Family learns, too late, of the benefit of fighting drug use with medicine

She researched rehabilitation programs and was repeatedly frustrated when insurance wouldn’t cover one aspect of his treatment or another, deeming it medically unnecessary. After he managed to get into, and finish, one such program, the facility offered to put him on suboxone, a drug that reduces a person’s cravings for opioids. It’s part of medication-assisted treatment, or MAT.

Bryan McGinnis, 42, lived in Hampton and died in a gas station bathroom in October 2015, less than 18 hours after he finished a 30-day rehabilitation program. He went to a Narcotics Anonymous meeting the night he left rehab, called his sponsor and talked about the steps he needed to take.

While Michelle McGinnis spends her days dispensing information as Spotsylvania County’s director of community management, telling the world what happened to her brother is another matter. She stressed that’s she’s speaking in a personal capacity, not a professional one, because she wants to educate others about treatment options.

Those who work in facilities that provide MAT, along with counseling and therapy, are well aware of the stigma attached to their programs, said Melissa Brown, community engagement coordinator at Pinnacle Treatment Centers in Spotsylvania. The traditional thought is people aren’t ready for treatment if they still need to use something, she said.

Since October 2017, the Rappahannock Area Community Services Board has offered MAT through funding from the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services. The grant, which RACSB has received for two fiscal years, covers the cost of suboxone, as well as counseling and therapy for 90 days.