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 […]
Overdose
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 […]
Opioid Treatment Equity
From NPR, by Marisa Penaloza Black Opioid Deaths Increase Faster Than Whites, Spurring Calls For Treatment Equity A study published Thursday reveals a growing racial disparity in opioid overdose death rates. Deaths among African Americans are growing faster than among whites across the country. The study authors call for an “antiracist public health approach” to […]
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. […]
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 […]
Filmmaker highlights language barriers fueling overdose crisis in Philly’s Black communities
From Metro Philly, by Brandon Dorfman, September 1, 2021 In the new short film “OPIOIDS: A Breakdown of the Invisible Overdose Crisis in the Black Community,” artist and filmmaker Richard Patterson, Jr. recalls Philadelphia’s transition from crack cocaine to Percocets and the language barriers that separated the Black community. Everyone talked about percs, Patterson said […]
Methamphetamine Deaths Soar, Hitting Black And Native Americans Especially Hard
From NPR, by Brian Mann, 09/22/21 When Winnie White Tail convened a new session of inpatient substance use treatment last month for members of the Arapaho and Cheyenne tribes, she found that roughly half her clients were struggling with methamphetamine addiction. “It’s readily available, it’s easy to get,” White Tail says. She’s a Cheyenne tribal […]
Opioid prescriptions fell over past decade while drug overdose deaths climbed: AMA report
From The Hill, by Justine Coleman, 09/21/21 Physicians have prescribed 44 percent less opioids over the past decade, yet fatal and nonfatal drug overdoses have continued to climb, according to a new report from the American Medical Association (AMA). The association called on lawmakers to “act now” over the overdose statistic. AMA’s report documented a […]
Overdose Deaths In State Prisons Have Jumped Dramatically Since 2001
From NPR, by Beth Schwartzapfel and Jimmy Jenkins, July 15, 2021 Prisons and jails in the United States have been increasingly deadly places in recent years, according to new federal data. But one cause of death has climbed most dramatically: overdoses. From 2001 to 2018, the number of people who have died of drug or […]