HUNTINGTON — In 2015, David Grubb stood in a community center gym in Charleston and told President Barack Obama about his daughter, Jessica.
Jessica Grubb had died of an overdose in Michigan after being prescribed pain medication following a knee surgery. She was in recovery from opioid addiction, and despite letting doctors know she was in recovery, it was still not listed on her chart and the discharging doctor prescribed her 50 oxycodone pills.
Since that day in 2015, West Virginia’s senators Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito have introduced bills to help ensure the Grubbs’ family story is not repeated.
Tuesday, the senators reintroduced the Protecting Jessica Grubb’s Legacy Act to change existing privacy regulations, known as 42 CFR Part 2, surrounding medical records for those suffering with substance use disorder. The goal of the legislation is to save lives by ensuring that medical providers do not accidentally give opioids to individuals in recovery like in the case of Jessica Grubb. In order to ensure all parties involved are supported and heard in the implementation of this legislation, the reintroduction of the Legacy Act has several significant changes when compared with the version introduced earlier this Congress.
“No family or community should ever have to go through the senseless and preventable tragedy that Jessica Grubb and her family had to endure,” Manchin said in a press release. “That is why today we are reintroducing this critical legislation, the Protecting Jessica Grubb’s Legacy Act. This bipartisan bill is essential to combating the opioid epidemic and ensuring that these painful deaths are prevented. By making changes to the existing regulations regarding the medical records of patients with substance use disorder, we can save thousands of lives. No one should go to the doctor expecting to receive help and instead be thrown back into the nightmare of addiction. We must do more to combat this crisis as a country. The Legacy Act will help make sure we are combating this epidemic, not contributing to it.”
“The story of Jessie Grubb shows us how tragic this addiction epidemic truly is, and the effects that it has on families across West Virginia,” Capito said in the release. “Enacting the Legacy Act in Jessie’s memory would ensure that all members of a patient’s treatment team have access to a person’s history of addiction, which would ultimately help us improve care coordination. Additionally, we would be taking a step in the right direction to remove the stigma behind opioid addiction, and help those who are struggling with substance abuse to receive the vital care that they need. My heart goes out to Jessie’s family, and I am confident that we can continue her legacy by helping prevent more senseless deaths in our communities.”
The law would compliment “Jessie’s Law,” which was included in the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act and was signed into law in 2018. It directs the Department of Health and Human Services to develop best practices for prominently displaying a history of opioid use disorder in the patient’s medical records.
“While nothing can ever replace Jessie in our lives, it is comforting to know that other families will not have to endure similar pain,” said David Grubb.
Ceci Connolly, president and CEO of Alliance of Community Health Plans, said in the release current practice, though well intentioned, are outdated and do not reflect how care is delivered today.
The Protecting Jessica Grubb’s Legacy Act is also sponsored by Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Doug Jones (D-AL), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Susan Collins (R-ME), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR).