We curate a digest of the latest news in our field for advocates, policymakers, community coalitions and all who work toward shaping policies and practices to effectively prevent substance use and treat addiction.
Some states are seeing a significant decrease in the amount of opioids received by injured workers, according to a new study. Reductions between 20 percent and 31 percent were seen in Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Oklahoma, North Carolina, and Texas.
In the 19 states that have not expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, doctors, public health officials and community leaders are struggling to get care to patients who need addiction treatment, the Los Angeles Times reports.
When addiction treatment specialist Zev Schuman-Olivier, MD, found that young adults taking buprenorphine to treat their opioid addiction often stopped using the medication, he began looking for a novel way to address the problem.
The Drug Enforcement Administration has become increasingly alarmed over the proliferation of illicit fentanyl and other synthetic drugs, the acting head of the agency told a Senate committee Tuesday.
The Food and Drug Administration issued a warning Tuesday that taking higher-than-recommended doses of the over-the-counter diarrhea drug loperamide (Imodium) can cause serious heart problems that can lead to death. There have been a growing number of reports of people using the drug to manage their opioid addiction or to get high.
The overdose antidote naloxone is becoming easier to buy around the country, the Associated Press reports. Most states have passed laws allowing people to buy naloxone without a prescription. Drugstores and other retailers are also making it more easily available.
A new report finds insurance plans around the country are not covering the necessary services for people with addiction. The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse reviewed addiction benefits offered in the 2017 Essential Health Benefits benchmark plans and found more than two-thirds violate the Affordable Care Act.
Top headlines of the week from Friday, June 3- Thursday, June 9, 2016.
States that use prescription drug monitoring programs have seen a 30 percent decrease in the rate of prescriptions written for opioid painkillers, a new study finds.
The news that toxicology tests concluded Prince died from an accidental fentanyl overdose could spur Congress to reach a deal on legislation to combat the opioid crisis, The New York Times reports.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified 220 counties across the United States that are at risk of outbreaks of HIV and hepatitis C from injection drug use.
One year after it began, a program in Gloucester, Massachusetts that provides treatment instead of jail for those surrendering drugs is showing promise, according to WBUR.
A group of senators is urging the Department of Health and Human Services to raise the number of patients a doctor can treat with the opioid addiction medication buprenorphine to 500, The Huffington Post reports.
A new national survey finds a majority of Americans favor raising the legal age for purchasing tobacco. The survey found more support for increasing the age to 21, rather than 19 or 20.
Many patients who have undergone knee or hip replacement surgery are still taking prescription opioid painkillers up to six months after the operation, a new study finds. Some patients continue to use potentially addictive pain medications even though their hip or knee pain has improved, the findings suggest.
Two anti-cocaine efforts in Colombia, funded by American taxpayers, were not cost-effective, according to an analysis by two economists. The interventions “are inefficient and socially costly ways of reducing drug consumption,” they conclude.
Top headlines of the week from Friday, May 27- Thursday, June 2, 2016.
A new federally funded program is partnering with police departments and health departments in 17 states in the northeast and beyond to share information quickly to respond to the heroin crisis.
A rise in drug overdoses contributed to the increasing U.S. death rate last year, according to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The death rate increased for the first time in a decade, The New York Times reports.
U.S. Senator Rob Portman of Ohio is focusing on the heroin epidemic in his re-election campaign, USA Today reports. His campaign is releasing three ads on Wednesday that highlight the Republican senator’s work on the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act.
The Food and Drug Administration’s new regulations on tobacco originally included language that would have removed flavored e-cigarettes from the market until the agency authorized them, according to Reuters. The final rule deleted that wording.
A new study concludes many smokers who try e-cigarettes find them less satisfying than regular cigarettes. The researchers say this suggests e-cigarettes may not be a useful tool to help a significant number of smokers quit.
The Food and Drug Administration has approved Probuphine, an implant that contains the opioid addiction treatment buprenorphine. The drug has been available in oral form for 14 years, CNBC reports.
A new study that finds opioid use increases chronic pain in rats may have important implications for humans, according to researchers from the University of Colorado-Boulder.
U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy, MD, met with Native Americans in Oklahoma to discuss prescription drug abuse and opioid addiction, the Associated Press reports.
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