Opioid epidemic: Anti-addiction drug Vivitrol now offered to inmates at Bergen County Jail

HACKENSACK — Thomas Sussina never had a chance.

After he was introduced to opioids at age 11 by his drug-addicted mother, Sussina’s heroin habit eventually strengthened to a 60-bag-per-day tsunami that left him sleeping under a Paterson bridge in between drug runs to Rosa Parks Boulevard.

But Sussina, of Vernon, decided he’d had enough after a December arrest landed him in the Bergen County Jail for the second time in three years. He joined the jail’s drug treatment program and is now the second county inmate to take part in a new initiative that offers counseling and shots of Vivitrol — a drug that temporarily keeps addicts from getting high by blocking opioid receptors in the brain — to prisoners nearing their release date.

Sussina, 24, said Vivitrol, also known by its generic name, naltrexone, is tailor-made for him.

“To be able to have something to lower my cravings — it’s just perfect,” he said. “That’s the thing that drives us addicts out.”

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County jails across the region are starting similar programs with the goal of keeping former inmates clean by giving the shot as close to prisoners’ release date as possible. Because Vivitrol's effects last for only about four weeks, several non-profits in Passaic and Bergen counties are arranging for further shots and ongoing drug counseling after the inmate leaves jail.

Michael Saudino, the Bergen County sheriff, called the program a team effort.

“We know we’re in an epidemic,” Saudino said. “Anything and everything we can do to save as many as we possibly can — I’m on board.”

It’s a step in the right direction, said Erin Zerbo, an assistant professor in the psychiatry department at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School.

“Without medications, you see very high death rates, mostly from overdose deaths,” Zerbo said. “So by far the most important thing we can do for patients with opioid addiction is to offer them medication-assisted treatment.”

The county pays for the shots, which cost more than $1,000 each, with money from a $190,000 state grant it received last year, said Patrick Hughes, who oversees the program as the director of behavioral health services for the Sheriff’s Office.

Nine other county correctional facilities, including the Passaic County Jail, received similar amounts for medication-assisted treatment as part of former Gov. Chris Christie's $200 million plan to expand programs and services that fight the state's opioid addiction, according to the state Department of Corrections.

Addicts must be clean for more than seven days before taking Vivitrol — meaning it likely isn’t a good option for those desperate to avoid withdrawal sickness.

But in jail, addicts are forced to kick the habit anyway, making the prison population an ideal recipient.

“It’s the perfect place for it,” Hughes said.

Richard Berdnik, the Passaic County sheriff, said his department is hoping to start a similar program in March after its first shipment of Vivitrol arrives. The Passaic County Sheriff’s Office will give the first shot, he said. And Eva’s Village, a Paterson non-profit, will provide the next two, as well as further counseling.

“It’s a great program,” Berdnik said. “The purpose here is to avoid the individual lapsing and either going back to narcotics or slipping and coming back to jail. The purpose here is to educate.”

Morris County officials are set to meet with Vivitrol later this month to discuss the creation of their own program, said Chris Klein, warden of the Morris County Correctional Facility.

In Bergen, a doctor will give Sussina the shot just before his March 19 release. And two non-profits — Hackensack-based Transition Professionals and Comprehensive Behavioral Healthcare Inc. in Lyndhurst — will help secure for Sussina necessities like a place to stay, possible employment, future shots and further counseling.

Only one other Bergen County inmate has gone through the program, Hughes said. Released five weeks ago, the former inmate is working full-time and living independently. He’s received his second Vivitrol dose, Hughes said, and “so far, so good.”

Pete Scerbo, executive director of Comprehensive Behavioral Healthcare, said a staffer from the organization meets with inmates before their discharge to get acquainted and learn their treatment history.

Once released, Scerbo said, the former addicts will get their shots and counseling through his organization.

“Vivitrol is kind of like the silver bullet,” Scerbo said. “It’s a real alternative to help individuals maintain their sobriety.”

Former Gov. Jim McGreevey, who heads the non-profit New Jersey Reentry Corporation, called the sheriff’s program a bold but necessary step.

“This is what physicians and addiction specialists are calling for nationally,” McGreevey said. “There are counties taking similar steps, but Bergen County’s program is bold not only for providing the shot, but for providing for the comprehensive treatment once the client is in the community.”

Bergen officials prescreen eligible inmates, all of whom are in the jail’s Drug Rehabilitation Center, said Bonnie O’Brien, executive director of Transition Professionals. Only inmates deemed serious about their recovery will be given Vivitrol.

Saudino, the Bergen County sheriff, echoed the often-repeated line that police can’t arrest their way out of the heroin problem. And if the county’s medication-assisted treatment program helps former inmates stay clean, officials must devote more money to it, he said.

“All elected officials — state, federal — they all recognize the epidemic,” Saudino said. “If this is proven to help people, there needs to be money budgeted. Because it’s all about money. We need the financing. If you truly want to help this, you know what? Fund this. So we can do it the right way.”

Email: janoski@northjersey.com