By Lev Facher | July 21, 2023 Significant challenges remain before most American clinicians feel comfortable treating patients with buprenorphine, according to a new study. While the federal government’s recent moves to deregulate buprenorphine have led to a bump in new prescribers, it didn’t lead to a significant bump in overall prescribing volume. Many[Read More…]
Prevention
Monthly Buprenorphine Initiation Rates Remain Flat, Despite Policy Changes
Jul 19, 2023 Killian Meara Only 1 in 5 patients who initiated buprenorphine were retained in therapy for at least 180 days. Despite several policy changes that aimed to increase access to buprenorphine during the COVID-19 pandemic, monthly initiation rates of buprenorphine therapy have remained flat, according to research results.1[Read More…]
New UCF Study Examines Insurance Barriers to Access Opioid Addiction Medication
While insurance coverage of some forms of buprenorphine has improved over the years, researchers say coverage of new, more effective forms of the medication is lacking. By Danielle Hendrix ’15 | July 12, 2023 In 2021, more people died from opioid overdoses in the U.S. than any other year in history, according[Read More…]
Frankfort launches overdose response team
Frankfort Police Chief Dustin Bowman said he thinks of his own family as he works to support people suffering from substance use disorder. “I’ve seen how it’s torn families apart, how children have been removed from home and unfortunately, I’ve seen how a brother-in-law — mine — passed away from his[Read More…]
Lifesaving fentanyl test strips still illegal in some states under ’70s-era war on drugs law
A growing number of states are decriminalizing fentanyl testing strips, seeking to protect people who use drugs from unwitting exposure to the highly potent synthetic opioid ravaging the U.S. with overdose deaths. By SAMANTHA HENDRICKSON COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — At Cleveland’s Urban Kutz Barbershop, customers can flip through magazines as[Read More…]
Xylazine Crisis: 6 Things Treatment Providers Should Know
Recently, Rahul Gupta, MD, MPH, FACP, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), declared xylazine—a powerful livestock tranquilizer that’s mixed into fentanyl for IV drug users—an “emerging threat,” forcing the government to develop a federal plan to address the crisis. While Congress considers a bill to classify the[Read More…]
Drug resistance and education group fights the spread of fentanyl in Kentucky
LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) – May 9 is National Fentanyl Awareness Day. Police and health professionals say the scary thing is a lot of people who take illegal and illicit drugs don’t even know fentanyl is in them. Operation UNITE tackles drug education, enforcement and prevention all over southern and southeastern[Read More…]
OperationUNITE and AmeriCorp Partner Together to Educate Youth About Preventing Substance Use
OperationUNITE and AmeriCorp are working with different schools to teach fourth and fifth graders about preventing substance use. 58 AmeriCorps members will be disbursed different schools to lead education efforts in each assigned classroom. Read more here.
Kentucky Chamber hosts its 4th Annual Recovery in the Workplace Conference
This week, Kentucky businesses and recovery advocates joined together and discussed hiring, training, and retaining individuals who are in recovery from substance use disorder. The event also featured an awards ceremony hosted by The Recovery Consortium of Kentucky which honored Kentuckians who are taking strides to address the addiction crisis.[Read More…]
ARC Founder, Tim Robinson discusses the addiction battle in Kentucky with panel on KET
This week, Tim Robinson, Founder of Addiction Recovery Care (ARC), joined others on KET to discuss the current addiction crisis. State and community leaders also participated in the panel. Read more here.