Category: Opioids
‘Extreme’ Use of Painkillers and Doctor Shopping Plague Medicare, New Report Says
Some Medicare beneficiaries are being prescribed opioids by 10 or more doctors, or are filling prescriptions for more than 1,000 pills a month. Hundreds of doctors appear to be prescribing indiscriminately, says the inspector general of Health and Human Services.
Amount of opioids prescribed In U.S. has been falling since 2010
The amount of opioids prescribed in the United States peaked in 2010 and has been declining gradually since then. Still, the amount in 2015 is three times higher than at the turn of the century, they said.
Do-it-yourself detox can be ‘Freddy Krueger’ scary — and usually fails
There are recovery and treatment centers that can help people quit using drugs. But this help can be expensive, and waiting lists for state and city-funded programs are often extremely long. So can detoxing on your own be the solution? In most cases, the answer is no.
Opioid overdoses swamp medical examiners
Many medical examiners are working overtime and, in some places, they’re running out of refrigerated storage for bodies. When that happens, local officials typically borrow additional space at local funeral homes and hospitals, and in some cases, rent refrigerated trucks, he said. “Virtually every medical examiner’s office and toxicology laboratory in the U.S. has felt the impact of the opioid tsunami.”
Patients with mental disorders get half of all opioid prescriptions
Adults with a mental illness receive more than 50 percent of the 115 million opioid prescriptions in the United States annually, according to a new study. The results prompted researchers to suggest that improving pain management for people with mental health problems “is critical to reduce national dependency on opioids.”
Support grows for civil commitment of opioid users
Amid an opioid addiction epidemic that is killing more than 90 Americans every day, there is a growing movement to make it easier for relatives and health care providers to quickly secure court orders to forcibly confine and treat people who are addicted to drugs.
Coaching overdose survivors to avoid the next one
Nationwide, tens of thousands of opioid overdose victims have been saved over the last two decades by first responders, friends, family and bystanders who administered naloxone, an opioid overdose antidote. But the majority of those who are rescued from near death go back to using drugs as soon as they leave the hospital, pushed by the brutal withdrawal symptoms that accompany an opioid overdose reversal.
Public restrooms become ground zero in the opioid epidemic
Increasingly, opioid users are using public bathrooms to inject drugs, forcing restaurant and shop owners to deal with overdoses. Some doctors, nurses and public health workers argue any solution to the opioid crisis will need to include safe injection sites, where users can get high with medical supervision.
Overdose deaths from fentanyl and related drugs in Washington state on the rise
The synthetic opioid fentanyl and other fentanyl-like drugs were involved in the deaths of at least 70 people in Washington in 2016. Fentanyl is a fast-acting, powerful opioid – 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine and 30 to 50 times more potent than heroin.
As fentanyl spreads, states step up responses
As the deadly illicit opioid fentanyl spreads, state and local governments are accelerating their public health and law enforcement responses.
