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White House representative visited WVSOM for opioid discussion, presented presidential challenge coin
White House representative visited WVSOM for opioid discussion, presented presidential challenge coin
Rahul Gupta, M.D., the first physician to serve as director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, a component of the Executive Office of the President, visited WVSOM for a roundtable discussion on June 10.
Gupta met with WVSOM students, local physicians and other individuals who impact local health care. The event focused on discussions related to substance use disorder (SUD) and recovery, as well as the community partnerships and programs WVSOM has created to try to curtail the opioid epidemic.
In introductory remarks, WVSOM President James W. Nemitz, Ph.D., thanked Gupta and his team for the work they are doing at the national level that positively impacts individuals in rural Appalachia.
“WVSOM has taken the lead in West Virginia to provide innovative, high-quality programs to prevent substance use disorder in future generations. We provide treatment services in a social service model, we assist in rebuilding the lives of those in recovery so that they can become productive members of society and we are leading the way on an array of holistic modalities to help people with SUD maintain recovery,” Nemitz said.
WVSOM has impacted communities by addressing the substance use epidemic through Drema Hill, Ph.D., MSP, WVSOM’s vice president for community engagement and development, who serves as a public health expert for the West Virginia Attorney General’s Office. Hill works on the abatement side of the opioid settlements; provides programs through the school’s Center for Rural and Community Health to provide prevention, care, treatment and recovery services to those with substance use disorder and their families; and offers opioid education to medical students so they understand appropriate treatment options.
Gupta said he was impressed with how WVSOM has fostered relationships regarding substance use disorder education, both for its students and the communities in which physicians serve.
“We know the value of relationships,” Gupta said. “Osteopathic medicine is so critical and important. In a time when we have gaps in health care, it’s so critical that you all think about curricula in addiction medicine and those areas where people need the most help.”
Nemitz said osteopathic medicine requires taking into account a patient’s mind, body and spirit, and that osteopathic physicians see each person as important.
“Every individual has the capability of self-regulation, self-healing and self-maintenance,” he said. “We have to provide the circumstances, attitudes and access to treatment to these individuals to assist those with substance use disorder on their journey. WVSOM is always willing to help. Medical school is more than a place where people get educated. We are a leader in the community in helping people become healthier.”
Gupta told attendees that more than 1,400 West Virginians were lost last year to drug overdoses, and that the current administration has allocated $15 billion for addiction treatment to West Virginia, equaling a little over $8,000 per resident.
He said fentanyl is of great concern nationally as it continues to permeate the illicit drug supply, and naloxone, an overdose-reversing medication, is vital to the national response.
“Naloxone will soon be available over the counter in pharmacies, right next to Tylenol,” Gupta said. “Just like defibrillators don’t cause heart attacks, naloxone isn’t enabling addiction.”
During the nearly hourlong discussion, the main barriers participants identified for rural communities were transportation and sustainable housing.
Naloxone has proven to help overdose victims, but having access to naloxone boxes in rural areas is difficult. One of the ways the state could fix the problem is by offering naloxone vending machines, said Jennifer Crane, a collegiate peer recovery support specialist at WVSOM.
“There are people living in abandoned homes who aren’t getting naloxone … That’s something that is close to my heart and that is what I’m trying to get done,” she said, sharing that her younger brother passed away in an abandoned drug house.
Gupta said that states have been asked to put together naloxone acquisition and distribution plans to better assist them in receiving additional funding.
Additionally, Gupta presented Nemitz with a presidential challenge coin — a symbol of honorary membership given to military personnel, foreign dignitaries and other notable individuals — for his vision and the medical school’s work in SUD education.
Rahul Gupta, M.D.
Rahul Gupta, M.D.
