Sen. Reed Keeps Focus, Federal Funding on RI's Heroin and Opioid Crisis

RHODE ISLAND—Efforts to address the ongoing heroin and opioid addiction crisis gripping the state are getting a boost thanks to extra funding and resources, U.S. Sen. Jack Reed announced on Saturday.

Rhode Island has the seventh highest fatal overdose rate in the country. A total of 241 people died from overdoses last year, an increase from the 232 in 2013, according to data from the state Department of Health.

Reed’s focus on the heroin crisis resulted in the Senator ensuring that Rhode island is eligible to apply for some of the $7 million in the Community Oriented Policing Service program for drug prevention strategies, including policework to stop the distribution of heroin and unlawful distribution of prescription opioids.

The bill also provides $12 million in funding for residential drug treatment programs, $13 million for prescription drug monitoring and $42 million for drug courts and the CDC’s state-based anti-drug program.

“Whether it is helping an individual recover from addiction or helping entire communities overcome this opiate epidemic, they both require a multi-faceted, sustained approach. It also takes a real investment in resources,” Reed said. “That is why I am working at the federal level to deliver additional funding to help communities across Rhode Island reduce abuse of opioids and prescription drugs. We need to improve addiction recovery outcomes and ensure people who need help have access to life saving treatments.”

Reed’s recent efforts also included his support the drive for Rhode Island to be eligible for more federal money through the CDC’s Prescription Drug Overdose Prevention for States program, which will invest $20 million in 16 states to provide more resources and expertise to help prevent overdose deaths. Federal grants through the program will be distributed during the next four years and Rhode Island is projected to receive about $940,000 annually.

Just this week, Brown University’s medical school and Rhode Island Hospital were awarded $916,851 and $788,403 respectively to integrate extensive training in substance abuse screening and intervention into the curriculum to help future doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and social workers better address opioid addiction and overdose. The federal funds were awarded through the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

This week, the CDC released a report showing that drug overdose-induced deaths reached a record high last year, with 47,000 Americans lives being cut short. And addition shows no prejudice, affecting families regardless of background or income bracket.

“No community is immune to this problem and we have to overcome barriers to treatment,” Reed said.

Reed said he is also urging Congress to focus on the issue and hold votes when they return in the new year on measures like the Overdose Prevention Act, which Reed authored to help decrease the rate of drug overdose deaths by improving access to naloxone. The bill would also encourage the implementation of overdose prevention programs, improve surveillance of overdose occurrences, and establish a coordinated federal plan of action to address the epidemic.

He is also backing a vote on the bipartisan Treatment and Recovery Investment Act, which could increase funding for states so they can better assist individuals with substance use disorders. The legislation is designed to expand the ability of addiction medicine specialists and other clinicians to prescribe life-saving medication to patients struggling with addiction to heroin and other opioids. The bill will expand access to medications that have been proven effective at treating opioid addiction by increasing the number of patients a provider is initially allowed to treat from 30 to 100 patients per year, and removing the patient cap entirely after one year for qualified physicians.

Specifically, the bill allows nurse practitioners and physician assistants to treat up to 100 patients per year as long as they are licensed in a state that already allows them to prescribe controlled substances, complete approved training on opioid addiction treatment and are supervised by a physician or work with a physician who is also approved to prescribe opioid addiction medication.

In addition to immediately expanding access to treatment for patients suffering from heroin and opioid addiction, the legislation also requires the GAO to examine changes in treatment availability, the quality of treatment programs, integration with routine healthcare services, prevalence of diversion, the impact on the state-policies and legislation and the use of nurse practitioner and physician’s assistant prescribers.

Rhode Islanders struggling with drug abuse may call United Way’s 2-1-1 hotline to connect with help and recovery services.