Narcan, Vivitrol closing heroin ‘360 treatment’ loop
Canonsburg Mayor Dave Rhome and other members of the “Communities Moving Forward” anti-heroin committee addressed 30 residents from the borough and surrounding communities on how to help addicts.
Washington Drug and Alcohol Commission Director Cheryl Andrews holds a Narcan nasal pen at a Thursday training seminar.
The Washington Drug and Alcohol Commission’s Narcan kits contain two doses of the antidote, as well protective face masks for performing CPR.
Dr. Mitch West challenged the audience to help propel Washington County to become the “cultural example” and model for the rest of the state and country in learning how to treat the heroin epidemic.
CANONSBURG – Thirty Canonsburg and Bethel Park residents now carry the fast-acting heroin and opioid antidote naloxone, also known as Narcan.
Canonsburg Mayor Dave Rhome and members of the Communities Moving Forward anti-heroin committee presented training Thursday on how to use the nasal spray and handed out free kits containing the drug, which costs $36 and can be obtained without a prescription.
The audience heard from Dr. Mitch West, of Gateway Rehabilitation, who also is part of U.S. Attorney David Hickton’s heroin task force.
“Washington County is becoming the model for how to treat this epidemic. We’ve got 60 percent of police departments carrying Narcan now, but it’s still a royal battle with some departments. It’s sometimes unbelievable what you hear from cops; that they don’t want to resuscitate overdose victims. We need a culture change, and that starts with those in this audience,” West said.
In the audience at Frank Sarris Public Library were recovering addicts and those who knew family or friends struggling with addiction. They said they knew of the prejudice some officers and first responders hold toward overdose victims.
“One of the Canonsburg officers who reversed (revived) a girl wrote a letter to us at Gateway saying how it was one of the most rewarding and changing experiences of his life. But he didn’t want to tell his fellow officers because he would appear soft on drugs. The idea that these are disposable human beings is just repugnant,” West said, his voice often quivering when recalling friends and colleagues who had become addicted to heroin.
“I’ve seen patients get addicted from one pill. And I’ve had patients who don’t get clean until they’re in and out of treatment over 14 times. Should we give up on them? I’m not, and you shouldn’t. You are in the moral right carrying and preparing to use Narcan,” West said.
Narcan has become widely available without prescriptions after Act 139 was passed in November 2014 for it to be available to anyone. But reviving an overdose patient is only the first step in “medically assisted treatment,” West said, and that a new post-treatment drug regimen is helping addicts stay clean.
Most addicts are treated during therapy and upon release with buprenorphine – known by its brand name Suboxone – a narcotic painkiller meant to gently step down addicts’ cravings. But the fact that it’s an opioid treating an opioid addiction, West said, isn’t stopping the cycle as effectively as naltrexone, or Vivitrol.
“Vivitrol just quiets the voice. It lasts for a month. I’ve seen people on it three months later, and they look like they’ve been clean for a year,” West said, “but it’s not the same with Suboxone. People can still get high off it, and they stash it. You can’t get high on Vivitrol. You simply cannot get high from it, or get high while it’s in your system.”
A patient must be clean for 10 to 14 days before being given a shot of Vivitrol, or it will make them extremely sick, similar to symptoms of opioid withdrawal, West said.
“It’s $1,000 per shot, but it’s covered by insurance. Highmark, UPMC – they’ll cover up to a year. And if you don’t have insurance, it’s tough, but we can get samples for those who need it. Half of our outpatients are on Vivitrol. We’re getting up to nearly 100 since we started about a year ago,” West said.
Director of the Washington Drug and Alcohol Commission, Cheryl Andrews, said including Vivitrol as part of jail release could reduce addicts’ likelihood to return to crime or using heroin. Andrews said that would be part of Hickton’s initiative for “360-degree treatment” from overdose or arrest, to jail or treatment, and ultimately release and further therapy.
“We’ve had 270 overdoses since August of this past year. We can’t arrest our way out of this problem. We’re trying to work with the county commissioners to figure out a funding stream for the jail. That is a high-risk overdose population upon release. We need that blocker in place, then set them up with a monthly treatment provider so they don’t relapse,” Andrews said.
A new study released by the University of Pittsburgh Thursday said whites, women and people ages 35 to 44 are most at-risk to die from a heroin overdose.