A Personal Look into the Opioid Epidemic: Loss, Empathy and a Call to be Better"

Bridget Duffy, a recent University of Minnesota graduate,  grew up watching her older brother’s addiction progress for 15 years until his sudden death in January 2017 at the age of 30. This is an intimate view into the life of a Minnesota resident and one of the 72,000 overdose deaths of 2017. With use of her brother’s journals and her own experiences growing up in the “world of addiction,” she will speak on how addiction impacts the person suffering as well as those who love them, and tie this into the intersection of healthcare and incarceration. For the past year, Duffy has  given a dozen invited lectures on these topics at universities and healthcare systems to spark conversation and create empathy for people with addiction. Some of her recent talks were for:  Grand Rounds, Essentia Health; Emergency Department staff meeting, Mercy Hospital; MN Health Collaborative; and Augsburg University.