[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 17 (Wednesday, February 1, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E122-E124]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     RECOGNIZING FAMILIES IMPACTED BY THE NATIONAL OPIOID EPIDEMIC

                                  _____
                                 

                           HON. ANN M. KUSTER

                            of new hampshire

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 1, 2017

  Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to include in 
the Record the personal stories of families from across the country 
that have been impacted by the opioid and heroin epidemic. In the U.S. 
we lose 129 lives per day to opioid and heroin overdose. In my home 
state of New Hampshire I have learned so many heartbreaking stories of 
great people and families who have suffered from the effects of 
substance use disorder.
  Earlier this year, my colleagues and I were joined by many of these 
courageous families who came to Washington to share their stories

[[Page E123]]

with Members of Congress and push for action that will prevent 
overdoses and save lives. Since then, we passed both the Comprehensive 
Addiction and Recovery Act and the 21st Century Cures Act to provide 
much needed funding and critical policy changes to fight this epidemic.
  The advocacy of these families truly is so important to leading 
change in Washington and I am proud to preserve their stories.

            Victor Benjamin Surma--Bridgeville, Pennsylvania

       Victor Benjamin Surma was born July 20, 1983. He died on 
     January 26, 2014 from a heroin overdose. Victor was an 
     excellent athlete. At the age of 15 he fractured his spine 
     playing football. The orthopedic surgeon prescribed 
     oxycodone. Prior to being prescribed a narcotic, Victor did 
     not drink or use drugs. Victor was a fly fisherman, 
     outdoorsman, excellent mogul skier. He was a good student and 
     he had a bright future. Victor played football at a Division 
     I college. His third year, he quit the team.
       Victor struggled with substance abuse. His parents were 
     unaware that prescription drugs would be highly addictive 
     because of the history of drug and alcohol abuse in both of 
     their families. Education and prevention, especially for 
     families with genetic predisposition to abuse is essential 
     knowledge, beginning at the earliest age for children.
       Victor had a dual major in college in business and 
     communications. He was a successful campaign model during and 
     after college, and an orthopedic sales representative for 
     Smith and Nephew. Victor was awarded ``Rookie'' of the year 
     in sales nationwide. To maintain his ability to work, Victor 
     would drive an hour after a 10 hour day of working in the 
     hospital to find a doctor who would give him suboxone. The 
     effort to obtain suboxone daily exhausted Victor physically 
     and mentally. He could only work with the daily dose of 
     suboxone, but could not function without having a doctor 
     closer to his home. No one could.
       Victor could not stop using prescription drugs. He fought 
     like a soldier to stop the urges to use drugs. Victor also 
     was uninformed in thinking he was weak and was shamed because 
     of his drug habit.
       Victor went to Caron Rehab, Gateway Rehab, Wonderland 
     Rehab, two rehab facilities in Florida, Mountainside Rehab, 
     and the last rehab was associated with Harvard Medical 
     Center. Admittance to emergency room care when he voluntarily 
     required life saving intervention was denied. His parents 
     accompanied Victor to Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh, 
     Pennsylvania. The blood test indicated so many drugs in 
     Victor's system that he qualified for admittance. However, 
     there were not enough beds. They left not knowing what to do 
     and Victor continued using.
       Victor got two DUI's and lost his license for two years 
     within a week of being denied admittance to Mercy Hospital. 
     He lost his lucrative job, all his accumulated money in bank 
     accounts, his two cars, and became so desperate and ashamed 
     he went into a downward spiral. Isolation from friends, 
     family, and society was heart-wrenching.
       Once his source of income was depleted, Victor started 
     using heroin. At this point he qualified for methadone. His 
     parents would drive Victor to the methadone clinic, and it 
     was at the clinic where he made the acquaintance of a drug 
     dealer. Victor was aware of the seriousness of drug dealing 
     and would not participate. However, Victor had fallen so low 
     that his parents paid a huge amount of money for him to go to 
     a Harvard affiliated drug program.
       Victor was clean for 6 months prior to his overdose. He 
     humbled himself to work in retail, walk to work, and his 
     parents were his only social life. At the Harvard affiliated 
     rehab, Victor obtained a sponsor and the doctor advised 
     Victor's parents to support his move to an apartment in New 
     York City.
       When Victor died, he was alone. The autopsy indicated a 
     small amount of heroin and cocaine, but because he had not 
     been using for 6 months it hit him like a freight train. The 
     NYPD discovered his sponsor was a drug dealer from Long 
     Island, NY. The phone records indicate the sponsor called 
     Victor at 3 a.m. the morning of his overdose.
       After his death, the community did not know what to say to 
     his family. It was horrible for them not to have support even 
     in light of Victor's death. Addiction was perceived as a 
     weakness, poor parenting, not as a disease.
       Victor's parents hope is to give support to other parents 
     and families who are isolated and have a loved one suffering 
     from substance abuse disorder. Insurance companies must step 
     up and cover treatment. Treatment needs to be more than 28 
     days. If Victor's parents had known that he may have had a 
     chance to live with this disease with the help of extended 
     rehab, they would have done anything possible to facilitate 
     Victor's recovery. His family looks at Victor's death as a 
     wasted, tragic loss of a loving, intelligent, compassionate, 
     and vital person for this world.
       Victor's family misses him every second of every day. 
     Losing a child to drug overdose is another stab in their 
     hearts as support and compassion recognizing addiction as a 
     disease is nil. Only through legislation, education and 
     insurance participation can we as a society stop this fatal 
     disease.

