Drug Overdose

Top headlines of the week from Friday, May 16- Thursday, May 22, 2014.

Overdose deaths from prescription narcotics tripled from 2009-2010, compared with a decade earlier, according to a new government report.

The Clinton Foundation wants to decrease the cost of the opioid overdose antidote naloxone. Last month, the Food and Drug Administration approved a handheld device that delivers a single dose of naloxone.

Organizers of the Electric Zoo music festival say they are planning tighter security this year, after two drug-related deaths occurred at last summer’s event.

Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman died from taking a combination of drugs, including heroin and cocaine, according to the New York City Medical Examiner. Experts say tens of thousands of overdose deaths annually in the United States are due to a similar mix of drugs.

At least six states are considering joining the 17 states that have passed “Good Samaritan” laws, designed to prevent drug overdose deaths. The laws grant limited immunity to people who seek help for someone who has overdosed, USA Today reports.

Government officials Tuesday urged first responders to increase their use of the drug naloxone to reverse overdoses of heroin and prescription opioids.

The heroin overdose antidote naloxone is becoming more widely available nationwide, the Los Angeles Times reports. California greatly expanded availability of the treatment as of January 1.

The Drug Enforcement Administration has joined an investigation into the source of a batch of heroin that killed 22 people in western Pennsylvania, The Wall Street Journal reports. The heroin involved in some of the deaths contained the synthetic opiate fentanyl, often used during surgery.

The University of Miami is one of a growing number of colleges that have instituted “Good Samaritan” policies to encourage students to call 911 when they are with someone who may be in danger from consuming drugs or alcohol.

Deaths due to drug poisoning have tripled in the last three decades, a new study concludes. The study included poisonings from both illegal and prescription drugs, according to U.S. News & World Report.

The death rate from opiate overdoses among Veterans Affairs patients is almost double the national average, according to a report by the Center for Investigative Reporting. Prescriptions for hydrocodone, oxycodone, methadone and morphine have jumped 270 percent in the past 12 years among VA patients, the report found.

Deaths caused by oxycodone dropped 41 percent in Florida last year, according to a new government report. Deaths linked to methadone, hydrocodone and cocaine also decreased, according to the Miami Herald.

A growing number of law enforcement officials around the country are prosecuting drug dealers for causing heroin overdose deaths, the Associated Press reports.

An increasing number of doctors who treat chronic pain are requiring their patients who take opioids to submit to urine drug tests. The doctors are trying to avoid being held responsible if patients die from painkiller overdoses, The Wall Street Journal reports.

A report by Wisconsin’s State Council on Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse urges lawmakers to pass a Good Samaritan Law to reduce opioid overdose deaths. The law would allow a person with a prescription for the opioid overdose antidote naloxone to use it on a friend.

Deaths from prescription painkillers are rising more quickly among women than men, according to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Women’s deaths from the drugs have risen five-fold since 1999.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie on Thursday signed into law a measure that encourages people to report drug overdoses. The law allows people to call 911 to report a drug overdose, without the fear of getting arrested for drug possession themselves.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Democratic senators agreed on changes to a “Good Samaritan” bill that allows people to call 911 to report a drug overdose, without the fear of getting arrested for drug possession themselves.

Ohio is the latest state to consider making the opioid overdose antidote naloxone available to those at high risk, USA Today reports. Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear is expected to sign a similar bill this summer.

Drug-related deaths increased 3 percent in 2010, and preliminary figures indicate the upward trend continued in 2011, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The number of deadly drug overdoses in the United States increased for the 11th consecutive year, according to new government data. More than 22,000 people died of overdoses involving prescription drugs in 2010.

Prescription opioid overdoses rose seven-fold in New York City from 1990 to 2006, according to researchers at Columbia University. They found the increase in drug overdoses was due to painkillers. Methadone overdoses remained stable, and heroin overdoses decreased during the same period.

A program that teaches people to recognize and respond to overdoses of opioids can significantly decrease the number of overdose deaths, researchers at Boston Medical Center have found.

A greater percentage of homeless adults die from drug overdoses than from AIDS, according to a new study. Drug overdoses accounted for nearly 17 percent of all deaths among homeless patients studied, and 81 percent of the overdoses involved opioid painkillers and heroin.