Charleston father says Cures Act will provide much needed funding

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Charleston attorney and former state Senator David Grubb said the one thing he wanted to do when he met President Barack Obama last year at a discussion on the drug crisis in Charleston was to thank him. Grubb got that opportunity Tuesday at the White House when he introduced Obama and Vice President Joe Biden at the 21st Cures Act bill signing ceremony.

“With the deepest sense of gratitude and the with the knowledge we are going to miss their leadership and integrity, I would like to introduce to you the president and the vice president of the United States,” Grubb said.

The Cures Act funds a number of drug and health-related efforts including $1 billion in funding for state grants to address the opioid epidemic over two years.

Grubb’s daughter, Jessie, died of a drug overdose March 2, just a few months after Grubb was part of that drug epidemic discussion with President Obama at a community center on Charleston’s East End. Jessie Grubb, 30, had been clean for six months when she died in Michigan after being given pain killers following a hip surgery. Doctors claim they were unaware of her drug addiction and gave her 50 oxycontin pills.

David Grubb said Tuesday the death has changed his life and that of his wife Katherine forever.

“Since that time we have dedicated ourselves to try and fight back against the stigma of opioid addiction and drug addiction so that we can begin the process of treating this as the disease as it is and not just something that needs to be dealt with through the criminal justice system,” he said.

U.S. Senator Joe Manchin attended Tuesday’s bill signing ceremony.

“I was proud to be there with David Grubb as the President signed into law critical funding that will help millions of Americans like his daughter Jessie,” Manchin said. “The funding will go a long way in fighting the opioid epidemic and I’m glad that this legislation was signed into law.”

Third District Congressman Evan Jenkins said the Cure Act will provide funding for prevention, treatment and care.

“This is a much-needed step to help West Virginians live healthy, drug-free lives, and to stop the spread of opioids and illegal drugs throughout our communities,” Jenkins said.

According to Manchin’s office, some of the other provisions in the 21st Century Cures Act will:

• Provide $4.8 billion between FY17-FY20 to National Institutes of Health, including: $1.4 billion for President Obama’s Precision Medicine Initiative to drive research into the genetic, lifestyle and environmental variations of disease; $1.8 billion for Vice President Biden’s “Cancer Moonshot” to speed research; and $1.6 billion for the BRAIN initiative to improve our understanding of diseases like Alzheimer’s.

• Strengthen pediatric and high risk/high reward medical research.

• Support a “Eureka Prize Competition” to foster research that could realize significant advancements in health outcomes and disease treatments.

• Modernize and strengthens grants for providing mental health services, promotes evidence-based practices, and strengthens mental health parity provisions to ensure that insurance companies treat mental health problems on par with physical health problems. It also expands Medicaid coverage of mental health services.





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