New England Governors Discuss Opioid Crisis At Harvard Medical School Forum

BOSTON (CBS/AP) — All six New England governors say fighting the social stigma associated with addiction is key to battling the opioid crisis raging across the region, claiming thousands of lives.

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker participated at the Harvard Medical School forum Tuesday with Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin, Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy, Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo, Maine Gov. Paul LePage and New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan.

The governors discussed a series of steps needed to fight the problem, from increasing education in schools about the addictive nature of opioids to limiting first-time prescriptions for opiate painkillers and ratcheting up law enforcement efforts targeting heroin and fentanyl.

Gov. Baker told of how he only learned of the growing number of addictions and overdoses on the campaign trail--from families. Only after the fact did he realize his own son could have fallen victim while being treated for football injuries.

"I picked up a lot of these prescriptions for him," said Baker. "And never once did anyone say anything to us about the addictive capability of this stuff. And by some act of God, it didn't stick with him."

Massachusetts is the first state to put limits on first-time opiate prescriptions--something Baker recalls got a lot of pushback from the medical community. But Baker described a talk he gave after he made that proposal and opened the floor to questions.

"The first person I called on just happened to be an ER doc who had just gotten off his overnight shift and had administered Narcan to four people," Baker said. "And he said, 'I'm not on the front end of this stuff, I'm on the back end, and as far as I'm concerned, something's got to give here.' And it just changed the whole nature of the conversation."

Gov. Shumlin said states are doing what they can. He said Vermont has been using special drug courts to steer addicts who get in trouble with the law into treatment. He says treatment centers have been built, but they still do not have enough beds--and added that the state has loaded up on Narcan, the emergency treatment for overdoses.

"We're passing out Naloxone now like some physicians pass out oxycontin," said Shumlin. "You can go to a CVS in Vermont now, it's over the counter. You can get it with your band-aids and your q-tips."

But Shumlin lashed out at the FDA for approving stronger and stronger drugs, which he said lead to more and more addictions, and said the focus should be on those prescribing opiates.

"You all as prescribers have the key to the solution to this problem, ultimately," Shumlin said, addressing the audience of medical professionals.

The governors agreed the key to all approaches in fighting the opioid crisis is removing the stigma around addiction and encouraging people to seek treatment.

All are Democrats except Baker and LePage.

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WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Lana Jones reports

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