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Driver in Liberty fatal crash tells authorities he had prescription for drug in his system
By Ed Runyan
LIBERTY
A sergeant with the Ohio State Highway Patrol says the driver who struck and killed a pedestrian on Belmont Avenue in January told an investigator he had a valid prescription for a drug found in his system at the time of the crash.
Sgt. Troy Sexton said Friday that Trooper Mathew Fidram contacted the driver, Ryan Tolone, 28, of Girard, and Tolone indicated he did have a prescription for the buprenorphine detected in his body.
The highway patrol and Atty. Michael Bloom, Girard Municipal Court prosecutor, are attempting to confirm that, Sexton said.
Bloom said Friday he has not completed his review of the crash and his research into Tolone’s use of buprenorphine and will need additional time to decide whether to file any charges in the crash, which killed Amy Huffman, 45, of Belmont Avenue.
Meanwhile, two Youngstown-area drug-addiction treatment facilities say buprenorphone, also known as Suboxone, which is used to treat opiate addiction, does not typically affect a person’s ability to drive an automobile or work in dangerous jobs, such as law enforcement officer.
Dr. David Brown, medical director for Meridian Healthcare, said the drug, which takes away the craving for opiates, “doesn’t cause the intoxicated look. We don’t see people sleepy or drowsy. It doesn’t affect reaction times.”
The website Drugs.com says, however, “Buprenorphine may cause drowsiness or dizziness. Do not drive, operate machinery, or do anything else that could be dangerous until you know how you react to buprenorphine.”
A publication published by the U.S. Subtance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) says of buprenorphone: “When provided at the appropriate dose to a person stabilized on methodone or buprenorphine, these medications have no adverse effects on intelligence, mental capability, physical functioning, or employability.”
Tolone was a police officer with the Brookfield Police Department at the time of the crash and is also a corrections officer at the Trumbull County jail.
Dr. Brown said use of buprenorphine is protected under the Americans With Disabilities Act, meaning that a person using it as part of a treatment program does not have to notify his or her employer he or she is using it.
Chief Dan Faustino of Brookfield Township said Tolone was working about three days per month as a part-time Brookfield police officer at the time of the crash but resigned in April.
Faustino said he requires his officers to report to him if they are using a drug that would affect their judgment. He doesn’t recall any conversation like that with Tolone. Trumbull Sheriff Tom Altiere said privacy laws prevented him from discussing such topics.
The highway patrol’s accident report said the amount of buprenorphine Tolone had in his urine was “greater than 500” nanograms per milliliter, but Dr. Brown said the “ceiling effect” of the drug means that it would be difficult to take too much.
“The ceiling effect means it doesn’t continue to make you more euphoric or more drowsy” with increasing amounts taken, he said.
The U.S. National Library of Medicine, however, says some symptoms of overdose of buprenorphine may include extreme drowsiness, dizziness, blurred vision and slowed breathing.
“Drowsiness, dizziness, constipation, or headache may occur” with the use of sublingual strips of buprenorphine, according to the WebMD web site. Sublingual strips are used by placing them under a person’s tongue once daily for 5 to 10 minutes and dissolving, WebMD says.
Carolyn Givens, executive director of the Neil Kennedy Recovery Clinic, agreed with Dr. Brown that buprenorphine is safe for people to use while working, and an amount of the drug up to 1,000 nanograms per milliliter would be considered a normal, therapeutic dose.