TODAY’S MODERATOR: Helping the OD victims

We gotten quite a few comments about the suggestion by a Middltown City Council member that it was getting too costly for the EMTs to bother saving opioid overdose victims with Narcan — a story that went viral nationally, by the way.

This from reader Gordon Taylor: "Drug ODs cannot be ignored. Feelings to ignore result from the all-too-common public attitude of categorizing all ODs as the sole fault of the victim and therefore not the state's responsibility. We call ourselves a Christian nation. Such an attitude belies that claim.

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“All addicts did not get there by the same route. Many were treated by their physician in an improper manner with opioid painkillers, which practice led many to their addiction. You can’t very well apply a test for the victim’s level of culpability on the spot of the emergency. Many physicians were unduly influenced to prescribe opioids irresponsibly by drug manufacturers who profited grossly.

“The victim has family members who love him/her and in many cases depend on him/her for putting food on the table and a roof over their heads,” he writes.

Your thoughts? Email rrollins@coxohio.com.

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