HARRISBURG, Pa. — The phone at Bruce Brandler’s home rang at 3:37 a.m. It was the local hospital. His 16-year-old son was there, and he was in really bad shape.
A suspected heroin overdose, the nurse said.
Brandler didn’t believe it. Erik had his problems, but heroin? It seemed impossible.
Nearly 10 years later, the nation is gripped by a spiraling crisis of opioid and heroin abuse, and Brandler, a veteran federal prosecutor recently promoted to interim U.S. attorney, suddenly finds himself in a position to do something about the scourge that claimed his youngest son’s life.
Until now, he has never publicly discussed Erik’s overdose death. It was private and just too painful. But Brandler, now the chief federal law enforcement officer for a sprawling judicial district that covers half of Pennsylvania, said he felt a responsibility that came with his new, higher-profile job.
“It’s easier to cope with the passage of time, but it never goes away,” Brandler told The Associated Press in an interview. “And, frankly, this whole heroin epidemic has brought it to the forefront.”
Fatal heroin overdoses have more than quintupled in the years since Brandler lost his son. The illicit drug, along with highly addictive prescription pain relievers like oxycodone and fentanyl — a substance more powerful than heroin — now rival car crashes as the leading cause of accidental death in the U.S.