             Kelsey Suzanne Vaudreuil--Wellington, Florida

       Kelsey Suzanne was born August 25, 1991, in West Palm 
     Beach, Florida, but lived most of her life in her hometown of 
     Wellington. Growing up, Kelsey was a sweet, soft spoken child 
     who made friends easily. She had two brothers, Korey and 
     Austin, whom she loved with all of her heart. In Kelsey's 
     pre-teen years she loved the baton and was very involved with 
     a discipleship group from church, which strengthened her 
     faith and wisdom in God.
       At age 16, Kelsey began working at a small town movie 
     theatre in Wellington--sadly, that is where her opiate use 
     began. From there on, Kelsey then graduated from smoking 
     opiates to using heroin. For seven years, off and on, Kelsey 
     was in and out of detox clinics, treatment centers, 
     residential facilities, hospitals, and halfway houses. 
     Kelsey's mother was her biggest cheerleader; she loved, 
     encouraged, and begged her to stop using and to try again. No 
     matter how Kelsey felt her mother kept pushing her with God's 
     love and her own.
       There was probably around seven or eight times her mother 
     allowed Kelsey to live at home, but only if she promised 
     she'd stay clean and not use. This privilege would end if she 
     used drugs. Sadly, after a short stint at home, Kelsey 
     started using again. Her mother unfortunately had to ask her 
     to leave--how that killed her to have her child leave without 
     knowing where or who she would go to but the boundaries had 
     to be put in place.
       Kelsey had lost her father in March of 2011, which broke 
     both her and her brothers' hearts. Kelsey's mother believe 
     this intensified her drug use. Even though Kelsey said she 
     was okay, she always had that big beautiful smile of hers 
     that covered so much pain. Kelsey also miscarried her son, 
     Mason, at four months along. This was devastating for her; 
     the shame and guilt she carried was overwhelming.
       In 2012, Kelsey was almost a year sober and living in an 
     all-girls halfway house. There she built strong sober 
     relationships and learned to manage her life and her 
     addictions. She was working a full time job at a cafe, which 
     she really enjoyed and the customers loved her. Her mother 
     was so very proud and happy for her. Kelsey later left the 
     halfway house and moved into an apartment with a friend, only 
     to end three short months later after relapsing.
       On December 17, 2014, at 6:10 a.m., Kelsey's mother 
     received a knock on my door from a policeman, who handed her 
     a small piece of paper and told her to call the Lantana 
     Police Department. She truly thought to herself, ``Oh, Kelsey 
     must have gotten into trouble.'' The detective on the other 
     end of the phone said, ``Ma'am I'm sorry to tell you your 
     daughter, Kelsey Suzanne Vaudreuil is deceased.'' Kelsey 
     passed away in a motel room--how that broke her mother's 
     heart. She'll never know what truly happened that night, but 
     the autopsy report said it was a multiple intoxication, 
     accidental overdose. Kelsey's little frame just couldn't 
     handle anymore poison but in God's great Mercy, he took her 
     home at 2:50 a.m. in that small motel room.
       ``Drug use has plagued my family for years,'' writes 
     Kelsey's mother. ``Kelsey's passing has changed mine, my 
     family's, and friend's lives forever. It's a loss that I can 
     never truly find the right words to express other than to say 
     it's a void in my heart that cannot be filled.''
       ``Addiction is a horrible disease and drugs don't care 
     anything about you. If you are in active drug use, please 
     reach out! Don't isolate yourself; there's no shame. 
     Remember, YOU ARE LOVED!''

