Posted by Sanjiv Prabhakaran on Apr 27, 2018
 
Duane Trombly is a long time member of San Diego’s business community.  He started his career as a county program director for substance abuse services.  He was a catalyst in opening the first substance abuse treatment program in  Western Michigan. Transitioning into the high tech area he spent 30 years with leading edge companies that were ground breakers in the personal computer space.  But now he has come full circle, founding Confidential Recovery a substance abuse treatment facility for working adults who require a high level of confidentiality for their treatment. He will share with us the status of the current national opioid crisis and its impact in San Diego. He was on the board of Just In Time for Foster Youth.
 
He started off with explaining the definition of OPIOID. He said the best way to understand that is to think of "Morphine" and "Heroin". That's how addictive opioids are! It seems of 95% of the opioids are consumed in the USA! Initially it was used for end-of-life treatments for cancer patients. But then in 1995 a company known as Purdue Pharma founded by the Sackler brothers developed the prescription painkiller OxyContin that became a blockbuster medication. It was a long-lasting narcotic that helped patients suffering from moderate to severe pain. It has reportedly generated some thirty-five billion dollars in revenue for Purdue! The opioid crisis story was aired on CBS' 60-minutes around October 2017.
 
Apparently, when he went for a root-canal his dentist in the end prescribed Vicodin and the prescription was for 10 days to be used 4 times a day! He says that many adults don't use it and they just leave these unused meds in the medicine cabinet within easy reach for teenagers! Many people go for open house tours of homes and search all medicine cabinets for such prescriptions & sell these opioids or use it for their own addiction! Real estate agents have a protocol to inform all sellers to remove any medications from their cabinets prior to any open house sessions.
 
April 28th happens to be "Take Back Drug Day" when the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) sets up collection centers to take back all unused medications. It is strongly recommended to take unused meds to these centers instead of dumping into the flush as it can pollute the waters. He says many people shun treatments due to shame and embarrassment. Family & friends support is critical to get an addict under control. Apparently, every addict impacts at least 7 family members and friends in their circle of influence!
 
DMSB member and doctor Gary Schneiderman suggest the book "Crooked: Outwitting The Back Pain Industry ..." as a remarkable book that talks about the opioid addiction. The book is available on Amazon.
 
Confidential Recovery is an organized started by Duane to treat such patients that are addicted to opioids. They provide a medically supervised DETOX process. They also conduct mindfulness training. He says that majority of his patients are females that are traumatized due to sexual abuse and end up taking opioids for treatments. Similarly, he sees a large population of doctors and police officers, who are subject to heavy stress environments.
 
 
Bill Sutton awarded the Joshua Malawi school certificate to Duane that represents donation of school supplies by DMSB to schools in Malawi in the name of the speaker.
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