From The Morning Call: ACA’s repeal would devastate fight against opioid addiction, researchers find by Sam Kennedy Funding for mental illness and opioid addiction treatment in Pennsylvania will take a big hit if the Affordable Care Act is repealed, according to research published this week by Harvard Medical School. More than 181,000 Pennsylvania residents with […]
Spotlight
Occasional cigarettes still cause harm, study finds
From the Washington Post: Forget those occasional cigarettes: There is no safe smoking level, by Laurie McGinley There’s bad news for people who think it’s safe to smoke a few cigarettes a day or even a week: They face a substantially higher risk of earlier death compared with people who don’t smoke, according to a […]
New ATTC web page highlights opioid misuse-related materials
The ATTC Network is committed to taking action to address opioid misuse. A new web page has been created that highlights opioid misuse-related materials, including online courses, recorded webinars, toolkits, articles, and newsletters. http://attcnetwork.org/projects/opioid.aspx
Surgeon General Murthy Wants America To Face Up To Addiction
From NPR: In 1964, the U.S. surgeon general released a report on the health impacts of smoking, and it shaped the public and government’s attitudes toward tobacco for years to come. On Thursday, another surgeon general’s report was issued, this time tackling a much broader issue: addiction and the misuse and abuse of chemical substances. […]
Naloxone free to U.S. High Schools
From U.S. News & World Report: Coming to a High School Near You: Drugs that Reverse Heroin Overdoses Naloxone will be offered for free to all U.S. high schools – but how many will accept? A nasal spray that quickly reverses an overdose from heroin and prescription painkillers is being offered for free to high […]
MATx app for treatment of Opioid Use Disorder
From SAMHSA: Introducing MATx: A Mobile App To Support Medication-Assisted Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder In 2015, nearly 2.4 million Americans had an opioid use disorder, and an estimated 80 percent of these individuals did not receive treatment. MATx empowers health care practitioners to provide effective, evidence-based care for opioid use disorder. This free mobile […]
Obama and Macklemore tackle opioid crisis in MTV documentary
Multi-platinum artist and recovering addict Macklemore tackles addiction in a new MTV documentary. The hour-long film goes inside America’s opioid epidemic, meets those living with addiction, and heads to Washington D.C. for an discussion with President Obama on this important issue. Macklemore served as executive producer of the documentary. ‘Prescription for Change: Ending America’s Opioid […]
Barriers to HIV Medication Access Reduced
From AIDS.gov: Updated: Common Patient Assistance Program Application Reduces Barriers to HIV Medication Access This month, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in collaboration with seven pharmaceutical companies and the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD), released an updated Common Patient Assistance Program Application (CPAPA). Developed in 2012, the […]
Disparities in Adult Cigarette Smoking (MMWR) — United States, 2002–2005 and 2010–2013
From: Martell BN, Garrett BE, Caraballo RS. Disparities in Adult Cigarette Smoking — United States, 2002–2005 and 2010–2013. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2016;65:753–758. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6530a1. Summary What is already known about this topic? Although cigarette smoking has substantially declined since 1964, disparities in tobacco use varies among racial/ethnic populations. Estimates of U.S. adult cigarette smoking […]
Study identifies two additional carcinogens not previously reported in e-cigarette vapor
from phys.org While previous studies have found that electronic cigarettes emit toxic compounds, a new study from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has pinpointed the source of these emissions and shown how factors such as the temperature, type, and age of the device play a role in emission levels, information that could be valuable […]