For this episode, Trey speaks with Caitlin Esch, a reporter for The Uncertain Hour podcast, which is produced from the Wealth and Poverty Desk at APM’s Marketplace. They’ve produced a series that examines the history of the so-called “War on Drugs.”
Within this series, Caitlin shines a light on the opioid crisis playing out in Appalachia — “ground zero” for the nation’s current addiction problems. Several years ago, Caitlin was in Wise County, Virginia reporting about the problem with “pill mills” and the over prescribing of pain medications like Lortab, Vicodin and Oxycontin. For this series, she returns to follow up with people she previously met and to see how this epidemic has shaped the outcomes of generations of people now.
The people of Wise County tell how these addictions take apart lives, families, companies and communities. However, Caitlin has also found some interesting approaches for helping the community recover.
Last year, 72,000 Americans died from drug overdoses. A lot of those deaths — about three-fourths — were caused by opioid medication prescribed by doctors or substances like heroin obtained on the street.
A disproportionate number of the dead are from West Virginia. For several years, the state has led the nation in per-capita opioid-related deaths.
In this episode, hosts Trey Kay and Chery Glaser talk about the origins of the Appalachian drug epidemic. They’re joined by Los Angeles crime reporter Sam Quinones, the author of Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic, and by Ian Kessinger, a former addict who now runs a recovery clinic in Elkins, West Virginia.
In an open seminar at the Berkeley Medical Center in Martinsburg, Ebola preparedness was the focus of discussion. It’s been in the headlines across the country for a while now, but should West Virginians really feel at risk of contracting the disease? Doctors in the state say West Virginians have little to fear.
To help the public understand what’s really going on with Ebola, a public seminar hosted by the University Healthcare Berkeley and Jefferson Medical Centers was held at the West Virginia University Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center in Martinsburg.
The first half of the seminar explained Ebola and the second, how prepared area hospitals are to handle it. Wayne Selzer is one of the 100 community members who attended the seminar.
“Level of preparedness can never be high enough, and the best level of preparedness is self-preparedness,” said Selzer, “So more seminars like this, along with public involvement as well will help calm who have fears against those with no training whatsoever.”
Dr. Matthew Simmons, the infectious disease specialist at Berkeley Medical Center, was one of the speakers. He says he felt like the seminar helped calm any fears the community might have, but they don’t need to feel like they have to be prepared.
Credit Liz McCormick / West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Dr. Roberta DeBiasi, chief of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Children’s National Medical Center.
“There’s very little that a person in the community has to do to protect themselves from Ebola at this point, because the risk of transmission is so low,” noted Simmons.
Dr. Roberta DeBiasi, the chief of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Children’s National Medical Center says you only have to worry about the virus if you’re showing symptoms.
“It really is very, very important as to where you have been, because it’s really not a widespread epidemic. It’s not at all spreading in the United States,” said DeBiasi, “So unless you had those symptoms, and you were in contact, like you were a nurse or a doctor and took care of a patient who had Ebola, then we would not worry that you had Ebola virus.”
DeBiasi tried to help put it into perspective that more people die from influenza in the US than Ebola.
“I think it’s just human nature, if it’s unusual we’re a little more nervous about it, even if it’s not really a thing you should be worried about,” said DeBiasi.
The final message the doctors gave the audience was simply…to stay calm.
