Juan Lopez

Deacon Anthony (Tony) Miller, from Binghamton, NY, is a man on a mission.  His mission is to help empower the Church of Syracuse, NY to be a resource for those who suffer from addictions and their families, by using his expertise as a certified iTHIRST Spiritual Companion to offer spiritual consolation to those in his parish and beyond.

 After having completed the iTHIRST Spiritual Companionship Training with the 4^th Seton Hall cohort, Deacon Tony recently introduced the iTHIRST Ministry to his parish by way of an introductory homily. (See embedded link.)  He also made use of the downloadable, customizable iTHIRST resources that are available online to all certified iTSCs, making his brochure and business cards accessible to everyone in his parish.  There was no surprise that by the end of the mass of introduction, all of the resources he had made available were gone – in the hands of his parishioners who both needed his help, or who were searching to be part of the solution to the growing problem of addiction in their communities.

 Deacon Tony had been drawn to work with those suffering from addictions for years after receiving what he describes as, “a call on my heart” from the Holy Spirit several years prior.  He searched for a program or a resource that he could use to help educate him about the disease of addiction so that he could better ‘shepherd his flock,’ but he didn’t have much success.  That is, until last year, when a “random post from a Facebook friend” whom he’d never met, introduced him to the iTHIRST Spiritual Companionship Training. “I figured this would be the perfect option for me.  I had been planning on a ministry like this when I retired from my ‘day job.’ Deacon Tony evaluated the core components of the ITSC training through Seton Hall’s Continuing Education and Professional Studies website, and knew that it would provide him with the spiritual tools needed to provide spiritual consolation and recovery resource information to a vulnerable population – one with whom he had little contact for most of his life.

“When I was in elementary school, we were taught about the dangers of drugs, but in my sheltered upbringing, I was not exposed to them until I got to college, and then it was only marijuana,” Deacon Tony explained. “Recently, I have been seeing a huge uptick in the number of overdose deaths.” Indeed, according to New York State Department of Health Opioid Annual Data Report, the rates of overdoses throughout New York State have consistently risen over the last years, primarily due to the introduction of fentanyl into the illicit drug scene.

In more recent years, Deacon Tony’s own life was affected by the disease of addiction, after having lost both his sister and his brother-in-law to complications from alcoholism.  Deacon Tony learned that every family is susceptible to the tragedy of drug and alcohol abuse, and with statistics suggesting that 1 in every 3 families nationwide is affected, the problem is more urgent than ever.

In discussing the benefits of his training and of the work of iTHIRST in general, Deacon Tony shared that he, “has been letting people know that they are not alone in what they are going through” whether it is they or a loved one who is affected by addiction.  To that end, Deacon Tony is planning to bring the training to the attention of the community of deacons in the Diocese of Syracuse, in hopes of attracting more of them to the training. 

“If I can help one person and their family avoid the loss of a loved one, I will consider the time, money and training worth it.” 

Ever forward, Deacon Tony!  May your work be richly blessed!

In late Spring of 2021, Dr. Steve attended a Legatus meeting in northern New Jersey where Keaton Douglas, Executive Director of iTHIRST, was the featured speaker for the evening.  Keaton’s talk inspired Dr. Steve to want to learn more about the spiritual dimension of wellness, and how that, coupled with his own clinical expertise, might work to best serve patients who were struggling with many neurological issues, as well as various substance use disorders. Dr. Steve became a participant in the 2^nd Seton Hall cohort, becoming a certified iTHIRST Spiritual Companion in the Summer of last year.

When asked how the iTHIRST training has affected his life or the lives of those with whom he works, Dr. Steve replied, “I am applying the iTHIRST companionship training in my practice daily, listening to my heart intently as my patients tell me their stories. When I see/hear an opening to talk about faith and spirituality I ask them how important it is in their lives. If they are receptive, I talk a little bit about iTHIRST and give them resources. “

Dr. Steve is also using the motivational interviewing techniques from the ITSC training to get patients to open up and discern appropriate next steps for themselves. 
He shared, “During one of the encounters with a patient, I used the “develop discrepancy technique” that I learned from the course, and it worked.  It got my patient to realize what she had been doing wrong.  She set a boundary and took action.” 

