Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

Senate approves bill to fight opioid abuse that would offer CT help — within limits

  • Health
  • by Ana Radelat
  • March 10, 2016
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

Washington – Senate approval of a bill to fight the nation’s opioid epidemic is still likely to leave states like Connecticut on the front lines of the crisis — and to leave them short of all the help they need to prevent the destroyed lives that result from the abuse of pain killers and heroin.

But the strong bipartisan support for the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2015, known as CARA, is considered an important move to halt the growth in the United States of addiction to opioids – and the first step in what many hope is additional support from Washington.

Abuse of heroin and prescription opioids is rising in Connecticut as it has across the country. More than 47,000 overdose deaths occurred in the United States in 2014, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and overdose deaths now outnumber deaths from car accidents. In Connecticut, 723 people died from drug overdoses of all kinds in 2015, most of those from heroin and other opioids.

CARA, approved on a 94-1 vote, would authorize the expansion of a number of grant programs states like Connecticut could tap to prevent and treat opioid addiction, and prosecute those who sell heroin and prescription drugs on the black market.

Drug Overdose DeathsBut it does not contain the money needed to expand the programs. Attempts to add $600 million in emergency funds to do so were defeated by Republicans, who said the Department of Health and Human Services should instead shift money from other accounts.

Devon Puglia, a spokesman for Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, said if additional money were made available to the states, Connecticut would apply.

“This is a national trend that we are working diligently to tackle not just in Connecticut, but across the entire northeast in partnership with our neighboring states,” Puglia said. “If there are funds available, we will no doubt apply for them because we need to prevent addiction as well as continue to provide as much support as possible for those who need it.”

Like many other politicians, especially those from New England, where the abuse of opioids is greater than in many other parts of the nation, Connecticut’s members of Congress have joined the efforts in Washington, D.C., to help states combat the problem.

On Thursday, Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, said the Senate bill would have a “meaningful impact on the growing prescription opioid and heroin abuse crisis,” and called on the U.S. House of Representatives to approve the legislation.

“I urge Speaker [Paul] Ryan to recognize that our country remains in the grip of a drug abuse epidemic, and that the states urgently need assistance from the federal government in order to properly address this public health emergency,” he said.

Courtney also said he hoped the House would consider a bill he introduced last month that would provide the additional $600 million dollars in emergency supplemental funding to combat opioid abuse.

CARA also includes provisions of a bill recently introduced in the House by Rep. Elizabeth Esty, D-5th District, that would boost educational efforts on the dangers of opioid use.

The bill would also provide new grants to states that expand their prescription drug monitoring programs, a provision sponsored by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., is promoting another bill, the TREAT Act, that would increase the treatment of addicts with buprenorphine, a  semi-synthetic that can produce opioid-like side effects like euphoria, but whose impact is weaker and is much safer than heroin.

“I voted to support CARA today because Congress needs to take a first step toward stopping the devastating tidal wave of addiction, overdoses, and deaths plaguing our nation right now,” Murphy said. “But Congress needs to do much more than simply pass a bill creating more unfunded programs.”

CARA would also create a “Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force” to impose best practices on receiving and renewing registrations for doctors prescribing medications under the Controlled Substance Act, which includes opioid pain medications.

That provision met with resistance from doctors’ groups, who said it would interfere with the treatment of patients.

“The creation of additional prescribing barriers for primary care physicians would limit patient access when there is a legitimate need for pain relief,” said a letter sent this week from the American Academy of Family Physicians to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

The lone senator to oppose CARA was Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb. “I’m not convinced fighting addiction — as opposed to stopping drug traffickers — is best addressed at the federal level,” Sasse said.

 A life-saving drug

Narcan bottleAn opioid-overdose antidote called naloxone, also known by its trade name Narcan, has since 1971 brought heroin overdose victims back from the brink of death.

CARA hopes to broaden the use of naloxone by offering liability protections to state officials who distribute it.

In Connecticut, many, but not all, first responders carry naloxone. State police officers are equipped with the drug, but those in large municipal police forces, including officers in Hartford, New London and New Haven, are not. In those cities, firefighters and other emergency personnel carry Narcan.

“We’re in a metropolitan area, and the response for a paramedic is going to be as fast as a response for a police force in a metropolitan area,” said New Haven police spokesman David Hartman.

The overdose antidote, which can be injected or administered by nasal spray, has also had steep price increases, even as more pharmaceuticals make naloxone and it’s available in generic form.

