[Music]
[Applause]
so I never aspired to be in Playboy but
at the age of 52 I got the call guess
what mom I’m gonna be in Playboy it was
an article about actress and singer Demi
Lovato who again found herself in the
public eye because of an apparent
overdose so I don’t have the privilege
of knowing Ms Lovato but as a professor
and psychologist at UT Health San
Antonio every day of every year my life
revolves around opioids and it is my
life’s work
to fight for those struggling with
addiction and that is why I was in
Playboy so fortunately Ms Lovato reports
that she is actively engaged in
treatment but in 2016 there were 42,000
opioid-related overdoses
that is 115 overdose deaths every day
one every eight minutes and without
treatment many more will die so the
opioid crisis began for me personally in
Boston Massachusetts where I worked at
McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical
School and there was a detoxification
unit where I was working and on the
board was a white board and there were
the names first names of the patients
the date of admission and the reason for
admission and this gave the staff all
the essential information that they
needed for that day and typically the
reason for use on that board was alcohol
or heroin and then one day I was looking
at the board and I noticed something
different it was oxycontin and that is a
powerful pain medication and as more and
more oxycontin
patience came in there was one day when
I noticed that the only medication on
that board was oxycontin
welcome to the opioid crisis circa 2003
so opioids can be complicated for
example there are many different kinds
of opioids there are illegal opioids
like heroin and there are legal opioids
like the medication oxycontin and some
people use them for pleasure and some
use them for pain and some people use
them for both and the fact is we really
don’t know who will or will know uh who
will or will not go on to develop a
problem with opioid use because many
people can try them and not go on to
develop a problem maybe it’s genetics
maybe its environment probably it’s a
combination of both the science just
isn’t there yet but regardless of why
the number of deaths in this country is
staggering right now opioid related
fatalities account for as many deaths
each year as firearms and exceed deaths
from motor vehicle accidents and there
are three barriers that get in the way
of ending the opioid crisis access
affordability and our attitudes the
first barrier is access right now there
is simply not enough high quality
evidence-based treatment in the United
States evidence-based treatment means
treatment that has been demonstrated
scientifically to work people with
addiction often wait days weeks or even
months to find access to high-quality
care and that is simply not acceptable
we need treatment on demand what that
means is that when someone is ready for
help that help is available because
nobody should have to wait weeks to find
high quality care the second barrier is
affordability even if someone can find
access to high quality care it is not
always affordable
the costs add up it can cost tens of
thousands of dollars to get good care
and that is not always covered by
insurance if the person even has health
insurance and the last barrier and
arguably the most important is our
attitudes about addiction and its
treatment for many of us addiction is an
issue of character a weakness addiction
is not a character flaw why can’t they
just stop using we say well addiction is
not a choice in reality addiction is a
disease and it has been recognized as
such by the American Medical Association
for a very long time left untreated just
like diabetes and asthma and in heart
disease the prognosis is not good
we can’t just wish it away our attitudes
about addiction and its treatment make
treatment even harder to find for those
struggling and for those who asking for
help they find it even harder to ask for
help our attitudes are a barrier to
treatment in the words of the director
of the Center for Disease Control stigma
is the enemy of Public Health the
current issues we are facing in this
country represent the greatest public
health failure of our time and that is
why I met Deb DeLaGarza
in August of 2016 when she asked me to
participate in the first San Antonio
Texas overdose Awareness Day but I never
had the opportunity to meet her son
I am tired of parents holding pictures
of their dead children in the time that
I have spoken what parent has lost their
child to a preventable opioid related
fatality and who out there is in a
desperate struggle for their lives one
because there came a moment in my own
life when I realized that I couldn’t
save my child by myself and in truth I
can’t protect yours ending this requires
all of us in the midst of the current
opioid crisis it is time for us to pause
and consider our own shared
responsibility for lives lost families
devastated and communities left ravaged
our fundamental misunderstanding of
opioid use disorder is a barrier to
effective treatment because it drives
stigma and prejudicial behavior so how
do we end the opioid crisis well the
answers are science and compassion
because the good news is that opioid use
is treatable with outcomes as good or
better than many other diseases that are
life-threatening science tells us that
today the only evidence-based treatment
available to treat opioid use disorder
is medication there are three
fda-approved medications to treat opioid
use disorder naltrexone buprenorphine
and methadone in clinical trials people
treated with buprenorphine for example
have symptom remission and begin their
recovery in as little as three months
50% that type of outcome is is just not
possible
without medication and we need
compassion compassion is more than
feeling sorry for somebody it is
tolerating what we find uncomfortable
and it is acting when someone is
struggling of course it is uncomfortable
the symptoms are ugly and people with
addiction make terrible mistakes and it
is terrifying to watch of course we want
to turn away but that often leaves the
individual suffering entirely alone
without hope or refuge at the very time
they need us most
sometimes I think that we’ve become so
desensitized to suffering that we think
we can’t make a difference or that it is
not our problem not my kid not my
problem so how can you help end the
opioid crisis stand up for science and
treatment on demand talk to your
legislators or your health care
providers and ask them what what are you
doing to help end the opioid crisis
educate yourself step out of your
comfort zone and find out why treatment
makes recovery possible and lastly use
your compassion we need to talk about
substance use and this problem in our
country particularly if you suspect
someone is struggling or you are
struggling yourself no more pictures of
dead children treatment saves lives
every life is worth saving let’s save
lives
thank you [Applause]
[Applause]
