West Virginian Jessie Grubb fought a long battle against opioid addiction. She nearly won. But the 30-year-old woman fell through one of the many cracks in how we Americans handle substance abuse, and it killed her.
During a town hall meeting on substance abuse last fall in Charleston, President Barack Obama heard Grubb's story from her father. For seven years, the Charleston man explained, his daughter had battled addiction to opioids. By last fall she seemed to have made dramatic progress.
But then, earlier this year while living in Michigan, she suffered an injury. A doctor, unaware of her history of struggling with opioids, wrote her a prescription for 50 pills to help her with the pain. They were oxycodone, an opioid.
Jessie Grubb died of an oxycodone overdose.
This week, U.S. Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Shelley Capito, R-W.Va., related Grubb's story in announcing they have introduced a bill, "Jessie's Law," that may save lives.
If enacted, the measure would require that if patients consent, their medical records would display prominent notices of their substance abuse histories.
Almost undoubtedly, the Michigan doctor would not have prescribed oxycodone had he seen such information on Grubb's medical records. Her family had informed the hospital, but the word never filtered down to the doctor.
All too frequently, cracks such as this in how we handle substance abuse are discovered. Often they are simple things, correctible with relative ease.
"Jessie's Law" ought to be enacted. We need to close that crack - then be diligent in looking for others to be sealed.
The fall through these cracks, after all, is a long one often ending in death.