County commissioners have been grappling with what to do about the current jail for quite some time now, spending big chunks of money to make repairs to the facility to satisfy state inspectors as they proceed down the path of construction of a new detention center.
In the meantime, however, commissioners and county staff heard Monday from two local physicians who expressed concern about a different kind of cost: one that detainees face when they can’t continue to receive treatment for opioid use disorder because they’re in jail.
Granville Vance Public Health Medical Director Dr. Shauna Guthrie said she is a former physician who has provided care to detainees at the Vance County Jail. Guthrie and Dr. Laura Ucik with Rural Health Group in Henderson spoke to commissioners during the public comment portion of their monthly meeting.
“It’s really important to continue this treatment,” Guthrie said, adding that detainees with substance use disorder are considered a protected class of individuals by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“This could open us up to significant litigation should any harm occur,” Guthrie said, when detainees are forced to detox without benefit of the treatment medications.
Not having their medication puts them at a “significant increase” for overdose when they are released. Treatment reduces recidivism, she noted.
Ucik, board-certified in family and addiction medicine said the treatment had been halted since last summer, due to staffing financial and safety concerns.
“These life-saving medications are absolutely necessary” for detainees, she said. “It’s not only inhumane and truly a form of torture to force people into withdrawal in a jail setting when they’re often in isolation and don’t have adequate support.”
She agreed with Guthrie and said disruption of treatment places individuals “at serious risk of death when they’re released from jail.”
Much like a nicotine patch can help reduce a smoker’s cravings, Ucik said drugs like methadone and suboxone help control cravings.
“We can intervene and save lives,” Ucik said. “We can recognize together that this is a life-or-death situation here in Vance County (and) try to work together to come up with a solution.”
One possible solution involves use of a long-acting injectable version of the drugs that is administered once a month instead of more frequently.