so I never aspired to be in Playboy but
at the age of 52 I got the call guess
what mom I’m gonna be in Playboy it was
an article about actress and singer Demi
Lovato who again found herself in the
public eye because of an apparent
overdose so I don’t have the privilege
of knowing Ms Lovato but as a professor
and psychologist at UT Health San
Antonio every day of every year my life
revolves around opioids and it is my
life’s work
to fight for those struggling with
addiction and that is why I was in
Playboy so fortunately Ms Lovato reports
that she is actively engaged in
treatment but in 2016 there were 42,000
opioid-related overdoses
that is 115 overdose deaths every day
one every eight minutes and without
treatment many more will die so the
opioid crisis began for me personally in
Boston Massachusetts where I worked at
McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical
School and there was a detoxification
unit where I was working and on the
board was a white board and there were
the names first names of the patients
the date of admission and the reason for
admission and this gave the staff all
the essential information that they
needed for that day and typically the
reason for use on that board was alcohol
or heroin and then one day I was looking
at the board and I noticed something
different it was oxycontin and that is a
powerful pain medication and as more and
more oxycontin
patience came in there was one day when
I noticed that the only medication on
that board was oxycontin
welcome to the opioid crisis circa 2003
so opioids can be complicated for
example there are many different kinds
of opioids there are illegal opioids
like heroin and there are legal opioids
like the medication oxycontin and some
people use them for pleasure and some
use them for pain and some people use
them for both and the fact is we really
don’t know who will or will know uh who
will or will not go on to develop a
problem with opioid use because many
people can try them and not go on to
develop a problem maybe it’s genetics
maybe its environment probably it’s a
combination of both the science just
isn’t there yet but regardless of why
the number of deaths in this country is
staggering right now opioid related
fatalities account for as many deaths
each year as firearms and exceed deaths
from motor vehicle accidents and there
are three barriers that get in the way
of ending the opioid crisis access
affordability and our attitudes the
first barrier is access right now there
is simply not enough high quality
evidence-based treatment in the United
States evidence-based treatment means
treatment that has been demonstrated
scientifically to work people with
addiction often wait days weeks or even
months to find access to high-quality
care and that is simply not acceptable
we need treatment on demand what that
means is that when someone is ready for
help that help is available because
nobody should have to wait weeks to find
high quality care the second barrier is
affordability even if someone can find
access to high quality care it is not
always affordable
the costs add up it can cost tens of
thousands of dollars to get good care
and that is not always covered by
insurance if the person even has health
insurance and the last barrier and
arguably the most important is our
attitudes about addiction and its
treatment for many of us addiction is an
issue of character a weakness addiction
is not a character flaw why can’t they
just stop using we say well addiction is
not a choice in reality addiction is a
disease and it has been recognized as
such by the American Medical Association
for a very long time left untreated just
like diabetes and asthma and in heart
disease the prognosis is not good
we can’t just wish it away our attitudes
about addiction and its treatment make
treatment even harder to find for those
struggling and for those who asking for
help they find it even harder to ask for
help our attitudes are a barrier to
treatment in the words of the director
of the Center for Disease Control stigma
is the enemy of Public Health the
current issues we are facing in this
country represent the greatest public
health failure of our time and that is
why I met Deb DeLaGarza
in August of 2016 when she asked me to
participate in the first San Antonio
Texas overdose Awareness Day but I never
had the opportunity to meet her son
I am tired of parents holding pictures
of their dead children in the time that
I have spoken what parent has lost their
child to a preventable opioid related
fatality and who out there is in a
desperate struggle for their lives one
because there came a moment in my own
life when I realized that I couldn’t
save my child by myself and in truth I
can’t protect yours ending this requires
all of us in the midst of the current
opioid crisis it is time for us to pause
and consider our own shared
responsibility for lives lost families
devastated and communities left ravaged
our fundamental misunderstanding of
opioid use disorder is a barrier to
effective treatment because it drives
stigma and prejudicial behavior so how
do we end the opioid crisis well the
answers are science and compassion
because the good news is that opioid use
is treatable with outcomes as good or
better than many other diseases that are
life-threatening science tells us that
today the only evidence-based treatment
available to treat opioid use disorder
is medication there are three
fda-approved medications to treat opioid
use disorder naltrexone buprenorphine
and methadone in clinical trials people
treated with buprenorphine for example
have symptom remission and begin their
recovery in as little as three months
50% that type of outcome is is just not
possible
without medication and we need
compassion compassion is more than
feeling sorry for somebody it is
tolerating what we find uncomfortable
and it is acting when someone is
struggling of course it is uncomfortable
the symptoms are ugly and people with
addiction make terrible mistakes and it
is terrifying to watch of course we want
to turn away but that often leaves the
individual suffering entirely alone
without hope or refuge at the very time
they need us most
sometimes I think that we’ve become so
desensitized to suffering that we think
we can’t make a difference or that it is
not our problem not my kid not my
problem so how can you help end the
opioid crisis stand up for science and
treatment on demand talk to your
legislators or your health care
providers and ask them what what are you
doing to help end the opioid crisis
educate yourself step out of your
comfort zone and find out why treatment
makes recovery possible and lastly use
your compassion we need to talk about
substance use and this problem in our
country particularly if you suspect
someone is struggling or you are
struggling yourself no more pictures of
dead children treatment saves lives
every life is worth saving let’s save
lives
thank you [Applause]
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