Pubdate: Wed, 08 Jun 2016
Source: Boston Globe (MA)
Copyright: 2016 Globe Newspaper Company
Contact: http://services.bostonglobe.com/news/opeds/letter.aspx?id=6340
Website: http://bostonglobe.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/52
Author: Meg Bernhard

NEW ENGLAND GOVERNORS POINT TO PRESCRIPTION CONTROL TO ALLEVIATE OPIOID CRISIS

Six New England governors called on health care professionals Tuesday 
to work with government officials to combat the opioid epidemic and 
control prescriptions, describing a grim reality of addiction across 
the region they govern.

"There is not an issue more pressing I know for all of us at this 
table," said Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin, addressing an audience 
at Harvard Medical School. "We are losing good people to the opioid 
crisis that is sweeping across America, and we need your help."

The governors spoke on a broad range of state initiatives to combat 
opioid addiction, which they characterized as a public health crisis.

While the governors largely agreed about ways to tackle the epidemic, 
they expressed varying degrees of optimism about stemming the opioid 
crisis, which takes thousands of lives each year in New England.

The governors, who convened for a panel, emphasized that medical 
experts should help determine painkiller regulations, such as the 
initial prescription limit or the maximum number of pills that can be 
administered after a procedure.

Shumlin directly addressed the audience, comprising mostly health 
care professionals, asking how many of them gave out prescriptions.

"You all as prescribers have the key to the solution of this 
problem," he said. "You have the power, not us."

Governor Paul LePage of Maine said his state has focused on the 
illegal sale of opioids and "beefed up our law enforcement ... trying 
to get the traffickers off the streets." Additionally, LePage said 
Maine has "drug courts" that allow some addicts with a criminal 
history to choose between jail or a treatment facility - an approach 
LePage described as "tough love."

Shumlin criticized the Food and Drug Administration for its recent 
approval of OxyContin, which treats moderate to severe pain, for children.

"The facts are, we are passing out OxyContin like candy," Shumlin said.

Governor Dannel P. Malloy of Connecticut said his state and its 
physicians should pay more attention to fentanyl, a narcotic that 
treats severe pain. And Governor Gina Raimondo of Rhode Island 
emphasized the need to dispel stereotypes about who the opioid 
epidemic impacts.

"A lot of people, at least where I am from, still see this as an 
issue which is relatively confined to a certain kind of person," she 
said. "There is still a stigma. Junkies, drug users, addicts."

Several states in New England already participate in a program that 
works across state lines to monitor how many and what types of 
prescriptions are filled. But the governors pledged to do more to 
control prescriptions.

Governor Charlie Baker, who has worked in the health care industry, 
said he recently talked with medical school students about the 
importance of speaking up about public health issues.

He said he had felt frustrated when he was campaigning for governor 
because only then did he learn from families - not from medical 
professionals - about the severity of the opioid epidemic.

Though Baker said the state has made some progress, he added more 
needs to be done.

"We, as a country, need to be more aggressive," he said after the panel.

Still, New Hampshire Governor Maggie Hassan said, she and other 
governors have "pushed very hard, and sometimes made people 
uncomfortable" with their efforts.

Thousands of people in New England die from opioid overdoses each 
year, and in Massachusetts alone more than 1,300 people died in 2015, 
according to the state Health Department.

Jenelle Paolini, director of clinical operations of Boston PainCare, 
said overall she thought the panel was helpful but warned against 
oversimplifying how physicians treat their patients.

Sometimes, she said, it is not feasible to reduce prescriptions for 
people who use them for chronic pain.

"It is just very time-consuming and very difficult to do," she said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom