President Obama travels to West Virginia today to announce steps to curb the rise in deaths from prescription drug overdoses. He is mandating more training of federal doctors and requiring federal health insurance plans to treat addiction, reported The New York Times.
A new bill proposed by Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker would allow doctors to hold patients involuntarily for treatment and limit their supply of opioid painkillers, according the Wall Street Journal.
Top headlines of the week from Friday, October 9- Thursday, October 14, 2015.
A new study finds 80 percent of people with an opioid addiction are not receiving treatment. The study examined addiction treatment rates over the past decade, when heroin overdose deaths quadrupled.
Officials in states hit hard by heroin use, such as Ohio, say the drug is a major reason for the increasing number of children being placed in foster care.
Top headlines of the week from Friday, September 25- Thursday, October 1, 2015.
Presidential candidates from both parties are discussing drug abuse on the campaign trail, the Burlington Free Press reports.
Top headlines of the week from Friday, September 18- Thursday, September 24, 2015.
Top headlines of the week from Friday, September 11- Thursday, September 17, 2015.
The cost of naloxone, the opioid overdose antidote, is rising as demand increases. In Baltimore, the City Health Department was paying about $20 a dose in February. NPR reports the price had risen to almost $40 by July.
Fentanyl-laced heroin is worsening the nation’s overdose crisis, officials tell NPR. Some drug dealers are using an illicit version of fentanyl, a potent anesthesia drug, to increase the potency of heroin that has been diluted.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will spend $20 million in 16 states to reduce opioid overdoses, UPI reports.
Allowing needles exchanges for people who use intravenous drugs in Washington, D.C. prevented 120 new cases of HIV in two years, a new study concludes.
The wait for federally funded rehab is increasing as the number of people addicted to heroin grows, NBC News reports.
Chicago’s heroin problem is increasing at a time when Illinois has cut funding for drug treatment, according to a new report.
Top headlines of the week from Friday, August 7- Thursday, August 13, 2015.
In addressing overdoses, clinicians and the public have largely focused on how to safely prescribe opioid medication and on limiting access to opioid medication. These are important steps in solving the problem, but more needs to be done to address the underlying issue: addiction.
The stress hormone cortisol may be useful in treating heroin cravings, a new study suggests. Swiss researchers found cortisol decreased cravings in heroin patients by up to 25 percent.
Top headlines of the week from Friday, July 24- Thursday, July 30, 2015.
Federal legislators and officials say there is an alarming increase in the amount of heroin being brought into the United States, The Washington Times reports. At a hearing of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security and Investigations, legislators called for solutions to this public health crisis.
Hepatitis C is spreading quickly among people injecting drugs in Appalachia, The New York Times reports. The disease can lead to liver failure, cancer and sometimes death.
Ohio Governor John Kasich has signed emergency legislation that makes the opioid-overdose antidote naloxone available without a prescription. Pharmacies will now be able to offer naloxone over-the-counter to people cleared by a doctor or health officials, The Huffington Post reports.
Top headlines of the week from Friday, July 10- Thursday, July 16, 2015.
A growing number of obituaries of people who have died of heroin overdoses refer to their addiction, The New York Times reports. In the past, these obituaries tended to say a person died “unexpectedly” or “at home.”
Heroin abuse is rising across the United States, according to a new government report that finds the strongest risk factor for a heroin use disorder is a prescription opioid use disorder. People addicted to opioid painkillers are 40 times more likely to abuse or be dependent on heroin, NPR reports.
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