Pubdate: Sun, 22 Apr 2007
Source: Enterprise, The (MA)
Copyright: 2007 The Enterprise
Contact:  http://enterprise.southofboston.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3231
Author: Maureen Boyle, Enterprise staff writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/oxycontin.htm (Oxycontin/Oxycodone)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)

ALERTING PARENTS OF OD'S MAY BECOME LAW

Susan Sarmiento's 20-year-old daughter was treated for a heroin 
overdose in an emergency room -- then walked out of the hospital and 
used heroin again.

But Sarmiento -- who had been trying to get her child help -- didn't 
find out about the overdose until two weeks later, when her daughter 
finally told her.

"They can't let them walk out. The next day, it could be they don't 
walk out -- they are gone," Sarmiento, an Easton mother of three, said.

Now, Sarmiento and others say the laws should be changed to either 
force overdose victims into treatment or at least let relatives know 
they're hospitalized.

"As a parent, it sounds like common sense to me," state Rep. 
Geraldine Creedon, D-Brockton said.

Psychiatric evaluations also need to be mandatory for all overdose 
victims at hospitals -- and then addicts need to be committed to a 
locked treatment program for at least a few days afterwards to save 
their lives, several said.

"They're a danger to themselves," said Jody Price, whose 20-year-old 
nephew died of a heroin overdose in 2005.

A four-day report recently by The Enterprise, called "Wasted Youth," revealed:

There were 2,897 non-fatal opiate-related overdose cases treated at 
local hospitals between 2003 and 2005.

Of that number, 1,570 were treated at Brockton's two hospitals, 
according to the state Department of Public Health.

Also, an examination of death certificates in 28 communities covered 
by The Enterprise found that:

74 people in the area have died of opiate-related overdoses -- 
including heroin -- between Jan. 1, 2004, and Aug. 31, 2006.

At least a dozen deaths since then have been linked to heroin 
overdoses as well.

Now, lawmakers are looking at several bills that would mandate 
parental notification when a minor overdoses and lengthen the stay at 
court-ordered locked treatment centers from up to 30 days to 90 days.

They are also considering drafting other bills that would force 
overdose victims at hospitals into treatment through civil 
commitments -- known as "Section 35s" -- as well as let their families know.

"If someone overdoses, we need to stabilize them and get them into 
lockdown treatment centers," said state Sen. Steven A. Tolman, 
D-Brighton, a member of the legislative Joint Committee on Mental 
Health and Substance Abuse. "This is a silent epidemic that we have 
to address."

State Rep. Allen McCarthy, D-East Bridgewater, said lawmakers need to 
make it easier for addicts to get swift treatment -- and find ways to 
help parents get their children help.

"It's amazing how quickly these parents have to act," McCarthy said.

Liisa Bennett of Taunton tried to get the court to commit her son 
while he was still in the hospital after he overdosed on OxyContin 
and another drug last year.

The hospital released him as she was trying to work out the court 
details. "Out the door he went," she said.

Sarmiento's daughter, who is now in a treatment program, told her she 
overdosed and went to a Worcester hospital -- two weeks after the 
fact and before the insurance bill came.

"If they charge my insurance and she's under my insurance, someone 
should call me. Even if she's an adult, I'm getting the bill," she 
said. "She wasn't of sound mind to tell them who her family was."

Sarmiento said she would have taken action the day of the overdose, 
if someone from the hospital had been allowed to call her. "If I had 
known, I would have had her go into treatment right then," she said.

One local emergency room nurse, Lynn Oriani, said once someone is in 
the emergency room for an overdose, they need to stay -- and get more 
help. "They should not be allowed to leave at all," Oriani said.

But emergency room doctors say there's little they legally can do if 
overdose victims over age 18 refuse treatment -- and strict privacy 
rules don't allow them to notify relatives.

"We can't 'section' them, we can't lock them up, we can't do any of 
these things," said Kenneth S. Lawson, chief of emergency medicine at 
Brockton Hospital. "When we bring them back, they typically are awake 
and alert. At that point, unfortunately, they are able to make all of 
their own decisions."

Richard Herman, chief of the emergency department at Caritas Good 
Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton, shared that sentiment. "You 
walk the tightrope between allowing a responsible, competent adult to 
make bad decisions for himself," Herman said.

Kathy Snyder, whose son is now in drug treatment, said it is clear 
the addicts can't make the right decision.

She said overdose victims should be considered a danger to 
themselves, which is the key element in a civil commitment, where the 
person is sent to a locked treatment facility.

"You end up dead and pulse-less. How much more can you be a danger to 
yourself than being pulse-less?" Snyder said.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman