Opinion | Doing Away With Needle Exchange Programs Won’t Prevent Drug Use
Assaf is an epidemiologist and postdoctoral fellow researching substance use, drug-related overdose, and harm reduction. A needle exchange program, also known as a syringe services program, is a harm reduction strategy that provides clean and sterile injecting equipment to those who inject drugs. At first glance, these programs may sound radical. But the reality is, […]
HHS Expands Access to Methadone, Buprenorphine
As part of a broader overdose prevention strategy, the Biden administration announced changes to decades-old federal rules, which aim to simplify and expand access to addiction treatment in order to save more lives. Specifically, the final rule, issued by HHS, makes permanent pandemic-era flexibilities that allow eligible patients with an opioid use disorder (OUD) to […]
Overdose Death Notices Plus Guidance Sink Opioid Prescribing
Physicians who received a letter from a medical examiner about a patient’s fatal overdose — along with suggested guidance for future visits for pain — prescribed fewer opioids, according to a cluster randomized controlled trial. Doctors who received the death notice plus guidance had a drop in weekly morphine milligram equivalents (MMEs) pre- to post-intervention […]
CDC: ‘Drastic’ Rise in Tranq-Related Overdose Deaths
Drug overdose deaths with xylazine involvement have multiplied, with age-adjusted death rates 35 times higher in 2021 than in 2018, the CDC reported. The age-adjusted rate of drug overdose deaths involving the animal sedative, also known as “tranq,” rose from 0.03 per 100,000 people to 1.06 per 100,000, Merianne Rose Spencer, PhD, MPH, a researcher […]
‘If the Narcan Isn’t Working, Give More’ and Other Myths About Naloxone Use
If you administer naloxone (Narcan) to a patient experiencing an apparent opioid overdose and it doesn’t seem to be working, should you give more? Not necessarily, according to Kelly Ramsey, MD, MPH, chief of medical services at the New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports in Albany. Adding a second dose of naloxone […]
CDC: Fentanyl Overdose Deaths Increased 279% Over Recent Years
Drug overdose death rates involving fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine increased from 2016 through 2021, CDC researchers said. The age-adjusted overdose death rate involving fentanyl rose by 279%, from 5.7 per 100,000 standard population in 2016 to 21.6 per 100,000 in 2021, reported Merianne Rose Spencer, MPH, an epidemiologist in the Division of Analysis and Epidemiology […]
Allergy Meds May Make Drug Overdoses More Dangerous, CDC Says
Antihistamines were involved in at least 15% of recent overdose deaths, according to 2019-2020 data from 43 states and the District of Columbia. Of 92,033 overdose deaths during this time period, 14.7% were antihistamine-positive and 3.6% were antihistamine-involved, reported Amanda Dinwiddie, MPH, of the CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control in Atlanta, and […]
Demi Lovato Reveals Overdose Details
Demi Lovato is sharing details about her near-fatal overdose publicly for the first time.
Suicides By Drug Overdose Have Increased Among Young Americans
While suicides by drug or medicine overdose have decreased overall in recent years, new federal data published Wednesday raises flags in regard to several troubling exceptions. Bucking the overall downward trend, intentional overdose deaths increased among teens and young adults ages 15 to 24. Black women and Americans ages 75 to 84 also saw an […]
Pandemic Tied to Rising Number of Fatal Opioid ODs
Latest Mental Health News TUESDAY, Aug. 24, 2021 (HealthDay News) Opioid overdose deaths rose in several states during the coronavirus pandemic, according to authors of a new study who say their findings may help identify and assist at-risk people. “Our work represents the first multi-state report with detailed analyses,” said study senior author […]