A.G. Gancarski
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson returned to Jacksonville Wednesday, spotlighting the opioid crisis affecting newborns at UF Health, Jacksonville’s safety-net hospital.
Nelson had made a similar visit in 2017, spotlighting the “pandemic” of neonatal addiction, and lamenting funding shortfalls exacerbated by his opponent in November, Gov. Rick Scott, not expanding Medicaid.
Television cameras saw the babies in 2017, and they saw 2018’s crop on Wednesday; however, recently-passed legislation offers some hope.
The Opioid Crisis Response Act, approved by the Senate 99-1 this week, included provisions backed by Nelson, such as language allowing the Federal Trade Commission to crack down on fraudulent drug treatment programs, and a study on whether telemedicine can be used by Medicaid patients in underserved areas.
Nelson noted that the House has a version of the same bill, and that he expects President Donald Trump to sign the merged measure into law, one the Senator hopes helps to improve the federal response to this issue that has been a scourge.
Talking to administrators and clinicians at UF Health, Nelson heard about the root of the epidemic (overprescription on one hand, and street drugs on the other, as many mothers had more than one drug in their system).
Heroin, cocaine, fentanyl, and combinations thereof: a toxic cocktail, and one with hard and soft costs for society.
One clinical recommendation: more providers to help women get off opioids, in a way that doesn’t stigmatize these vulnerable populations.
Nelson mentioned needle exchange programs, such as Miami-Dade has, as possible models to deal with the consequences of addiction.
“I hope this new law helps,” Nelson said. “It takes a comprehensive approach. It even addresses the problem of sober homes,” which run up Medicaid costs and don’t keep addicts clean.
Nelson said the bill would mean “more dollars allocated around the country through Health and Human Services and Centers for Disease Control,” and “more data” to help policymakers “gets this epidemic under control.”
“These children who are born dependent on opioids because their mothers were addicted,” Nelson said, “you have to wean them off their dependency. It takes a lot of time, a lot of money, and a lot of these mothers are on Medicaid, which means there’s no other source of revenue.”
“It can be a spiralling problem,” Nelson said, “until you break the cycle.”
