Tag: Heroin

Hearings Start in W.Va. Drug Wholesale Lawsuit

The first hearing has been held in a lawsuit involving drug wholesale distributors accused of fueling West Virginia’s heroin epidemic.

Tuesday in Charleston a legal team for several West Virginia counties argued damages are necessary for opioids’ harmful impact on communities, alleging the firms breached their duty under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 to oversee suspicious orders of prescriptions entering the state over the past several years.

Federal Judge David A. Faber said he doesn’t see how a dollar-amount could ever be put on that.

Attorneys representing the plaintiffs, including McKesson Corp., Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen Drug Corp., said only state and federal authorities can attempt to enforce the act and that the firms have no control over abuse once drugs leave their possession.

Officials: Potent Heroin Blamed for 14 Overdoses in 1 Day

Officials are adding up the numbers after 14 people overdosed from a bad batch of heroin in one day.

Mason County Emergency Medical Services responded to 20 overdoses in total last week.

Emergency Management Director Dennis Zimmerman says they saw a huge increase in volume in a short period of time, indicating that potent heroin was in use.

Emergency Medical Services Director Dylan Handley says officials worry over the supply of Narcan, an overdose reversal drug. He says that each of the four units covering 400 square miles of the county experienced outages at numerous times. A reimbursement grant for the drug will expire in September.

Officials say no one died in any of the 20 overdoses.

More than 25K People in W.Va. With Substance Use Disorders Gained Coverage Under ACA

More than 22,000 West Virginians with substance use disorders have gained health coverage through Medicaid Expansion, according to a report released earlier this month in National Health Law Program. Medicaid Expansion was a voluntary provision of the Affordable Care Act.

The report outlined the impact both Medicaid and the ACA marketplaces have on fighting the opioid epidemic. Medicaid currently pays almost 50 percent of the cost of Buprenorphine in West Virginia  – a medication used to treat opioid dependency – as well as for inpatient treatment when necessary. West Virginia has one of the highest rates of opioid overdoses in the country.

As Republican Congressional leaders consider repealing the ACA, including changing funding for Medicaid to a block grant or per capita cap program, ACA supporters say they are concerned the move will reduce access to substance disorder treatment for the expansion population. Cuts or changes to Medicaid funding could also inhibit current efforts to expand substance disorder treatment programs throughout the state.

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, with support from the Benedum Foundation, Charleston Area Medical Center and WVU Medicine.

DEA Unveils Strategy in Charleston – Huntington Area

The United States Drug Enforcement Administration announced Wednesday that the Charleston to Huntington area is the next to be a part of a ground breaking initiative.

The program is called the 360 strategy. Its purpose is to help cities dealing with the heroin and prescription drug abuse epidemic and the violent crimes that are associated with it. The new strategy focuses on integrating law enforcement, diversion control, education and prevention and community outreach.

The strategy uses a three-pronged approach to fight drug trafficking and abuse. First the DEA says they’ll work to change attitudes through community outreach by partnering with medical professionals and members of the education community to educate the public on the dangers of drug misuse and heroin abuse. Second, the organization will work to more clearly communicate with drug manufacturers, doctors and pharmacists to increase awareness of the drug issues in the area and facilitate responsible prescribing techniques.

And third, the DEA says they’ll provide leadership by targeting drug trafficking organizations and violent gangs supplying the drugs. Soon the DEA will host a forum to bring all the parties together. 

Man Admits Selling Heroin Causing Huntington Overdoses

Federal authorities say an Ohio man responsible for more than two dozen drug overdoses in Huntington, West Virginia, has pleaded guilty in federal court to distributing heroin.

Authorities say 22-year-old Bruce Lamar Griggs of Akron, also known as “Benz,” faces up to 20 years in prison at sentencing April 10.

According to investigators, Griggs sold heroin on the afternoon of Aug. 15 to approximately 26 individuals who suffered overdoses very shortly after using the drug. Many required medical treatment.

Laboratory tests on blood and urine samples showed heroin, fentanyl and carfentanil, an opioid considered 10,000 times stronger than morphine that’s used as an elephant tranquilizer.

Prosecutors say Griggs admitted he was responsible for the overdoses in his plea agreement.

Deadly Floods Voted Top News Story of 2016 in West Virginia

A National Weather Service meteorologist called it a “1-in-1,000-year” storm. By the time it was over, 23 West Virginians were dead.

Flooding that ravaged the state in late June was voted the No. 1 news story in 2016 in West Virginia by Associated Press member newspapers and broadcasters.

The sentencing of former Massey CEO Don Blankenship and his subsequent appeal was voted second, and the state’s substance abuse epidemic was third.

The floods destroyed or damaged thousands of homes, businesses, roads and bridges; prompted a massive response from volunteers and organizations; and dominated headlines for months. President Barack Obama issued a disaster declaration for a dozen counties.

“The June 2016 floods were a natural disaster of the magnitude that many West Virginians had never witnessed before,” said Lauren McGill, metro editor at The Herald-Dispatch in Huntington. “The number of deaths and the extent of the destruction caused by the flooding shocked the entire state, and will not be soon forgotten.”

Leslie Rubin, a reporter at WCHS-TV in Charleston, said the flooding “was something unlike anything I had ever seen. There were countless stories of hope and help that showed what it really means to be a West Virginian. On the other end of that, it is still painful to see the effects of the flood that will forever leave a mark on our state.”

West Virginia’s ongoing struggles with substance abuse also received votes.

But the story line finished just shy of overtaking Blankenship, who is serving a one-year sentence after being convicted of misdemeanor conspiracy for what prosecutors called a series of willful safety violations before the 2010 Upper Big Branch mine explosion that killed 29 men. Before his appeal was heard in October, Blankenship released a manifesto from prison declaring himself a political prisoner.

Among the substance abuse stories this year included the heroin overdoses of more than two dozen people in a five-hour span in Huntington in August. Two people died. Elected leaders, communities, and health- and faith-based groups are seeking ways to end the scourge of drug addiction.

“The substance abuse issue is one that impacts every state resident, in every county and from every demographic category,” said John McCabe, managing editor of The Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register. “It’s ripping families apart, leaving children to be raised by grandparents, or, worse, in the foster care system. This is one of our defining issues at this time, and as a community, we need to tackle it head-on.”

Rounding out West Virginia’s top 10 stories were:

— Greenbrier resort owner Jim Justice, a Democrat, is elected governor over Republican Bill Cole.

— West Virginia voters overwhelmingly choose Republican Donald Trump for president over Hillary Clinton. Trump’s win nationally gives hope to coal communities that have seen economic downturns in recent decades.

— A January blizzard dumps 42 inches of snow in parts of West Virginia.

— Mylan CEO Heather Bresch, daughter of Democratic U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, is grilled on Capitol Hill about the sky-high price of lifesaving EpiPens and the profits for her company.

— After months of stalled negotiations on balancing the state budget, lawmakers in mid-June opt to bank on higher taxes on cigarettes, e-cigarettes and other tobacco products to raise about $98 million a year.

— Buoyed by Trump’s popularity, Republicans maintain their control of West Virginia’s Legislature, while the GOP wins four of the six statewide offices.

— Coal companies including Alpha Natural Resources and Blackhawk Mining announce the additional layoffs of hundreds of miners in West Virginia as the industry’s downtown continues.

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