Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton made her second West Virginia stop Tuesday morning on the campus of the University of Charleston. Clinton hosted a roundtable discussion focused on the state’s substance abuse epidemic. But she said it’s not just West Virginia that’s suffering.
“We have to treat this as an epidemic,” Clinton said. “This is a public health challenge.”
The panel of participants included representatives from law enforcement, the state’s drug court program, medical professionals, and a parent who recently lost his child to an opioid overdose, Charleston native David Grubb.
Grubb’s daughter, Jessica, overdosed on heroin in the fall and went into rehab, and then successfully completed treatment. Jessica, however, suffered a running injury earlier this year that put her in the hospital.
Grubb said the discharging physician prescribed his daughter 50 oxycontin pills and she died in her sleep that night. Now, he and Sen. Joe Manchin are working on a bill named in Jessica’s honor that will allow addiction history to be included on a patient’s medical record.
“We hope something that can change lives and save lives can come of this,” Grubb told Clinton.
Grubb had shared his story with President Obama during his visit to West Virginia in the fall. That visit came before Jessica’s death, but Manchin said as he rode back to Washington with the President he could tell the story had “changed him.”
Clinton was also presented with the Charleston program Handle with Care, another initiative shared with Obama during his visit. That program is a partnership between local law enforcement and schools. As part of the program, law enforcement notify a child’s principal if he or she has experienced a trauma at home during which police were present.
The substance abuse roundtable marks the last of Clinton’s scheduled appearances in West Virginia before the state’s May 10 primary.
Clinton will stop in Athens, Ohio, Tuesday afternoon.
Editor's Note: For more on election coverage leading up to West Virginia's May 10 primary, visit elections.wvpublic.org.
