This is the third in a four-part series on the growing problem of heroin addiction in our communities.

A patient seeking emergency room treatment for an addiction-related medical problem was provided a list of drug rehabilitation and recovery options upon discharge from a local hospital. Problem is - several programs on the list were no longer operating. One had closed some 10 years earlier.

A local substance abuse counselor recounted this story and many others to illustrate some of the many obstacles to recovery addicted patients face. Besides being handed outdated information, other challenges include the pervasive culture of silence and shame surrounding addiction; the continued insurer resistance to covering treatments deemed too long or expensive; the lack of long-term support and follow-up care; and a health care system and society fixated on finding standardized, quick solutions to complex, individualized issues.

Effective, proven treatments for heroin and opiod addictions exist. Among these are medication-assisted therapies such as Methadone and Suboxone, the extended release drug Vivitrol and counseling therapy. But one size definitely does not fit all. Put another way by a long-time local drug rehabilitation worker: There is no silver bullet.

Money and attitudes are among the foundational barriers to effective long-term recovery for many who struggle with heroin and opiod addictions. When President Richard M. Nixon launched the country's so-called War on Drugs more than 40 years ago, a huge chunk of that federal money was funneled to treatment. Now, community-based treatment centers struggle for appropriate funding and patients and caregivers too often are locked in battles with insurers over what treatments will be covered and for how long.

As for attitudes, Nixon's approach was two-pronged. He provided money for treatment, but also launched a battle against addiction via law enforcement. In subsequent decades, this "war on drugs" has become more entrenched and expansive, effectively cementing the public image that fighting drug addiction is the purview only of police and the criminal justice system rather than the health care system.

Traditional 12-step programs provide needed long-term support and mentoring and have led countless individuals to recovery. Unfortunately, they also reinforce the concept that those with addictions must be silent and anonymous.

Societal attitudes can and do change, even if the process is long and difficult. A case in point - AIDS patients were once almost universally ostracized and blamed for their suffering. Thankfully, that attitude largely has disappeared. We now must work towards similar changes in attitude about addiction.

Decades worth of National Institute on Drug Abuse research demonstrates addiction indeed is a complex brain disease, not a moral failing. Still, while some laws have progressed - health insurers are now mandated to provide mental health and substance abuse treatment at a parity level with the coverage they provide for physical health problems, for example - struggles over what constitutes an appropriate level of treatment remain common.

If Connecticut officials are serious about working to reduce the health care costs, lost wages, crime, illnesses and deaths associated with heroin and opiod addiction, they must support and advocate for a health care system without barriers to treatment; a system that treats each patient as an individual who may require a range of mental and physical health treatments to successfully navigate the road to recovery; and an individual at serious risk of relapse for whom follow-up care is every bit as necessary as it is for a cancer patient.

At least some of these solutions can sate the societal craving for simplicity. Yale-New Haven Hospital's successful Project Assert is a case in point.

If that patient discharged with woefully outdated information had instead sought treatment at Yale, a Project Assert outreach worker would have assisted him or her in determining an appropriate follow-up and support program and making an appointment. That sort of simple, common-sense approach can go a long way toward improving outcomes.