Category: substance abuse

VA Adding Opioid Antidote To Defibrillator Cabinets For Quicker Overdose Response

A project that started in a Boston Veterans Affairs facility will soon go nationwide. It puts naloxone, also known as Narcan, into emergency supplies cabinets throughout the VA system.

Judges In California Losing Sway Over Court-Ordered Drug Treatment

In a Medicaid-funded pilot project starting with 19 counties, clinicians and other providers are now in charge of deciding what kind of treatment an offender needs. The change has rankled some judges and attorneys — and forced some felons to spend more time in jail — but it has been largely embraced by clinicians and county agencies.

Half As Many People Are Trying Heroin, But Marijuana Use Grows

An annual government survey of drug use and health shows a dramatic drop in the number of people who tried heroin but an uptick in pot use.

Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ A Detour On A Smoking Off-Ramp

In this episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” Sarah Jane Tribble of Kaiser Health News, Stephanie Armour of The Wall Street Journal, Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner and Rebecca Adams of CQ Roll Call talk about the Food and Drug Administration’s latest actions to address teenagers’ use of e-cigarettes, Arkansas’ Medicaid work requirements and news about the uninsured from the latest federal Census report.

Rudy Giuliani’s Consulting Firm Had Hand In Halting Florida’s Opioid Investigation

Post-9/11, Giuliani Partners helped craft a plan that put a halt to a probe into Purdue’s marketing of OxyContin.

Suicide By Opioid: New Research Suggests Overdoses Should Be Classified As Self-Harm

Researchers combined the number of suicide deaths with those associated with drug overdoses in an effort to better grasp the overlap between these two public health epidemics.

Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ Opioids, EpiPens And Health Funding

In this episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Alice Ollstein of Talking Points Memo, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times and Joanne Kenen of Politico discuss Senate action on health funding and opioid legislation, the state of the individual insurance market and consternation over expiration dates on EpiPens, the self-injected allergy remedy. Also, could an otter with asthma signal a potential public health crisis?

Babies Dependent On Opioids Need Touch, Not Tech

One doctor in Kansas works to make sure every hospital in the state can provide the soft start, ideally with their mothers, that babies with neonatal abstinence syndrome need.

Purdue Pharma’s Sales Pitch Downplayed Risks Of Opioid Addiction

Through a widely circulated brochure and a videotape of testimonials, the maker of OxyContin stressed patients’ right to opioid treatment for pain.

Clinicians Who Learn Of A Patient’s Opioid Death Modestly Cut Back On Prescriptions

A study published Thursday shows that doctors, dentists and other medical providers cut overall opioid dosages by nearly 10 percent after receiving notification of a death from a medical examiner and information on safe prescribing.