Editorial: Attack opioid crisis on many fronts
The extent of the opioid crisis in Tennessee requires an “all of the above” approach, and developments last week show officials are making efforts on a variety of fronts.
Punishing peddlers and treating abusers have to go hand in hand.
On the enforcement front, prosecutors successfully made the case recently that doctors who over-prescribe pain medication at clinics are no different from gang members slinging crack on street corners.
U.S. District Judge Pamela Reeves sentenced Dr. Deborah Gayle Thomas to a decade in prison for writing prescriptions for thousands of painkillers to addicts in her capacity as chief medical officer at the Breakthrough Pain Therapy Clinic in Maryville prior to a raid in 2010.
Thomas, 65, was one of nine medical professionals who doled out prescriptions at the clinic. The clinic was owned by Sandra Kincaid, herself an opiate addict, and her husband, Randy Kincaid. The true purpose of the clinic was easy to discern – the facility did not even have examination tables or other basic medical equipment.
“We have to tell these drug traffickers who hide behind white coats and prescription pads you don’t get to do this,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Kolman said in arguing for a harsh sentence for Thomas. “You’re no different than a street drug trafficker.”
The opioid epidemic is taking a toll on Tennesseans. The state ranked 11th in the nation for fatal drug overdoses in 2015. According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1,457 people died of overdoses in Tennessee that year. Among those, Knox County accounted for 153 deaths – third highest among counties statewide, according to the Tennessee Department of Health.
Like most markets, the drug trade is driven by demand. Treating addicts instead of incarcerating them is a strategy that promises to shrink the pool of opioid customers.
A new program for Knox County inmates provides Vivitrol injections to prisoners charged for low-level drug crimes. Vivitrol blocks the brain’s ability to feel pleasure from opioids, such and OxyContin or hydrocodone. When released, the inmates enter an intensive outpatient program administered by the Helen Ross McNabb Center.
The program is funded by a $150,000 grant awarded by the Trinity Health Foundation of East Tennessee. Alkermes, the manufacturer of Vivitrol, is donating 360 doses of the drug – a value of nearly $400,000.
Helen Ross McNabb also is taking concrete steps toward establishing a treatment center that would be an alternative to jail for nonviolent offenders. The nonprofit is asking the Knoxville-Knox County Metropolitan Planning Commission for approval to use a former church off Western Avenue for the facility.
The facility would stabilize nonviolent offenders with drug and alcohol problems so they could get into longer term treatment. Knox County and the city of Knoxville have pledged funds for the center; local officials are lobbying state legislators for additional money that would move this much needed project forward.
Thomas’ sentence should send a clear message to physicians that overprescribing opioids carries consequences. The efforts of local officials to expand treatment options likewise should tell those in the grip of addiction that there is hope. All of the above are needed to heal our communities.