                Justin Wolfe--Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

       Justin was intelligent, kind, thoughtful, loving, caring 
     and loved life to the fullest. However, Justin's story is 
     similar to most who have an addiction, and that is he began 
     drinking at 15 and eventually moved on to other substances, 
     which was learned while he was in college. Justin in his 
     younger years played soccer, ice hockey, street hockey, 
     lacrosse and did karate. He attended Drexel and Syracuse 
     Universities, respectively, but mid-year was dismissed from 
     each due to aberrant behavior. Justin saw therapists as a 
     result of his aberrant behavior and drinking since he was 15 
     years old. However, they thought it was his anxiety, OCD and 
     behavior, not realizing he had a hidden addiction. His dream 
     was to complete college and become a successful businessman. 
     However, the punishments, reprimands and good parenting did 
     not halt Justin's behavior of what we later learned was a 
     deep seated addiction.
       In April of 2012, Justin approached his mother and admitted 
     that he was addicted to Percocet and Oxycontin. She took him 
     to their family physician and during the appointment, Justin 
     asked the doctor not to tell me about his issues, claiming 
     that the news would ``kill me.'' The physician told his 
     mother to take Justin to a crisis center immediately for 
     treatment, but Justin convinced her, without the doctor's 
     knowledge, to take him to a suboxone doctor that he had found 
     instead.
       Two months later his father was finally informed, against 
     Justin's wishes, about his addiction to Percocets. He 
     demanded that Justin go to an inpatient rehab but he said as 
     a 21 year old he could make his own decision; he didn't want 
     to go to an inpatient facility for fear of being exposed to 
     more dangerous drugs, such as heroin and crack cocaine. 
     Unbeknownst to us, he had been using heroin for quite some 
     time at that point. Eventually, he agreed to participate in 
     an outpatient treatment program for the summer and began 
     weekly psychiatric visits.

[[Page E124]]

     While he was in the program Justin's father contacted the 
     intake director to inquire about his progress. He was 
     informed that they could not disclose any information under 
     HIPAA regulations. The following September Justin attended 
     Temple University as a sophomore and joined a wonderful 
     fraternity AEPI. He continued to see a psychiatrist and 
     things seemed to be going well, which made his passing on 
     December 19th, 2012, all the more shocking to his family.
       Justin's father explained Justin's history of substance 
     abuse to the psychiatrist who tried to counsel him and 
     monitor his prescriptions for depression, anxiety, and OCD. 
     After Justin passed away his father learned that he hadn't 
     disclosed his heroin addiction--except to say that he had 
     tried it once.
       Throughout Justin's time in college, he made friends who 
     had also been in and out rehab, including one boy who was 
     attending pharmacy school, a local judge's son who worked for 
     a Governor, and an attorney's son. These examples demonstrate 
     how addiction is indiscriminate--its devastation reaches all 
     ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds. When his family 
     found out that Justin had passed away from an overdose of 
     heroin, the entire family was shocked. Only upon further 
     investigation did his father learn that heroin is rampant in 
     our communities--killing our children and destroying the 
     lives of their families.
       ``We, as a society, need to advance education in schools at 
     every grade level regarding the dangers of abusing opiates 
     and the slim recovery rates of those who become addicted,'' 
     writes Justin's father.
       ``It seems as though no one speaks about their family's 
     struggle with addiction due to embarrassment or shame. 
     However, within two months of my son's death, I spoke to well 
     over 25 parents who came forward with stories similar to 
     mine--several stints of rehab-- only to lose their child to 
     an overdose. Many families I have spoken to could no longer 
     afford the high costs of treatment; their insurance would 
     only cover a limited period of rehabilitation.''
       Justin was not violent and would never intentionally hurt a 
     soul, but his addiction hurt and endangered the lives of 
     those close to him, including his younger brother. I thank 
     God that Justin never hurt anyone on the road. I have 
     pictures of his apartment that demonstrate how he was living 
     at college; there were cigarette burns on his bedding from 
     all of the times he nodded out.
       No one could save Justin--not his family, friends, nor 
     Justin himself, but it is his father's hope that with much 
     needed change, Justin's tragedy and his advocacy can help to 
     save millions of young lives. Since Justin's passing, his 
     father has spoken to close to a thousand parents and children 
     regarding opiate and heroin abuse in order to bring 
     awareness, education and prevention amongst our communities. 
     If there is one pertinent fact that he can bring to the 
     forefront, that is for every parent to have a Power of 
     Attorney, a Medical Directive for their 18 year old so they 
     are made aware of their symptoms, medical condition and are 
     apprised of every step throughout their young adult's care.

