Category: Opioids
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.
Nurse licensing laws block treatment for opioid addiction
Twenty-eight states prohibit nurse practitioners from prescribing buprenorphine to treat opioid addiction unless they are working in collaboration with a doctor who also has a federal license to prescribe it. The problem is, half of all counties in the U.S. do not have a single physician with a license to prescribe buprenorphine.
Codeine and tramadol can cause life-threatening breathing problems in children, FDA warns
Codeine and tramadol are opioid medicines that may be used to treat pain. Codeine is also in some cough and cold remedies. These medicines can cause life-threatening breathing problems in children.
Can we tax away the opioid crisis?
California lawmakers this month will consider legislation that would impose a tax on prescription opioids such as OxyContin to raise money for addiction treatment and prevention programs.
Another circle of hell: Surviving 0pioids in the fentanyl era
About 75 percent of the state’s men and women who died after an unintentional overdose last year had fentanyl in their system, up from 57 percent in 2015.
In pain? Many doctors say opioids are not the answer
By Emily Bazar Kaiser Health News Those of you who have experienced pain, especially gnawing, chronic pain, know that it affects your happiness, outlook and ability to function. In the past couple of years, the treatment of chronic pain has undergone an earthshaking transformation as opioid addiction continues to claim — and ruin — lives. Many […]
States seek Medicaid dollars for addiction treatment beds
By Christine Vestal Stateline BALTIMORE — Anthony Green says he woke up one morning in January and decided to quit drinking. “I said to myself, ‘If I want something better, I’ve got to do better.’ ” That’s what landed him at Gaudenzia, a residential drug and alcohol treatment center here in North Baltimore. Green, 38, […]
Can marijuana ease the opioid epidemic?
By Christine Vestal Stateline NEW YORK — After a 12-year battle with debilitating abdominal conditions that forced her to stop working, marijuana has helped Lynn Sabulski feel well enough to look for a job. Sabulski is among nearly 14,000 patients in New York state who are certified to use medical marijuana for one of 10 conditions, including […]