Thank you, Dr. Steve!  You have really set an example for others in the medical field to realize the importance of treating the totality of the human person – mind, body, and spirit!

You are a great example and an inspiration to all! 

Several weeks ago, a friend and colleague shared that she was going to have a knee laparoscopy to repair a minor tear in her meniscus.  This wasn’t her first knee repair, and so she approached the procedure without much trepidation.   A few days before the surgery, she got a notification from her pharmacy that she had a prescription waiting for her. Confused, she traveled the short distance to the pharmacy to figure out what exactly had been prescribed to her without her knowledge. When she arrived, she found a prescription in her name for 15 Percocet for her post-surgical care, even though she hadn’t even needed a Tylenol after the first surgery. This was more devastating to our friend, as she had witnessed her son’s own 15-year struggle with opioid addiction after he was prescribed copious amounts of opioids after a minor surgery himself.  His addiction ultimately led to his tragic overdose death only four years prior.

In an outraged text message to several of the iTHIRST Team, our colleague shared, “They prescribed it without even telling me!! I just can’t believe doctors are still doing this after all that’s happened.  I’m fuming.  The message has not gotten out there.”

Indeed, the message still has not gotten out there fully.  Namely, opioids are still being overprescribed for minor procedures.  While there are, admittedly, many who suffer from debilitating chronic pain which must be managed by opioids, there is no doubt that there are still many prescribed opioids given to those who could get by with over-the-counter pain medicines for minor procedures. 

A recent article from The Washington Post, entitled, “Inside the sales machine of the ‘kingpin’ of opioid makers,” (May 10, 2022- link below) describes the history of this pattern of overprescribing which has recently come to light as the result of new evidence released in 1.4 million records from the nation’s largest manufacturer of opioids.  While Purdue Pharma has clearly garnered the most public attention and outrage, it has not been the largest manufacturer of opioids, nor even the worst offender when it comes to promoting overprescribing.  That dubious title belongs to the little-known manufacturer, Mallinckrodt, who literally had a stable of doctors, numbering in the hundreds, whom they could count on to write “a steady stream of pain pills.” The article states that between 2006 and 2014, Mallinckrodt had a 27% market share of opioids prescribed in the nation, compared to 18% for Purdue Pharma.  Mallinckrodt’s 30mg oxycodone tablet became the street drug of choice, so much so that the drug smuggling route between Florida and Appalachia became known as the “Blue Highway,” so named for the baby blue pill.

While the article goes on to state that many of those Mallinckrodt ‘preferred doctors’ went on to have their licenses revoked, were convicted of crimes related to their medical practices, and paid significant fines, it also reveals that in the middle of the crisis Mallinckrodt knew that their 30mgs were the most popular and they continued to promote them with reckless abandon.

One bereaved mother from Boston who lost two of her three children to overdoses stressed that the release of these documents would help heal families who want to know what happened to their child, where it started and who is to blame. 

In her book, Drug Dealer, MD,  Dr. Anna Lemke writes that the drug epidemic is not just the problem of a few ‘deviant’ doctors who overprescribed for personal gain, but rather, “ it is the result of a large population of well-intended doctors working in health care factories that prioritize through-put of body parts on an assembly line over whole-patient health…Pills that are addictive are particularly likely to be overprescribed because they provide patient-customers with short-term satisfaction and a proxy for human attachment—but not necessarily improved health.”

Upon arrival at the pharmacy, my colleague refused the Percocets. The pharmacy had to dispose of them.  Perhaps, for all of us in these situations, it’s time to use that oft-maligned slogan of the ’80s.  It’s time for us to “Just Say No.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/interactive/2022/mallinckrodt-documents-doctors-sales/