Dr. Hernan Bazan honored for innovation in non-opioid drug development amidst the opioid crisis.
Tag: Opioid Crisis
Police Involvement May Hamstring Overdose Outreach Efforts
A new study finds law enforcement plays a critical role in launching programs designed to reduce the risk of repeat overdoses in people who use drugs.
A Leader Fighting the Overdose Crisis Urges Standardizing Addiction Medicine Education and Supporting New DEA Requirements
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and The National Vital Statistics System, drug-related overdose deaths have been rising over the past two decades in the United States. In 2021, 106,699 drug overdose deaths occurred. Adults aged 65 and over…
NIH Awards Researchers $7.5 Million to Create Data Support Center for Opioid Use Disorder and Pain Management Research
Researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine have been awarded a five-year, $7.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Helping End Addiction Long-term (HEAL) initiative. The NIH HEAL initiative, which launched in 2018, was created to find scientific solutions to stem the national opioid and pain public health crises.
CHOP Researchers Find Rate of Fatal Opioid Poisonings Among Children More Than Doubled Over 13-Year Span
Researchers found opioids were responsible for more than half of all fatal poisonings in children ages 5 and younger, more than double the proportion of fatal poisonings caused by opioids in 2005. Additionally, over-the-counter drugs still contribute to fatal poisonings in this age group despite increased regulation. The findings, published today in the journal Pediatrics, underscore the need for improved intervention to prevent further fatal poisonings.
Telehealth by phone & video proves a lifeline for veterans with opioid addiction
Phone-based and video-based telehealth visits both helped veterans with opioid addiction stay on buprenorphine medication to treat their opioid use disorder during the pandemic. The findings could inform telemedicine policy.
Opioids: 4 ways to reduce harm, overdose and death
As America sees a record number of overdose deaths, taking action to reduce harm and tragedy due to opioids is vital. Here, three providers with expertise in substance use disorder care share ways individuals, communities and health care providers can help save lives.
A New Data-Driven Model Could Provide a Powerful Policy Planning Tool to Combat the Nation’s Opioid Crisis
A data-driven simulation model designed to help policymakers to better understand and address the nation’s rampant opioid crisis has been developed by a team of scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH).
West Virginia peer recovery program proves effective in fight against opioid crisis
WV PEERS, a collaborative program between WVU and several community partners, uses peer recovery coaches to increase access to treatment for people who have substance use disorder.
VUMC Expands Programming in Effort to Help Pregnant and Postpartum Women, Infants in Opioid Crisis
The opioid crisis — now one of the leading causes of maternal mortality — continues to rage in Tennessee.
College of Medicine receives $2.2 million to address community health needs through research fellowship
The federal Health Resources and Services Administration has awarded Penn State College of Medicine $2.2 million over the next five years to establish a primary care research fellowship, which will train investigators to address a range of physical and mental health challenges – including the opioid and mental health crises – that affect communities in central Pennsylvania and beyond.
Drug Historian Offers Insight on Dramatic Surge of Opioid Overdoses
Preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released recently show that deaths from opioid overdoses surged during the pandemic. This week, a New York Times story called it “an increasingly urgent public health crisis,” noting that the…
Text Message Program Shows 60 Percent of Opioid Tablets Unused After Common Procedures
A Penn Medicine new study of how text messaging could inform opioid prescribing practices showed that 60 percent of opioids are left over after orthopaedic and urologic procedures
Opiate Overdoses Spike in Black Philadelphians, But Drop in White Residents Since COVID-19
New research into opioid overdoses that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted new disparities along racial lines that are likely fueled by existing inequality
Foundation for Opioid Response Efforts (FORE) Establishes Scientific Advisory Council to Advance Initiatives Addressing the Nationwide Opioid Crisis
The Foundation for Opioid Response Efforts (FORE) today announced the establishment of its Scientific Advisory Council to provide program-related guidance to assist the Foundation in addressing the nation’s opioid crisis.
Sexual minorities, especially women, who misuse substances more likely to have psychiatric disorders
More than half of lesbian, gay and bisexual individuals who misuse alcohol or tobacco also have a co-occurring psychiatric disorder, compared to one-third of heterosexuals, a new University of Michigan study finds.
From pills to powder: 1 in 3 high school seniors who misused prescription opioids later used heroin
Nearly one-third of students who reported misusing prescription opioids as high school seniors between 1997 and 2000, but did not have a history of medical use, later used heroin by age 35, according to a University of Michigan study.
More young adults are abstaining from alcohol
Fewer college-age Americans drink alcohol, compared to nearly 20 years ago, according to a new study.
Economists conclude opioid crisis responsible for millions of children living apart from parents
Affiliates with Notre Dame’s Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities found that greater exposure to the opioid crisis increases the chance that a child’s mother or father is absent from the household and increases the likelihood that he or she lives in a household headed by a grandparent.
Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Older Adults at Higher Risk for Substance Use
Middle-aged and older adults who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual have higher rates of using certain substances in the past year than those who identify as heterosexual, according to a new study led by researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and the Center for Drug Use and HIV/HCV Research (CDUHR) at NYU School of Global Public Health.
Opioid prescribing rates on 14-year decline in pediatric orthopaedic injuries, decreased by more than 50%
Prevention efforts to combat the opioid crisis by limiting early exposure are working in the pediatric population, according to a study released as part of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons’ (AAOS) Virtual Education Experience. The study found that between 2004 and 2017 opioid prescription rates decreased from 60% to 27.8%, a 52% drop, in pediatric patients between 10-18 years old who sought care for a minor fracture or dislocation in an acute care setting. However, patients in the South and Midwest were more frequently prescribed opioids, pointing to a need for further preventative measures.
HEALing Communities Strategy Fast-Tracked Due to COVID-19
When Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear announced the early release of some Kentucky inmates due to COVID-19 concerns, the team behind the HEALing Communities Study worked quickly to fast-track one of the evidence-based practices for preventing opioid deaths that was due to launch later this year: the distribution of naloxone to individuals at highest risk for overdose, particularly those being released from local jails.
Study Reveals Pharmacy-level Barriers to Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder in Appalachian Kentucky
A new study led by University of Kentucky researcher April Young and Emory University researcher Hannah Cooper shows that a number of pharmacies in the Appalachian region of Kentucky are limiting the dispensing of buprenorphine, a medication used to treat opioid use disorder (OUD).
Medicaid Expansion Associated with Fewer Total Opioid Overdose Deaths Across the U.S.
The expansion of Medicaid coverage for low-income adults permitted by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was associated with a six percent reduction in total opioid overdose deaths nationally, according to new research from NYU Grossman School of Medicine and University of California, Davis.
ANALYSIS OF FDA DOCUMENTS REVEALS INADEQUATE MONITORING OF KEY PROGRAM TO PROMOTE SAFE OPIOID USE
A risk-management program set up in 2012 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to curb improper prescribing of extended-release and long-acting opioids may not have been effective because of shortcomings in the program’s design and execution, according to a paper from researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Parents: Turkey makes great leftovers—opioids do not
Leftover prescription opioids pose big risks to kids, yet most parents keep their own and their child’s unused painkillers even after they’re no longer medically necessary for pain.
PREFERENCE FOR FENTANYL HIGHER AMONG YOUNG, WHITE, FREQUENT OPIOID USERS
A minority of people who use illicit opioids indicated a preference for fentanyl, the super-potent synthetic opioid that accounts for much of the recent rise in U.S. overdose deaths, according to a new study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.