Senate candidates battle over fentanyl as it claims thousands of victims in Pa. each year

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A handful of parents who lost children to the fentanyl crisis huddled around a dining room table at the home of Michael and Denise Trask to share stories.

“We got that phone call and they were able to track her phone. She was in her car in a mall parking lot, all alone, rock hard,” Denise Trask, whose daughter Jacqueline died in 2016 from an overdose, tells the group.  “We had to go and say our goodbyes and come home and break it to our other children that their sister went home to be with our Lord.”

She’s holding a picture of “Jack” as she recounts the incident. Tears fell as everyone shared their tragic experiences.

The event was organized by Greg Swan, founder of Fentanyl Fathers, who lost his son Drew in 2013. But the primary audience was David McCormick, Pennsylvania’s Republican nominee for Senate, who listened for more than an hour.

The fentanyl crisis has become a significant issue in the race between McCormick and incumbent Democrat U.S. Sen. Bob Casey as each candidate blames the other for contributing to the scourge. They have hammered each other with ads and at both debates.

Meanwhile, several thousand Pennsylvanians will have died by the end of the year.

“Each of the stories is more heartbreaking than the next,” McCormick told the parents. “When you talk about your beautiful children, people understand that this happens to everybody and that this is a true poison. When I hear that — and I think when others hear that — it allows people to humanize it. Your bravery is so necessary to solving this.”

From China

Casey has accused McCormick of investing “in the largest producer of fentanyl in China,” referring to $1.7 million in investments the hedge fund he ran, Bridgewater Associates, made in a company called Yichang Humanwell Pharmaceuticals. The company, whose parent company is Humanwell Healthcare, is China’s leading producer of fentanyl.

“This guy invested in the company that produced 90% of the fentanyl coming from China,” Casey told WHYY News. “We know that Chinese fentanyl made its way to the United States of America, and we know the horrific devastation that brought.”

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has called China “the primary source” of fentanyl, fueling the crisis in the U.S., but McCormick rejects the accusation that the investment had anything to do with the influx of illegal fentanyl.

“Bridgewater owned a legal company that made fentanyl that was sold to hospitals and he’s tying that to some sort of culpability on my part,” McCormick told WHYY News. “The charges Sen. Casey has made against me are completely indicative of not taking responsibility for the wide open borders.”

The U.S. Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking has reported that “legitimate Chinese chemical and pharmaceutical businesses” — of which Humanwell Healthcare is the largest — are responsible for a large share of the illegal fentanyl that has invaded U.S. cities. It’s difficult to determine how much Humanwell itself is responsible but the commission also points out that they hold a near-monopoly on domestic production.

And from Mexico

In turn, Mccormick accused Casey and the Democrats of being weak on the border, allowing illegal fentanyl to come over through Mexico, an assertion Casey rejects.

“I voted for border security more than 25 times, including two votes this year for the bipartisan border deal,” he said, adding that he has voted on several fentanyl-related bills and passed the FEND off Fentanyl Act to crack down fentanyl suppliers in China and Mexico by targeting their financial assets.

Casey held “fentanyl parents” events in July and August, and both Casey and McCormick have released fentanyl-related attack ads.

Many of the parents at the Trask house said they were shocked by their sudden losses, many of them not knowing that their children even had access to the opiate, even if they were using less potent drugs.

That doesn’t surprise Abby Jones, who studies drug addiction at Penn State, and says fentanyl is a silent killer.

“People may not be aware that there’s fentanyl in their drugs,” Jones said. “Now there is more awareness of fentanyl, however, usually it is mixed in with a drug that someone is getting versus someone seeking fentanyl out.”

Bonnie Bazik, of Bucks County, was part of the gathering at the Trask house. She spoke about her son Morgan, who died in 2017 at the age of 20 when he overdosed on fentanyl given to him by a friend. She says she still walks into what was his room every day to talk to him.

“I kept the same color of his room for his door, so that way there’s still something there,” she said. “I honor him twice a year by having a barbecue around his birthday and his death day, which mostly started so I didn’t feel so alone.”

However, Morgan’s friends started to join and it has become more of a celebration of his life.

“It’s like coming home to them as well,” she said. “So twice a year, we have a barbecue just to honor him, to allow us to grieve, laugh, drink, whatever it is we want to do and just be together again.”

Bazik became a licensed counselor following Morgan’s death and started a nonprofit to help other grieving parents.

Bazik said she’s not sure how she feels about the crisis becoming a campaign issue, but she appreciates that the crisis is getting publicity.

“I’m not a Democrat or a Republican; I look to see what people vote upon and then try to make the best choice I can,” she said. “So no matter what politician is putting weight on it in some way, it’s allowing people a glimpse into the life. And that’s all we can hope for.”