Even as we Rhode Islanders cope with the unprecedented challenges under the novel coronavirus COVID-19 quarantine and threat of illness, another ongoing serious and devastating medical and social crisis cannot be forgotten: the opioid epidemic that continues to have thousands of Rhode Island families under siege.
This May, Rhode Island PBS encores the documentary, THE FIX: EXAMINING RHODE ISLAND’S OPIOID EPIDEMIC, produced by Kim Keough, director of production at Rhode Island PBS. The film takes an in-depth look at the effects opioid use has on our communities, from parents losing children to overdose, to the paramedics who deal with accidental overdoses every day. The program also looks at the Governor’s Overdose Prevention and Intervention Task Force, and innovative tools in place and efforts community-wide to aid recovery and prevent overdose.
THE FIX: EXAMINING RHODE ISLAND’S OPIOID EPIDEMICairs Friday, May 8 at 8 p.m., Saturday, May 9 at noon and 11 p.m., and Sunday, May 10 at 7 p.m.
Guests interviewed for the show include (in alphabetical order):
- Francesca Beaudoin, MD – director of clinical research in the Department of Emergency Medicine, Alpert Medical School of Brown University
- Geoff Capraro, MD, MPH – assistant professor of emergency medicine, Alpert Medical School of Brown University, and inventor of NaloxBox
- Jennifer Clarke, MD, MPH – medical programs director, Adult Correctional Institution
- Tom Coderre – senior advisor to the Governor’s Overdose Prevention and Intervention Task Force, former Obama administration appointee to SAMHSA
- Ryan Dennis – currently in active recovery and MAT program
- Jim Dorroh – PONI volunteer and naloxone trainer
- Linda Hurley, MA, CAGS, LCDCS – president and CEO of CODAC
- Maureen Kershaw – Rhode Island mother who lost one son to overdose and has two other sons in recovery
- Brandon Marshall, PhD – special advisor to the Overdose Prevention and Intervention Task Force, and associate professor of epidemiology at Brown University School of Public Health
- James McDonald, MD, MPH – chief administrative officer of the Board of Medical Licensure and Discipline for the Rhode Island Department of Health (HEALTH)
- Michelle Taylor, MS, CAGS, LMHC – director of Outpatient, HIV and Re-entry Services at Community Care Alliance (CCA)
- Gary Zeman – peer recovery specialist at CCA, also in active recovery
Local broadcast of THE FIX: Examining Rhode Island's Opioid Epidemic is made possible in part by
