U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Camas, told a panel of health care workers and law enforcement officials she wanted to know how problematic opioid addiction is in Southwest Washington.
On Thursday morning, she got an answer: It’s tremendous.
Amanda Scharfe, a counselor with Lifeline Connections, said she works with a significant number of patients who had never experienced withdrawal symptoms before they were prescribed opioids to alleviate pain after a car wreck or amputation.
But they become hooked.
Cowlitz County Sheriff Mark Nelson said people are committing crimes to be sent to jails to specifically sell opioids.
“There’s money to be made there,” he said.
A detective with the Clark County Sheriff’s Office said he’s seen an explosion of the heroin use among the 17-to-26 demographic.
Dan Moren, with the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas, noted the epidemic is far-reaching.
“This is not just a Clark, Cowlitz or Thurston County problem,” he said.
Herrera Beutler, a member of the U.S. House Appropriations Committee, asked what types of programs need to be funded.
Catherine Kroll, with Peace Health, said she worked with a 17-year-old who wanted to be part of a rehabilitation inpatient treatment program. There simply wasn’t an available treatment bed for her.
“Three days later, she died of an overdose,” Kroll said. “If a bed had been available, I have to think that would not have been the outcome.”
Several physicians said one of the problems is a patient satisfaction survey is linked to funding.
When patients who are seeking opioids aren’t prescribed painkillers, they rate their physician poorly in patient satisfaction surveys, which could result in a hit to funding.
As one doctor put it, “patient satisfaction is killing patients.”
In 2014, more people died in Washington state due to drug overdoses than traffic accidents. That year, there were about 600 deaths from opioid and heroin overdose deaths in Washington state, according to information from Herrera Beutler’s office.
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, was also touring the region addressing the opioid epidemic on Thursday, according to the Tri-City Herald.
Murray championed the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, or CARA, to beef up state prescription drug monitoring programs and expand the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion program, according to the newspaper.
