The state legislature held a joint session Wednesday to discuss opioid addiction.
The governor said bipartisan meetings are crucial in trying to combat the crisis. He said he expects this year to be worse than ever in opioid deaths.
In the joint session, lawmakers discussed strengthening the prescription drug monitoring program, better education for medical students, and more education about prescription guidelines.
“We need to make sure that we are not looking at this as something that has a stigma attached to it,” Governor Wolf said. “It’s a medical problem. We ought to address it as a medical problem.”
The governor added he thinks too many people are being arrested and sent to jail when the focus should be on rehabilitation.
Perhaps the most notable – and shocking – data to be released in relation to substance use disorder, a significant increase in moms and babies being hospitalized.
The Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council examined hospital discharges from 2000 to 2015, and found a 250% increase in the rate of neonatal hospital stays for substance use. They also found a 119% increase in substance-related maternal stays.
Last year, PCH4 found a substance-related condition was present in nearly one in every 50 newborns. The total number of addicted newborns in 2015 was 2,691.
These babies are suffering from low birth weights, respiratory distress, difficulty feeding, and prematurity.
Governor Wolf said the solution is to make sure mothers do not suffer from substance use disorder through education. He said those who already have a disorder need to get the appropriate help.
“I’m not sure there’s anything more tragic than that because the cure for a newborn to lick the addiction that they’re born with is to go cold turkey,” he said. “And so it’s gotta be a very painful and long, drawn out process.”
Governor Wolf said he expects legislation fighting the crisis to come to his desk (although did not elaborate on what) for a signature in the next few weeks before the end of the session.
