Device could aid heroin addiction recovery

A device that sends electric impulses to the brain to block pain signals is a key part of a new program being piloted in Greenwood meant to help drug users kick their addiction.

The program isn’t the first to use Bridge, a device created by a company in Versailles in southern Indiana, but it is the first court program to use it, local officials said.

To start, the program will be offered to people on probation in Greenwood’s drug court. But the goal is to expand it to all county courts and eventually to people when they are arrested on drug-related charges, Johnson County Prosecutor Brad Cooper said.

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If people successfully complete the program, their convictions could be erased from their record, Cooper said.

By doing that, the program would not only address the person’s addiction but also their criminal conviction, which could prevent them from getting jobs or other opportunities, Cooper said.

Greenwood is piloting the program, starting with a $7,000 grant and funding collected from probation fees that offenders pay. Officials aren’t yet sure how many offenders will use the program, or exactly when it will be expanded. They first want to see what issues come up that will need to be addressed, and then they will need to find a long-term funding option, they said.

State Sen. Jim Merritt has been working with the company that created the devices, Innovative Health Solutions, for months as part of his commitment to end heroin abuse in the next five years, he said. Merritt, a Republican who represents Hamilton and Marion counties, has proposed 19 pieces of legislation this session dealing with the heroin epidemic, he said.

“It is an aggressive goal,” he said. “This scourge affects everybody.”

“This is something that is strangling the state of Indiana.”

Merritt connected with Cooper after he heard the prosecutor’s story that his sister had died of an overdose eight years ago. Cooper’s personal experience has been a motivation to him to work on local drug programs, such as the Greenwood drug court, which has had more than 400 graduates since it was created in 2013. A recent Indiana University study showed that about 85 percent of graduates had not committed another crime since completing the program, a key measure of success, Greenwood City Court Judge Lewis Gregory said.

Merritt suggested Bridge could be a tool that would help even more, and Cooper agreed, reaching out to Gregory to discuss how to start a local program. Gregory has also seen the impact heroin has had in the community, from the police reports he receives about people overdosing in parking lots, to his neighbor ending up in his court on a drug issue, to his nephew dying of a drug overdose, he said.

“This gives us a weapon in the fight against heroin,” Cooper said.

Here is how the device works: A medical professional implants the device, which is a small piece of plastic behind the ear, with small wires that connect to nerves along the ear. The device blocks pain signals that users would feel going through withdrawal when they stop using opioids, such as heroin.

The device allows users to get past the pain and fear of pain that are often a major obstacle to quitting their drug use, allowing them to get the treatment they need, said Brian Carrico, vice president of sales at Innovative Health Solutions.

Cooper also likes the device because it isn’t replacing heroin with another drug, such as a methadone clinic would, he said.

“You’re not substituting one addiction for another,” Cooper said.

Merritt, who has been around the state and heard stories from all over about the impact of heroin abuse, said Bridge is one tool in the fight against drugs but could be a start to helping people through the judicial system.

Under the Greenwood City Court program, people on probation who are drug users would need to go to their probation officer or a case manager and tell them they have a drug problem and want help. They would need to ask for that help before they fail a random drug test through the probation program, Gregory said.

Once they ask for help, they would have the option of getting the Bridge device and detoxing over five days, with the device blocking the pain that typically comes with withdrawal. They would continue drug testing, showing they are not using, and if they were successful, they would be put on Vivitrol, a drug that blocks the receptors in a user’s brain from feeling the effects of an opioid drug. So, even if they took heroin, they wouldn’t get high, Gregory said.

“It’s a means to get people ready to succeed in treatment,” Gregory said.

The final step of the program is counseling, which often is a minimum of 16 weeks, but for many users is longer, Gregory said. The city court currently works with three to four providers for treatment, which offenders pay for, and will continue working with them. If those programs get overloaded, they will likely need to expand, he said.

Probation officers will help monitor the offenders in the program to help determine if it has been successful, Cooper said. If it has, Cooper can have their criminal conviction removed from their record, and he hopes people will be successful, he said.

“This is all uncharted water, so I don’t know what is going to happen,” Cooper said.

Officials don’t question that the device works, but they want to know how it will work in a criminal justice program. One concern is that users will switch to another type of drug, and another is that they will walk away from the program, Gregory said. Those are issues the program will need to address as they come up, he said.

“You have to start somewhere,” Merritt said.

“This will be successful, and then we will talk about it with other counties.”

Merritt has proposed legislation to also start a similar program in Allen County courts, with state funding, and is looking for other communities that want to partner, he said.

About 20 other counties have expressed an interest, Carrico said.

A key issue moving forward will be funding, Gregory said.

Each device costs $495, and implanting it costs about $150 but can vary depending on the medical professional, he said. Greenwood is starting the program with grant and fee funding, and plans to charge the people on the program $10 per week. But his hope is to get state funding in the future if the program is successful, Gregory said.

So far, at least one person is interested in participating. He hopes to reach 25 in the next month, he said.

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Here is a look at the Bridge device:

Manufacturer: Versailles-based Innovative Health Solutions

Cost: $495 per device

How it works: The device is implanted by a medical professional behind the ear, with wires along the ear. Using electrical pulses, it blocks the pain users feel when going through withdrawal.

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