For example, Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, one of the companies that offers the naxolone frequently supplied to hospitals, said in its most recent quarterly earnings report that  sales of the drug more than doubled, from $3.7 million in the third quarter of  2014 to $10.5 million in the third quarter of 2015 “as a result of increased unit volumes at higher average prices.”

Laurence Grotheer, spokesman for the city of New Haven, said the budget for the Narcan used by the city’s 12 fire stations and two paramedic units “likely has doubled,” in the last year.

“It’s hard to budget for pharmaceuticals because of the volatility in that industry,” he said.

The state troopers’ Narcan is funded through an asset forfeiture account, and cost $33,312 so far this year, said Mike Lawlor, Connecticut under secretary for criminal justice policy and planning.

While not every first responder in the state carries Narcan, Lawlor said Malloy is pressing for approval of a bill, HB 5053, that would require every municipality to ensure that first responders in their town are equipped with the heroin antidote.

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ana Radelat Ana has written about politics and policy in Washington, D.C.. for Gannett, Thompson Reuters and UPI. She was a special correspondent for the Miami Herald, and a regular contributor to The New York TImes, Advertising Age and several other publications. She has also worked in broadcast journalism, for CNN and several local NPR stations. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland School of Journalism.

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
What we’ve lost, what we’ve learned during our year of COVID
by CT Mirror Staff

On March 6, 2020, Gov. Ned Lamont announced that the first case of COVID-19 had been detected in Connecticut, and within weeks, life as we knew it was a memory. Schools were shut down, universities emptied, businesses shuttered. Those of us who were fortunate enough to be able to work from home set up shop at our […]

Plan to expand child tax credit offers hope along with direct payments
by Lisa Backus | C-HIT.ORG

When her car started making a noise more than a year ago, Chinara Johnson parked the vehicle and hasn’t used it since. As a New Haven mother of 5-year-old twin boys, one of whom is on the autism spectrum, and an 8-year-old daughter, Johnson doesn’t have the money to get the car running properly again. […]

Aid-in-dying bill clears key hurdle with committee passage
by Jenna Carlesso

The bill would let terminally ill patients access medication to end their lives.

With billions in federal relief on the way to CT, legislators assert their role in deciding how to spend it
by Keith M. Phaneuf and Mark Pazniokas

With an unusual bill, state legislators are reminding Gov. Ned Lamont they have significant role in disbursing federal coronavirus relief.

How does the public option bill differ from Gov. Ned Lamont’s health care plan? Here’s a look at the two proposals.
by Jenna Carlesso

With the rising cost of care a central issue this legislative session, lawmakers and Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration have each moved ahead with their own plans aimed at driving down prices.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion Right to counsel is just as much a racial justice as a housing policy
by Viewpoints Contributor

Despite the state and federal moratoriums on eviction, nearly 3,000 Connecticut families have faced eviction in the past 10 months. Over half of these families were Black or Latinx, even though these groups combined comprise less than a quarter of the overall population. The stop-gap measures pursued by the state are not enough. Connecticut needs a statewide right to counsel for tenants facing eviction to address the burning housing and racial justice crisis across the state.

Opinion We need justice, not politics
by Richard J. Colangelo Jr. and 13 State's Attorneys

The administration of justice should not be political. Prosecutors must be guided by the evidence in a case and the applicable law, not by partisan, political considerations. Political pressure should never sway a prosecutor’s decision-making.

Opinion Assisted suicide lobby spreads falsehoods to promote systemic ableism
by Stephen Mendelsohn

Proponents of assisted suicide repeatedly spread falsehoods to promote their lethal and ableist agenda.  The February 8 op-ed, “Aid in dying is not assisted suicide” is no exception. Suicide is defined as the act of taking one’s life intentionally.  The person who intentionally ingests a prescribed lethal overdose more closely fits the dictionary definition of suicide than the despondent person who jumps off a bridge.  The desire for suicide is a cry for help, even when redefined as a “medical treatment option.”

Opinion TCI will create a fourth gasoline tax
by Christian A. Herb

The Transportation Climate Initiative, or TCI, calls for a proposed emissions fee on gasoline to help battle climate change. On the surface, supporters say it is a small price to pay to help save the planet; and if you truly believe that this is the case, then you should consider voting for it. Despite the administration’s efforts to go out of their way to not call TCI a tax, the simple truth is that it will only create additional financial hardships on lower- and middle-income families struggling to make ends meet during the pandemic.

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO