Bridge Michigan (16 April 2024)
The use of fear to push products that will hurt people instead of helping them is disgusting.
As opioid funds flood Michigan, tensions rise over how best to reverse ODs
It's great to hear the State of Michigan is pushing back against this high-dose naloxone and nalmefene nonsense. These "new" opioid overdose reversal approaches are not wanted or needed. I do wish generic naloxone was on the portal instead of the more expensive name brand, but that's for later.
While no one can predict where the crisis will go next, when it comes to reversing fentanyl or other opioids, the naloxone protocol works great. It has for years.
- It's sad to hear impacted families who have been paid by pharma companies speak outside their lane.
- It's sad to see them provided a platform for a pharma sales pitch.
I don't know how to get us there, but we all need to start rowing in the same direction. This is too urgent a crisis to have so much mis/disinformation polluting the information ecosystem.
Addiction isn't the only disease where affected groups (families, people with active drug use or addiction, in treatment, long-term recovery, providers, and scientists) can't seem to get on the same page, but it's a huge blocker to our success. We act more like warring factions driven by ideologies instead of human rights principles and science.
We have more to say on this later. In the meantime, we will keep pushing against profiteering and bad spending of opioid settlement money.
Robin Erb