              Bradley Michael Zulick--Butler, Pennsylvania

       Bradley Michael Zulick was born August 21, 1986, in Butler, 
     Pennsylvania. As a child, he always made his family laugh and 
     brought joy and laughter to everyone lucky enough to know 
     him. His friends and family describe him as funny, 
     thoughtful, and a polite young man. He was loving, kind-
     hearted and was a spirit lifter, with a contagious 
     personality and smile. Brad was also a fantastic athlete, a 
     great friend, and everyone's best friend. He was truly one of 
     a kind. Brad loved everyone, and everyone loved him. His 
     family meant the world to him. Brad also enjoyed spending 
     time with his friends' children.
       Throughout Brad's short life, one of his biggest interests 
     was sports--whether he was participating or simply watching, 
     he was always engaged. In high school, he excelled at 
     football, basketball, and track, and also enjoyed playing 
     golf. Even when he was older he still participated in small-
     sided football games, church basketball leagues, dek hockey, 
     and baseball games. No one knew more about sports than Brad, 
     which helped him to become an outstanding sports trivia 
     player.
       Every year Brad played in the Lyndora Turkey Bowl, a 
     neighborhood football game held on Thanksgiving Day, where 
     the younger guys played against the older generation. Brad 
     enjoyed these games so much. He also was a passionate 
     supporter of Pitt Panther football and regularly attended 
     games with his dad, sister, cousins, and friends. Pitt games 
     are precious memories of times spent with Brad.
       Brad loved music; going to concerts with his close friends 
     was what he looked forward to more than anything. In school, 
     history was Brad's favorite subject. He studied history at 
     Indiana University of Pennsylvania and went on to receive his 
     associate's degree from Butler County Community College on 
     May 19, 2009. We were all so proud of him for this 
     accomplishment. It seemed Brad's life would be everything he 
     dreamed it could be. We all were so hopeful that he would 
     have a bright future.
       However, around the time Brad graduated from college, he 
     became addicted to prescription pills. ``I knew there was a 
     problem,'' writes his mother. ``But because I was naive, I 
     didn't know exactly what was wrong. Brad was becoming moody 
     and depressed--the total opposite of the laid-back young man 
     he always was in the past.''
       In January of 2014, Brad admitted his addiction to 
     prescription pills and asked for help. It was believed he was 
     using heroin at that time, but he didn't admit it. His 
     mother's heart broke as she watched Brad sobbing because of 
     the shame and guilt he felt from his addiction. He told her 
     he was lost. His family tried so hard to help him. Brad went 
     into treatment three times. He always believed he could 
     overcome his struggles with addiction but his mother never 
     truly understood how hard it really was for him.
       The saddest day of her life was March 17, 2016--the day 
     Brad lost his battle with addiction. He passed away from an 
     overdose of heroin laced with Fentanyl. Brad's parents lost 
     their baby, their only son that day. Their daughter, Kelly, 
     lost her only sibling and best friend. They all are 
     struggling with the grief of such a huge loss.

                          ____________________