U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen implores U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. not to slash funding for naloxone in a letter the Colorado congresswoman sent Monday.
The medication has proven extremely effective in stopping opioid overdoses, a leading cause of death among young people. The Lakewood Democrat personalized her letter, which was shared with The Denver Post ahead of it being sent to Kennedy, by invoking the traumatic experience her mother went through battling a decades-long addiction to pain pills after suffering a back injury.
“In one year alone, my mom overdosed more than 20 times and even overdosed three times in a single day. But she is one of the lucky ones,” Pettersen wrote. “Time and time again, she was administered naloxone, and eventually, she was finally able to receive the treatment she needed.”
The congresswoman asked for a meeting or a phone call with the Cabinet secretary to “discuss how to best help people survive this epidemic and get into recovery.”
The Trump administration is in the midst of proposing cuts to HHS’s funding and planning layoffs at the massive health agency as part of a larger effort to dramatically downsize the federal government. In 2023, there were nearly 1,300 overdose deaths due to opioids in Colorado, according to state data.
Specifically, Pettersen asked Kennedy to spare the potential elimination of the Overdose Prevention program and the First Responder Training program under the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration as part of the administration’s fiscal year 2026 budget request.
“As you know, both of these programs expand access to the life-saving drug, naloxone,” she wrote.
Her letter referenced Kennedy’s own struggles with drugs as a young man to make her point.
“As an individual in recovery yourself, I trust that you are as committed as I am to addressing the opioid crisis head on,” Pettersen wrote.
She also invited him to visit Colorado’s 7th Congressional District to observe frontline workers administering naloxone, also known by its brand name Narcan.
Pettersen’s letter acknowledges some recent good news on the drug addiction and overdose front, with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicting a nearly 24% decline in drug overdose deaths in the country for the 12 months ending in September 2024, compared to the previous year.
“Provisional data shows about 87,000 drug overdose deaths from October 2023 to September 2024, down from around 114,000 the previous year,” the agency reported in February. “This is the fewest overdose deaths in any 12-month period since June 2020.”
But Pettersen told Kennedy that “the substance use disorder crisis is far from over, and American lives are at stake.”
“This past August, my mom celebrated her seventh year in recovery, and I couldn’t be prouder of her. She serves as a powerful example of what is possible when people gain access to the treatment and services they need,” Pettersen wrote. “But the truth is, my mom wouldn’t be here if there hadn’t been naloxone on site each time she overdosed.”
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