BY JOSEPH CHOI | 07/12/23 | 5:30 AM ET A bipartisan push to expand methadone access across America is picking up momentum after restrictions on the medication were relaxed during the pandemic. Methadone is one of the most effective treatments available for opioid use disorder (OUD), however experts have long feared[Read More…]
Tag: overdose
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…]
Horse tranquillizer increasingly common in opioid overdoses, Kentucky poison control says
By Reyna Katko | July 12, 2023 LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — The U.S. is seeing an alarming increase in opioids laced with xylazine, a tranquillizer for horses and other animals. Kentucky has had more than a handful of xylazine overdoses, and, to make matters worse, xylazine is resistant to Narcan[Read More…]
White House launches national response plan for combatting ‘tranq’ drug deaths
By NATHANIEL WEIXEL | 07/11/23 | 5:00 AM ET The Biden administration is rolling out a national response plan to deal with the threat of fentanyl combined with xylazine. Xylazine, also known as “tranq,” is an easily accessible veterinary drug approved for use in animals as a sedative and pain reliever. But it is[Read More…]
Addressing the Opioid Crisis: A Look at the Evolving Landscape of Federal OUD Treatment Policies
By Heather Saunders & Nirmita Panchal | July 11, 2023 Opioid overdose deaths, primarily driven by fentanyl, have surged during the pandemic, exposing significant gaps in access to and availability of treatment. From 2016 to 2021, opioid overdose deaths nearly doubled, from 42,249 to 80,411. By 2021, these deaths accounted for 75% of all fatal drug overdoses, up from 66% in[Read More…]
Here’s who controls the $50 billion opioid settlement funds in each state
Kaiser Health News | By Aneri Pattani Published July 10, 2023 at 9:41 AM EDT As more than $50 billion makes its way to state and local governments to compensate for the opioid epidemic, people with high hopes for the money are already fighting over a little-known bureaucratic arm of the process:[Read More…]
Kentucky alert system reports high number of overdoses
BY ERIN KELLY IN KENTUCKY PUBLISHED 5:00 PM ET JUL. 10, 2023 ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. — The Lincoln Trail District Health Department shared an alert this month saying that Baptist Health Hardin and Flaget Memorial Hospital in Nelson County reported an unusually high number of nonfatal drug overdoses. What You Need To Know Health[Read More…]
Substance Abuse Is Climbing Among Seniors
Many aging baby boomers have long histories with drugs, cannabis and alcohol. “The field wasn’t ready for that,” said one expert. By Paula Span | July 9, 2023 When Dr. Benjamin Han, a geriatrician and addiction medicine specialist, meets new patients at the School of Medicine at the University of California,[Read More…]
More than half of Kentucky’s counties now have harm reduction programs for IV drug users
Two syringe services opened this year as Estill County went to a mobile clinic after Irvine council balked. BY: MELISSA PATRICK, KENTUCKY HEALTH NEWS JULY 6, 2023 Kentucky has added two new syringe-service programs for intravenous drug users this year, bringing the total to 84 SSPs, in 65 of the state’s[Read More…]
Henderson Police Department planning latest free Narcan giveaway
By Adam Kight, WEVV-TV July 5, 2023 HENDERSON, Ky. (WEVV) — The Henderson Police Department is hosting another Narcan giveaway in a continued effort to combat drug overdoses in the community. HPD says its latest Narcan giveaway will be held on Friday, July 14. The giveaway is happening from noon[Read More…]