What does fentanyl cost Pa. in dollars? Auditor tries to find out.

In a new report, Auditor General Eugene DePasquale also urged lawmakers to legalize fentanyl test strips so drug users can check for the deadly synthetic substance.

• Katie Meyer
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  Katie Meyer was WITF’s Capitol Bureau Chief from 2016-2020. While at WITF, she covered all things state politics for public radio stations throughout Pennsylvania. Katie came to Harrisburg by way of New York City, where she worked at Fordham University’s public radio station, WFUV, as an anchor, general assignment reporter, and co-host of an original podcast. A 2016 graduate of Fordham, she earned several awards for her work at WFUV, including four 2016 Gracies.
  
  Katie is a native New Yorker, though she originally hails from Troy, a little farther up the Hudson River. She can attest that the bagels are still pretty good there.
  
  WITF's Capitol Bureau Chief Desk is partially funded through generous gifts made in the memory of Tony May through the Anthony J. May Memorial Fund.
  
  For more information about Tony May, click here.

 Matt Rourke / Associated Press

File photo, Jan. 15, 2013.

Matt Rourke / Associated Press

File photo, Jan. 15, 2013.

(Harrisburg) — Pennsylvania’s auditor general says when his team set out to determine how much addiction to opioids—and in particular, the powerful synthetic drug fentanyl—costs Pennsylvania, they immediately ran into some problems.

“It has such a far-reaching impact that determining an accurate total would be nearly impossible,” Eugene DePasquale said.

However, the office did come up with some numbers that contextualize the scale of the problem.

In 2017, at least $178 million from taxpayers went toward Medicaid recipients’ opioid-related hospital stays, DePasquale said—and that doesn’t count costs from people who get aid through other state subsidies, people without health insurance who seek care in emergency rooms, or costs passed on to law enforcement and 911 call centers.

The report also estimates that about two thirds of opioid deaths in the commonwealth are related to fentanyl, says that opioid-related hospital stays were 23 percent more frequent in Pennsylvania than the national average between 2012 and 2016, and notes that HIV diagnoses among people who inject drugs have risen sharply.

There are a few spots of good news.

The Department of Health, for instance, has said the overdose death rate appears to have slowed down—dropping 18 percent from 2017 to 2018.

But DePasquale has recommendations he thinks will lower it more—like legalizing fentanyl test strips so drug users can check for contamination. The strips are currently classified as drug paraphernalia.

“That needs to change, and the general assembly has the power to make that happen,” he said.

Along with some recommendations that the federal government crack down on fentanyl imports, the auditor general also urged state lawmakers to expand access to medication-assisted treatment. Along with behavioral therapy, MAT programs give opioid-addicted people drugs like Suboxone, which blocks the high that opioid use causes and has been shown to aid in recovery.

In the GOP-controlled House, a bill has been introduced that would legalize fentanyl test strips. It is sponsored by a Republican, and appears to have bipartisan support.

A collection of interviews, photos, and music videos, featuring local musicians who have stopped by the WITF performance studio to share a little discussion and sound. Produced by WITF’s Joe Ulrich.

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