The sweeping prevalence of opioid addiction is outpacing the amount of treatment options and funding available. That was the theme of a panel discussion led by US Sen. Dick Durbin at Heartland Community Clinic Fri.
Durbin was joined by local health professionals, advocates and emergency responders in a conversation aiming to push funding for legislation to address the issue.
“We’ve set these new goals and policies. We’ve gotta fund this. We’re going to pay for addiction, we’re going to pay for death, we’re going to pay for incarceration,” Durbin said. “Are we going to pay for treatment and prevention?”
One of the issues identified during the panel is that rehab facilities, like Gateway Treatment Center in Galesburg, have too few beds for patients seeking help -- particularly those who rely on Medicare. Gateway says there’s a waiting list, and would need as many as five times the beds to accommodate the number of substance abuse cases in the area.
Advocate Bryce Foster says treatment he received in prison saved his life. Foster says he started experimenting with over-the-counter medication in high school, and it escalated to an addiction that lasted a decade.
“My stepdad was an old Vietnam vet, so we had darvocet, we had vicodin, there was morphine around,” Foster said. “It was just teenage experimenting, and it was available and it was there, and then eventually it’s not enough.
Durbin had harsh words for the pharmaceutical industry that has increased the costs of the antidote medication Narcan. The Peoria Fire Department says, for example, a single dose of the nasal version of the drug cost $16 in 2011. It now costs about $60.
