MANSFIELD, Mass. (WPRI) — A Mansfield woman’s experience documented in a viral social media post has helped promote change in how date rape drug victims are treated.
Brinly Meelia said she suspected she was drugged at a house party near Northeastern University last October. The 20-year-old told 12 News when she woke up the next day, she knew something was off.
“The last thing I remember before that was falling asleep in the middle of a party, like right on my boyfriend’s shoulder,” Meelia recalled. “I was standing up, I just felt suddenly tired, you know? And that’s the last thing I remember.”
Meelia went to the emergency room at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) to be tested for drugs in her system, but said they weren’t able to test her.
“I was denied because I wasn’t sexually assaulted or raped,” Meelia said.
The public health major at Northeastern said she turned to the university’s health insurance to cover the cost of sending a urine test for analysis, which confirmed the presence of a so-called “date rape drug.”
“Even if I didn’t, I was tested for, I think, three of them, and obviously, there are way more than three date rape drugs that people can use,” Meelia added.
According to the Office on Women’s Health (OWH), date rape drugs include flunitrazepam (Rohypnol), gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB), gamma-butyrolactone (GBL), and ketamine. However, any type of drug, including marijuana, cocaine, or prescription or over-the-counter medications like antidepressants, tranquilizers, and sleeping aids can also be used to overpower a victim or make them not remember an assault.
“I definitely don’t want people to think a positive or negative test for something means that they didn’t get roofied. Always follow your intuition,” Meelia said.
Out of frustration for initially struggling to find care, Meelia posted a TikTok about it shortly after her experience at the hospital.
“Tell me why drugging someone isn’t considered criminal activity in a hospital setting,” Meelia said in the Oct. 31 video.
A spokesperson for MGH said due to patient privacy, the hospital was unable to comment on this specific issue.
Sen. Paul Feeney, D-Foxborough, said gaps in state law regarding the involuntary consumption of drugs came into focus when he saw Meelia’s video.
“It was absolutely alarming to hear what her experience was,” Feeney told 12 News.
Last May, Boston police issued a community alert after seeing “numerous social media posts from various individuals” saying they were victims of having their drinks spiked at local bars.
Feeney said his office heard of similar experiences from constituents all over the state.
“From many, many survivors, most of them young women who were drugged, showed up in the emergency room and didn’t get the care or the testing that they deserved and that they asked for,” the senator explained.
Feeney introduced a bill titled “An Act establishing testing protocol and care for victims of date rape drugs.” If passed, it would create a Date Rape Drug Response and Intervention Task Force, which would be assigned to collect data, track confirmed drugging incidents, and issue recommendations on standardizing care and testing at hospitals across the state for victims, regardless of whether or not a sexual assault has occurred.
“We can’t change what we can’t measure, so let’s collect the data,” Feeney added.
Read Feeney’s legislation in full »
The bill would also permit resources from the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Trust Fund to be used to develop a testing standard for patient-reported drugging, as well as a trauma-based empathy training program for nurses caring for patients of suspected or confirmed drugging incidents.
In addition, the legislation seeks to allow the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) to require all hospitals to issue a urine sample or relevant drug test to identify the presence of a date rape drug upon request by a patient showing symptoms.
“So that survivors—again, many of them young women—don’t have to play hospital roulette, that they can actually go to an emergency room and get tested for these drugs and find out what was in their system, and then they can report a crime if that did happen,” Feeney said.
Feeney also said the bill requires DPH to provide information on its website regarding types of known date rape drugs, along with resources for those who believe they may have been drugged.
Feeney filed the bill on Jan. 20. He said it still has to be sent to a committee for study before any hearings are set.
“We’re going to ask for an expedited hearing because we do believe that this is an emergency situation,” he added.
Meelia said prior to hearing about Feeney’s bill, she pushed Mass General to change its testing policy for anyone who comes in thinking they were given a date rape drug, in addition to providing empathy training in the emergency department. On Jan. 11, she received a letter from MGH’s Office of Patient Advocacy, which stated that MGH Toxicology leadership changed its practices so that all patients can be tested if they’re concerned about ingesting Rohypnol.
“The Toxicology group is rolling out guidance across the MGH and BWH systems regarding this practice change, and this will involve education to the faculty and other provider groups which will take some time to implement, but this is a major step forward,” the letter stated.
Multiple media requests for more information about MGH’s changes were not returned.
“My ultimate goal is to make sure that other people don’t go through this,” Meelia said. “I don’t think anyone should have to be sexually violated to then have to discover what was put into their body.”
Read Feeney’s legislation below:
