Tornado Alley (PROG)

[blackhawks]

I wonder which 'side' is not listening to 'what science tells us'?

“We have politicians dictating health care policy right now,” said Connie Priddy, a Cabell County EMS nurse who leads the Huntington harm reduction initiative Quick Response Team. “So even though science tells us best practice is to do X, Y and Z, many of our politicians are not doing that.”



In recent years, DHHR has made efforts to expand the use of some medications, like naloxone, that are known to keep people with substance use disorder from dying due to overdose.

At the same time, state lawmakers have passed and maintained policies that restrict West Virginians’ ability to access other proven tools, most notably methadone clinics and clean needle exchange sites.

Without full use of these strategies, addiction experts are concerned that the state’s residents will continue to die at rates higher than anywhere else in the country.

“We have politicians dictating health care policy right now,” said Connie Priddy, a Cabell County EMS nurse who leads the Huntington harm reduction initiative Quick Response Team. “So even though science tells us best practice is to do X, Y and Z, many of our politicians are not doing that.”

https://mountainstatespotlight.org/2022/10/05/wv-drug-crisis-opioid-overdose-numbers-still-high/