Black Balloon Day, March 6 Across the United States, families and loved ones remember and celebrate the lives lost to overdose. This day has become known as Black Balloon Day. Black Balloon Day has become a national and international event, bringing awareness to overdose deaths. As with many things with the opioid epidemic, Black Balloon […]
Hall of Fame
Little-known Drugs Add to U.S. Overdose Count
From WTOP, by The Associated Press Two powerful drugs now adding to US overdose crisis Emerging reports show that two little-known drugs are making lethal new contributions to America’s drug overdose crisis. Para-fluorofentanyl and metonitazene are being seen more often by medical examiners looking into overdose deaths, according to a government report published Thursday. They […]
Realistic Treatment
From Health Affairs, Nora D. Volkow Making Addiction Treatment More Realistic And Pragmatic: The Perfect Should Not Be The Enemy Of The Good Last year saw drug overdose deaths in the U.S. surpass an unthinkable milestone: 100,000 deaths in a year. This is the highest number of drug overdoses in our country’s history, and the […]
Naloxone Injection Approved
From the FDA. FDA approves naloxone injection to counteract opioid overdoses Action: FDA has approved ZIMHI (naloxone hydrochloride) injection as an additional option to treat opioid overdose. ZIMHI is administered using a single-dose, prefilled syringe that delivers 5 milligrams (mg) of naloxone hydrochloride solution through intramuscular (in the muscle) or subcutaneous (under the skin) injection. […]
Buprenorphine misuse decreases
NIDA News Release, October 15, 2021 Buprenorphine misuse decreased among U.S. adults with opioid use disorder from 2015-2019 Data from a nationally representative survey indicate that in 2019, nearly three-fourths of U.S. adults reporting buprenorphine use did not misuse the medication in the past 12 months. In addition, buprenorphine misuse among people with opioid use […]
CDC’s New Campaigns
CDC Press Release, October 27, 2021 CDC Launches New Education Campaigns Aimed at Preventing Drug Overdose Deaths To save more lives from drug overdose, the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently launched four complementary education campaigns intended to reach young adults ages 18—34 years. The campaigns provide information about the prevalence and dangers […]
Toolkit: Telehealth & OUD
The Telehealth for Opioid Use Disorder Toolkit: Guidance to Support High-Quality Care, released in October 2021, focuses on buprenorphine (typically formulated as buprenorphine/naloxone, hereafter termed buprenorphine) and adjunctive psychotherapy treatment options for OUD and does not cover methadone treatment or XR-naltrexone. The primary goal of this toolkit is to provide clinically relevant information to support […]
COVID and Substance Use Disorders
The CDC has listed substance use disorders, schizophrenia spectrum disorders, and mood disorders, including depression as underlying medical conditions associated with higher risk for severe COVID-19. Individuals with comorbidities are encouraged to be vaccinated against COVID-19, including a booster. Detailed information is available on CDC’s Underlying Medical Conditions Associated with Higher Risk for Severe COVID-19: […]