Tag: Opioid Epidemic

Public Comment for Opioid Response Plan

The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources announced Thursday steps for an opioid response plan to combat the opioid epidemic. DHHR is asking West Virginians to help develop the plan through public comment and recommendations over the next 15 days.

DHHR said in a news release, the opioid response plan will be delivered to Governor Jim Justice and the West Virginia Legislature by mid-January.

Until then, however, DHHR’s new Office of Drug Control Policy has opened up a comment period to West Virginians, and is looking for suggestions on the best ways to address the opioid crisis.

The Office will also look to partnerships with regional and national experts as the plan is developed – coordinating with a panel of public health experts from West Virginia University, Marshall University and Johns Hopkins University.

The expert panel will include:

Dr. Sean Allen, Assistant Scientist in the Department of Health, Behavior, and Society at Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. Allen has advanced training in geospatial and longitudinal data analyses.  He formerly served as a senior policy advisor in the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Dr. Jeffrey Coben, Dean of the West Virginia University School of Public Health and Associate Vice President of Health Affairs. He has achieved international recognition for his accomplishments in the field of injury prevention and control.

Dr. Shannon Frattaroli, Associate Professor of Health Policy and Management at Johns Hopkins University. She is one of the lead authors of America’s Opioid Epidemic: From Evidence to Impact, a report released by Johns Hopkins University and the Clinton Foundation.

Jim Johnson, Director of the DHHR’s Office of Drug Control Policy. He has 29 years of law enforcement experience and has served as both a police chief and director of the Mayor’s Office of Drug Control Policy in Huntington.

Dr. Sean Loudin, Associate Professor at the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine. He specializes in neonatal-perinatal medicine with research and clinical interests that have focused on neonatal abstinence syndrome.

Participation of the Johns Hopkins University faculty is made possible with support from the Bloomberg American Health Initiative.

A public meeting will be held following the conclusion of the public comment period to include treatment providers, first responders, law enforcement, and several others.

A release of the draft plan for public comment is expected the first week of January.

Two More West Virginia Counties Sue Drug Companies

Two more West Virginia communities have joined others around the state in suing drug companies over the opioid epidemic.

Media report the Berkeley County Council and the Jefferson County Commission filed lawsuits recently against drug manufacturers and distributors, accusing them of fueling the local opioid epidemic by shipping too many pain pills. The companies have denied wrongdoing.

The move comes shortly before a hearing where a panel of judges will decide whether to consolidate dozens of similar lawsuits filed across West Virginia and other states.

Martinsburg lawyer Stephen Skinner, who’s representing the two counties, says he favors consolidating the cases to get efficient justice. Media report at least eight local governments in West Virginia oppose combining the lawsuits, saying it would drive up costs.

Survey Shows W.Va. Wants to be a Leader in Combating Opioid Crisis

Shepherd University hosted an event Monday exploring the possibility of more efficient ways for universities, industry, government, and scientific researchers to work together to combat the opioid epidemic. And a recent public opinion survey indicates West Virginians want to see the state be a leader on this issue.

The survey, conducted by Research!America in partnership with Zogby Analytics, was presented at Shepherd’s event –  “West Virginia Research and Innovation: A Catalyst for Better Health and Economic Growth.”

The two-hour event focused on ways the state’s universities can partner with companies, researchers, and other professionals to effectively address the state’s overwhelming opioid crisis.

Several speakers, including Shepherd University President Mary Hendrix, pointed out how investing in education is the key to making real headway in the epidemic. She also pointed to partnerships between universities and big research companies – like the data and analytic giant Elsevier.

Brad Fenwick is the Senior Vice President for Global Strategic Alliances with Elsevier. He argues partnerships between universities and companies like his can make a big difference when dealing with complex issues like the opioid epidemic.

“Those partnerships, by having the intelligence and the time to think about those types of things, and then the support from government, and then the ability to apply that knowledge through industry, just, our experience, makes things happen, as opposed to any one of those bits of the triple helix doing it on their own,” Fenwick said.

President and CEO of Research!America Mary Woolley says the survey her nonprofit conducted found West Virginians lead the nation in wanting to see more health research – and that they think it’s a wise investment of tax dollars.

“West Virginians are even more sure that we’ve got to make more progress faster and use resources to get there,” Woolley noted,  “I think that’s probably because West Virginians are living up-close and personal with very tough health challenges right now.”

Some of the research showed that 70 percent of West Virginian’s strongly agree opioids are being overprescribed and creating a barrier to combating the epidemic, and 43 percent want to see more federal funding for STEM education. 47 percent strongly support more funding for research to understand and treat addiction. But only 27 percent strongly support the use of overdose reversing drugs like Narcan.

Sens. Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito also attended the event. Both encouraged West Virginians to reach out to them and say what’s working on the federal level and what isn’t when dealing with the opioid crisis.

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