Hanna Webster | (TNS) Pittsburgh Post-Gazette From the driver’s seat of his parked truck, Lewis recalled what it felt like to take opioids. He was prescribed Vicodin after getting his wisdom teeth removed at age 15, he says, which jumpstarted an addiction he’s battled for nearly two decades. (Lewis’ last name has been omitted for concerns regarding his medical privacy.
) “I just remember it took all the worries away,” said the Pennsylvania native during a September interview over Zoom. “It gave me a feeling almost like I didn’t have to be afraid.” He eventually started experimenting with stronger opiates, namely Percocet and Oxycontin, and progressed to heroin a couple years later.
He said it was “the worst decision” he’s ever made. “I lost everything,” said Lewis, who is in his early thirties. In recovery since 2021, he credits a virtual telemedicine business, Ophelia, with helping him get back on track: “It’s literally changed my life,” he said.
Ophelia partnered with Highmark Wholecare last March to provide telehealth addiction services to its patients, which includes Pennsylvania-based Medicaid and Medicare members; in April, it was designated as Pennsylvania’s first virtual Center of Excellence for opioid use disorder. Centers of Excellence are designated treatment centers deemed official by the state Department of Human Services. Ophelia is now in the company of other local Centers of Excellence that offer telehealth services for opioid .
