on prescription drug abuse, cracked down on “doctor shopping” for prescription drugs, and allowed pharmacists to prescribe life-saving anti-overdose drugs like Narcan over the counter.

In 2016, Scanlon wrote and sponsored legislation making Connecticut the second state in the nation to limit first-time opioid prescriptions to a seven-day supply with exemptions for chronic pain as a way of reducing the number of unused and expired drugs in our communities. That seven-day limit is now reduced to five days and is now extended to minors in a bipartisan move led by Kennedy. 

Narcan is now carried and used by paramedics when required.

Kennedy (pictured) led a unanimous bi-partisan state senate to adopt a series of major policy changes in how the state fights the ongoing opioid crisis. Kennedy, a health care attorney, said the bill would establish a ​“standing order” model, which will make it easier for friends and family members of opioid addicts to obtain Narcan, the life-saving opioid overdose reversal medication. It also required doctors to reduce the maximum opioid prescription for minors from seven days to five unless the doctor can document the need for an extended prescription. That bill is now law.

Scanlon, who was at Thursday’s rally, said there have been seven overdose deaths in Guilford since 2013. Six people died from overdose deaths in Branford in 2016. He said his family has also been affected.

According to the Hartford Courant, 1,078 overdose deaths are expected within the state this year, with 539 in the first six months.

WNPR .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)that Waterbury intends file a lawsuit accusing multiple pharmaceutical companies of causing opioid addiction and overdoses. The city is seeking monetary damages based on the firms’ deceptive marketing practices. Among the companies is Purdue Pharma of Stamford, which makes Oxycontin; the suit also names Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Johnson & Johnson, and Endo Health Solutions. Thirty other municipalities including Bristol, Bridgeport, New Milford, Naugatuck, Oxford, Wolcott, and Roxbury are considering joining the suit.

Chris Stanton (pictured), a community clinician with the state of Connecticut, said he has seen an increase in combination of heroin, opioid medication and fentanyl. ​“It’s been weaponized,” he said. ​“One casual use can kill you.”

He added that no generation has had it tougher, pointing to the scarcity of beds in treatment centers. He said there’s been a 400 percent increase since 1999. ​“We need to use our resources more effectively.”

In Branford that includes the Branford Counseling Center, BHcare, Aware Recovery Care, and support meetings. 

Additional Testimony

At the rally, Greg O’Brien (pictured) held up a photo of his brother, who was killed in car accident in 2006; he was addicted to alcohol and drugs and left a son behind. ​“It’s real. I saw the signs,” O’Brien said. ​“I didn’t get it. I’m fed up with people dying.”

Local activist Michelle Sember said her oldest son, now 24 and recovering, became addicted in high school. ​“All towns are affected,” she said. She added that you can’t take the ​“not my child”perspective. ​“Don’t be afraid to confront,” she said. ​“If you see changes, talk to teachers and coaches… insurance companies and health care providers need to work together.”

Maria Longo (pictured), substance abuse counselor at a correctional institution, said that the population is getting younger and younger, in the suburbs as well as the cities. She read a moving poem written by an inmate who died right after his release; he compared opiates to a dangerous and deadly lover. ​“These people aren’t numbers,” she said, ​“They’re all our problem.”

Jeff Klarman (pictured), owner of Clancy’s Funeral Home in Branford, said, ​“I’ve seen the end results.” He described the strain the epidemic has placed on the state medical examiner’s office, which lost its accreditation due to high intake numbers.

Activist Mary Ann Beatty (pictured) said, ​“We need to get to the people who don’t get it.” She said that it’s nothing new in Branford and that the problems go back many years. ​“Alcohol is the gateway drug,” she said.

The last to speak, Scanlon said that substance abuse has affected his family as well. ​“I haven’t worked harder on any other issue. Each year I think we’re making progress, yet we’re on track to increase. There’s no silver bullet solution,” he said. One rally is not enough. My door is always open to ideas.” Scanlon also stressed the importance of the availability of Narcan at pharmacies, which can train caregivers in its administration in the event of an overdose.

Malloy Signs Legislation

Overdose Awareness Day was marked by the signing of a bill Malloy introduced earlier to further combat the state’s efforts in fighting the opioid crisis.

Among the provisions are the requirements that individual and group health insurers cover medically necessary detox treatment as defined by the American Society of Addiction Medicine and that facilities use ASAM requirements for admission; the requirement that the Department of Public Health put information online about how prescribers can obtain certification for suboxone and other medicines to treat opioid use disorder; reduction of the maximum opioid drug prescription for minors for seven days to five days (as advocated by Scanlon and Kennedy); expansion of requirements for information regarding the dangers of opioids to cover all prescriptions, not just those for minors; and allows patients to voluntarily file a non-opioid form in their medical records.

“Opioid addiction and prescription drug abuse is a disease that is impacting nearly every community and people of every background,” Malloy said. ​“It is a complex crisis that does not have one root cause, nor does it have simple solution, but we need to do everything in our power to treat and prevent it.”

Everyone attending Thursday’s event agreed that changes would have to be made ​“rally by rally, town by town.”

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