In the News

Yang, along with LHS senior Michelle Tom and 10 other students, organized and promoted the Lexington Climate Strike, which took place on Friday, Sept. 20.

At 10 a.m., hundreds of students walked out of class and gathered on the LHS football field, holding signs with messages like “Our Future is Not for Profit,” and ‘Denial is Over!’ The students were also joined by older members of the Lexington community. State Representative Michelle Ciccolo and State Senators Mike Barrett and Cindy Friedman were also in attendance.

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Members of the Massachusetts Sheriffs’ Association has launched what it calls a landmark initiative providing expanded medication-assisted treatment options to those with opioid-use disorder at correctional facilities in seven counties.

“While we need to continue our efforts to end the criminalization of substance use disorder and mental illness, we must do everything we can to meet the needs of those who are currently incarcerated,” said Sen. Cindy F. Friedman (D-Arlington), who helped champion the 2018 comprehensive opioid treatment bill that established the pilot.  “The creation of this program is an important and ground-breaking step toward addressing substance use disorder within corrections so that people can get the medication they need and have the opportunity to recover. I want to thank my Senate colleagues, the Governor, the Massachusetts Sheriffs’ Association, and all of the stakeholders involved for their collaboration and commitment to making this program a reality.”

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ARLINGTON — A standing room only crowd packed the Regent Theatre in Arlington for a panel on substance abuse and the premiere screening of the short documentary “Shattered” about the life of former professional hockey player Kevin Stevens.

The panelists included Stevens, two-time Stanley Cup champion and recovering addict, state Senator Cindy Friedman of Arlington, Dr. Michael Hamrock, addiction specialist from St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, and Becky Savage, a self-professed hockey mom and educator, who lost her two hockey sons to OxyContin overdose at a graduation party from South Bend, Indiana.

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In a major shift in how jails are treating prisoners with drug addiction, seven county jails began a pilot program Sept. 1 in which they will offer inmates all three FDA-approved forms of medication-assisted treatment for opioid addiction. Since Sunday, the seven jails have provided medication to around 100 inmates.

Sen. Cindy Friedman, D-Arlington, who helped craft the pilot program as last year’s chairwoman of the Joint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery, said nearly 75% of those incarcerated in county jails have a substance use problem. Friedman said jailing people for addiction has not worked; the system must offer treatment. Providing medication-assisted treatment in jail, she said, “provides people with a pathway to recovery and helps reduce recidivism throughout the system.’’

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For the past several years, a frequent topic of discussion by employers in our state has centered around the workforce crisis. From hospitality to health care, nearly all sectors are facing a shortage of workers, particularly for entry-level positions. Sadly, what’s become a crisis for many private businesses has become a catastrophe for the community-based human services sector, which is experiencing vacancies at alarmingly high rates.

There is, however, a glimmer of hope. Two bills, House 138, sponsored by state Rep. Kay Khan, and Senate 1077, sponsored by state Sen. Cindy Friedman, are being discussed on Beacon Hill. Senate 1077 addresses fair pay for comparable work.

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State Sen. Cindy Friedman was among the lawmakers who spent months studying ways to reduce the death toll from opioid overdoses. And she did not parse words when presenting findings Wednesday: the state has an “obligation” to pilot a supervised injection site, as a commission recommended.

“I know that the idea of safe consumption sites is uncomfortable to many, but if they are proven to save lives, then we have an obligation to at least give them a try,” Sen. Cindy Friedman, D-Arlington, a member of the Harm Reduction Commission, told a committee July 24. “Lives are at stake and we cannot wait any longer.”

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The state commission that Secretary of Health and Human Services, Marylou Sudders, led ultimately found supervised drug consumption sites help prevent overdose deaths and stop the spread of disease, recommending a pilot program for one or more sites as long as they “receive local approval and include a rigorous evaluation of the outcomes for individuals and impact on the surrounding area and municipality.”

“There is the whole legal issue, OK. But parallel to that it’s all of the work you have to do to set up a pilot so that it is successful,” said Friedman, who said that would mean working with local stakeholders. “We still have to do that work. And we’re not going to shove this down anybody’s throat. No legislation’s going to say, ‘You have to open a safe consumption site.”

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Legislators voted in favor of new policies to curb the cost of prescription drugs in the state Medicaid program, putting their stamp on a plan initially laid out by Governor Charlie Baker in January. Consumer advocates applauded the compromise, while drug company lobbyists indicated they could live with it.

The drug pricing rules were among the most controversial pieces of the state budget plan. Senator Cindy Friedman, one of six lawmakers who negotiated the budget deal, said the compromise is close to what Baker first proposed. “I do suspect the governor will like it,” she said. “We truly believe this is going to save money and add some transparency so we understand better why drugs cost what they do,” Friedman added.”

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There is growing consensus among addiction specialists that substance use disorder is an illness, not a crime — and that treatment should be delivered in a health facility, not a jail. In 2016, Gov. Charlie Baker signed a bill ending the practice of treating civilly committed women in prisons. The women were moved to secure treatment facilities run through the departments of public health and mental health. A bill pending in the Legislature would do the same for men.

One of the bill’s sponsors, Sen. Cindy Friedman, D-Arlington, said someone who is ill does not belong in a correctional facility. “Section 35 is not a crime,” Friedman said. “Correctional facilities have very different reasons for existing. They have very different missions. People who are Section 35 are people who are ill, and they don’t belong in prison.”

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A recent study revealed that out of 360 psychiatrists listed on Blue Cross Blue Shield’s (BCBS) in-network provider portal in Houston, Chicago, and Boston, 74% were completely inaccessible because the contact information listed was inaccurate.  In fact, many of the phone numbers rang through to other businesses.  If a doctor was reached, the office didn’t accept BCBS or were not accepting new patients even though the list specified they were. 

Massachusetts state Senator Cindy Friedman has been working towards getting insurance companies to update their provider lists for some time, ensuring they have accurate contact information.  She said, “They’ve known about this for a long time and they haven’t done anything about it.  It’s difficult not to assume that this kind of barrier is intentional.”

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