It took me a while to process this. I have spent much time figuring out how to talk about this tragic human side story in baseball as it is one that, unfortunately, so many can relate to. In February, a federal jury found former Los Angeles Angels Communications Director Eric Kay guilty of two felony counts, which agreed with the government that he distributed fentanyl and caused the death of former Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs.
The opioid epidemic has impacted communities and families across the United States regardless of geographic location, gender, race, or ethnicity. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 841,000 people have died since 1999 from a drug overdose. In 12 months ending in April 2021, the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics found that drug overdose deaths top 100,000 annually. This was a 28.5% increase year over year. Deaths due to synthetic opioids also increased, primarily driven by fentanyl.
I have only known the impact and extent of the opioid epidemic from a distance with my job. Working in mental health and substance use policy full time, I knew the havoc fentanyl has been making across our society. More than 36,000 deaths involving synthetic opioids occurred in the United States in 2019, more deaths than from any other type of opioid. The death rate from synthetic opioids increased by over 15% from 2018 to 2019. When the news first broke about the death of Tyler Skaggs, I remember sitting in my office, not sure how to react. My heart immediately went out to the Skaggs family. Since I didn't have any personal experiences to refer to, I struggled to imagine what they were going through.
Opioids in the Game of Baseball
To see the opioid epidemic impact the game we all love has been challenging. While there might not be a fully public-facing opioid crisis in baseball, the testimonies from several players and staff made many people wonder what was hiding beneath the surface. The trial of Eric Kay raised many questions about how prevalent the use of opioids in Major League Baseball is and who is accountable for the epidemic's impacts on so many humans. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic did a fantastic job covering this topic in his latest articles. As Rosenthal stated, "People throughout the sport, however, are disturbed by the details emerging from the testimony. If an underground culture of substance abuse could exist within the Angels, surely it can exist with other teams."
The game of baseball has always tended to reflect general issues in society, good or bad. Substance use issues have always lingered but also flown underneath the shadows. That is partly due to the stigma associated with substance use issues. Unfortunately, we have made little progress in removing the stigma around substance use disorders. The stigma coupled with the constant pressures of playing professional baseball can lead to a more significant issue if nothing is done to address it. It is why the use of opioids and other substances could easily find its way underneath the surface in Major League Baseball.
Success is great, but it also comes with immense pressure. Often, players feel like they have to play through injuries or pain because they need to be on the field to help their team win. The constant pressure from the team, the media, fans, and other external factors may lead to players making choices that few of us could imagine preserving their spot on the lineup card. It is easy to be the armchair analyst making judgments about what we would or wouldn't do if we were in the same situation. Many of those judgments can come from a place where most of us feel like, "well they are paid to play. This comes with the territory. It is impossible to know unless you are actually in that situation and feel some athletes' pressures.
Understanding Addiction
Research and medical professionals have known that addiction is a complex brain disorder that includes behavioral components for decades. Still, people with addiction continue to be blamed for their disease. The stigma around substance use issues has been so prevalent because we don't understand or can't fully comprehend the situation. The things we don't understand are often what we fear the most. The things we don't comprehend can make us question others' motives. It is why we owe it to ourselves to understand the depths of these situations players find themselves in.
We must understand addiction and the grueling journey of so many individuals. Michael Govier, a fantasy baseball content creator and survivor of opioid use, knows how hard it can be to create support for meaningful change for those struggling with active addiction.
"I watched and supported my brother through his challenge with opioid use. I knew every angle about how to support a loved one, what opioids could do to someone's brain, and how incredibly difficult it was to break free from the vicious grip opioids maintains on a human being. None of my previous experience or knowledge prevented me from becoming addicted to painkillers,” Govier said. "That's when I realized how much of a gap there is in our culture when it comes to understanding the factors for why someone becomes addicted to opioids. Suppose a person like me still didn't understand and became consumed by the allure of painkillers that numb you out from any physical or emotional pain. In that case, the typical person unfamiliar with substance use disorder will rely on antiquated and incorrect measures related to substance use."
The more time we take to learn about drug use and addiction, the more understanding we can be. We can destigmatize substance use issues and let people know it is okay to seek help. We must see the more significant concern before us beyond the individual users and the dealers. It stems from a much larger systemic issue that needs to be addressed. It can be easy to blame those who used and to believe that it is their fault they were using. But that would be a lack of understanding of the more significant issue. By not realizing that more factors are at play for those struggling with addiction and substance use, we limit our ability to gain total clarity on an issue that has taken too many lives of the ones we love.
How Did We Get Here? And Where Do We Go?
The opioid epidemic stems from a long history. It started in the mid-1990s when OxyContin, a strong prescription pain medicine used to manage severe pain, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It triggered the first wave of deaths that were linked to the use of prescription opioids. These prescriptions led to an increase in the misuse of both prescription and non-prescription opioids, like heroin. More people started to realize how highly addictive this medicine was.
The opioid epidemic wreaked havoc on families and communities across the United States. It becomes easy to blame those who use, but regulatory failures, like the approval of Oxycontin, led to the start of this crisis. A company deciding to present a fraudulent description of the drug stating it was less addictive than other opioids led to even further issues. In 2017, way too many years later, the Department of Health and Human Services declared the opioid epidemic a public health emergency.
The crisis reaches outside of the game of baseball, but that doesn't mean Major League Baseball is free of a role to make sure opioids and other substance use issues don't spread. The league can make sure that the physicians they are utilizing practice safe prescribing initiatives when dealing with pain or injuries of their athletes. Addiction is often separate from traditional medicine. They can also make sure that addiction treatment is widely available to their athletes struggling and not just punishing those who might be using. Finally, the league can use its platform to help destigmatize addiction and let people know that it is okay to seek out help. Addiction is often separate from traditional medicine.
Unfortunately, this might not be the last story in athletics that we hear about addiction. We are slowly trying to turn the page on the addiction crisis in America, but the COVID-19 pandemic has only masked and amplified the opioid crisis. The tragedy of the death of Tyler Skaggs is an opportunity for us all to learn. It is an opportunity to remember his life, reflect on the fantastic person Tyler was, and do everything to make sure that no other person or family has to go through what Tyler and his family did. We can use our collective voice to help others. To help destigmatize these issues and to help make sure that everyone gets the treatment they need and deserve.
Finally, there is hope amidst the darkness of the crisis. A recent study estimated that 20.5 million adults are recovering from a substance use problem. Many of these people have found ways to contribute to their communities again, find a sense of purpose in life, and create a path forward. The strength of so many individual human beings to overcome addiction is so powerful. That is what should give us all hope. It should help us all remember that there is light on the end of the tunnel with the right amount of support and treatment.