VIDEO: Abdul El-Sayed Marks Save a Life Day at Detroit Recovery Project

As a public health official, Abdul expanded access to lifesaving naloxone and helped put overdose prevention tools directly into Michigan communities

Mike Rogers spent years in Congress pushing to expand access to opioids while taking more than $1 million from Big Pharma

MICHIGAN – Today is Save a Life Day, an annual nationwide day of action focused on preventing overdose deaths and expanding access to lifesaving naloxone.

In a new video, U.S. Senate candidate Dr. Abdul El-Sayed visits the Detroit Recovery Project, a nonprofit providing substance-use prevention, treatment, and recovery services, to hear directly from Michiganders on the front lines of the opioid epidemic that has claimed nearly 28,000 lives in the state since 2000.

During the visit, Abdul sat down with Dr. Andre Johnson, Matt Spehar, and Chuck Madison of the Detroit Recovery Project, who shared their personal journeys through addiction and recovery, the toll the opioid epidemic has taken on their families, and how those experiences now shape their work helping others.

In the video, Spehar recalls seeing Abdul’s public health work firsthand: “I was able to work with them when they rolled [out] the Narcan vending machines throughout Wayne County.”

As Wayne County health director, Abdul launched an initiative to deploy 100 Narcan vending machines across the county, expanding free access to the lifesaving overdose-reversal medication as well as overdose-prevention tools including fentanyl test strips.

That record stands in sharp contrast to Mike Rogers’ years in Congress. Rogers took more than $1 million in campaign contributions from Big Pharma while becoming one of Congress’ leading advocates for expanding access to opioid painkillers. 

In a pointed callback to Rogers’ record, Abdul closes the video saying: “We need to take on the pharmaceutical companies that always put us at risk and the folks who do their bidding.”

Watch the full video here. 

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