News about the Combined Epidemics
6/25/18 DA Ryan speaks to Reading Rotary Club on opioid crisis (MA)
6/21/18 ‘If I could go back in time:’ A mother reflects on her son’s overdose (KY)
6/21/18 Opioid addiction affecting more seniors in recent years (FL)
6/12/18 Who should pay for the cost to cities of opioid abuse?
Cities and states are suing Purdue Pharma.
6/8/18 Big Pharma’s avoidable role in the man-made opioid epidemic
Purdue Pharma’s unique marketing practices played a significant role in the opioid epidemic.
6/3/18 UPDATE: Huntington Police & Fire Departments No Longer Respond to Overdoses (WV)
5/27/18 Progress made on opioid crisis, but state must do more (NY)
5/9/18 Milwaukee addict recovery home facing questions after five OD deaths since 2017 (WI)
5/8/18 aTAcK addiction offers three ideas to end overdose deaths in Delaware (DE)
5/4/18 One Senator’s Push to Curb Opioid Abuse - and to Rein in the Facilities That Shelter Addicts
Covering Sen. Pat Bates’ work on the issue.
5/2/18 Florida Doctor Convicted in Woman’s Fatal Opioid Overdose (FL)
5/1/18 More schools stocking NARCAN amid growing opioid epidemic
Important step for saving lives
4/28/18 Amid the opioid epidemic, white means victim, black means addict
Characterizing addiction by race.
4/26/18 Undercover operation leads to Modesto doctor’s arrest in opioid-prescription fraud
Doctor selling prescriptions for cash.
4/17/18 Patrick Kennedy profits from opioid-addiction firms
The representative behind the Mental Health Parity Act of 2008 is paid by industry and doesn’t see a conflict.
3/30/18 When fighting an opioid addiction, prepare for years of vigilance and long-term medication
People addicted to opioids face staggering relapse rates of 80% to 90% within 90 days
if they try short-term rehab or detox programs that wean them off the drugs without
assistance from medications, says Richard Rawson, a UCLA psychiatry professor emeritus.
3/30/18 Opioid manufacturers to pay New York $100M a year
A reason for San Clemente to sue them.
3/23/18 Quitting Heroin in the Sunshine State (FL)
3/22/18 Omissions on Death Certificates Lead to Undercounting of Opioid Overdoses
As well as deaths associated with treatment.
3/19/18 Trump’s opioid plan to take three-pronged approach, including death penalty for high-volume traffickers
Our President on the issue.
3/14/18 Panel: Opioid Epidemic a Social as Much as a Medical Problem
Suggestion is better social cohesion.
3/2/18 Pennsylvania cuts red tape for medication-assisted treatment for opioid addiction (PA)
3/2/18 Scammers, Fraudsters Capitalize on Opioid Addiction Treatment
Insurance is paying for unknown treatment.
2/27/18 New DOJ Opioid Task Force Complements Ongoing E&C Investigation
AG Jeff Sessions convenes “Prescription Interdiction and Litigation” Task Force.
Two Congressional Committees holding hearings… more on the opioid crisis than on residential recovery.
2/14/18 Westchester couple sues sober home over Rye High School senior Hank McWilliam’s OD death (NY)
2/12/18 Patent Brokering: Making profit off opioid addiction
Brokers admit to receiving thousands of dollars from referrals.
2/10/18 End of an era: Purdue to stop marketing opioids to doctors
Purdue Pharma, behind the overprescription of opioids, stops marketing them.
2/6/18 Data: Opioid Epidemic Driving More Children Into Foster Care (IN)
2/6/18 Alabama sues OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma over opioid epidemic
Another state sues Purdue for its role in spreading the fiction that OxyContin isn't addictive
2/5/18 Sanders Demands Investigation into Pharma’s Role in Opioid Epidemic
Insists pharmaceutical companies testify before Congress.
2/10/18 End of an era: Purdue to stop marketing opioids to doctors
Purdue Pharma, behind the overprescription of opioids, stops marketing them.
2/6/18 Alabama sues OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma over opioid epidemic
Another state sues Purdue for its role in spreading the fiction that OxyContin isn't addictive
2/5/18 Sanders Demands Investigation into Pharma’s Role in Opioid Epidemic
Insists pharmaceutical companies testify before Congress.
11/30/17 An overlooked solution to the opioid epidemic
Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCHC) are expanding Medication-Assisted Treatment.
11/11/17 Proven treatment for opioid addiction underused
How to reconcile using another drug, suboxone, to reduce addiction to opioids?
10/26/17 Trump Declares Opioid Crisis A “Health Emergency” But Requests No Funds
Aides said he would soon do so.
10/26/17 Drug company founder indicted in US-wide opioid conspiracy
Fraud and racketeering case brought against founder of an opioid medication.
9/29/17 “The greatest drug fiends in the world": an American opioid crisis — in 1908
A history of how the US handled a previous opioid crisis.
9/17/17 Amid Opioid Crisis, Insurers Restrict Pricey, Less Addictive Pain Killers
“… Some question whether insurers have played a role, too.”
9/7/17 Opioid Epidemic May Be Keeping Prime-Age Americans Out of the Workforce
“Thousands of children have been affected by the widespread abuse of opioids by their parents, swelling the ranks of foster care…”
9/6/17 What to understand how big pharma helped create the opioid epidemic? Read this report
A federal Senate report indicates Insys Therapeutics lied and misrepresented its drug.
8/30/17 For Trump, Opioids Are Still Not A Crisis
Time Magazine weighs in on the policy response.
8/21/17 Trump Misdiagnoses the Opioid Crisis
“The crisis, he said, is the fault of the Mexicans and Chinese who allow drugs to be sent from their nations to ours.”
8/14/17 What Trump’s National Opioid Emergency Should Look Like
Coming soon to a neighborhood near you: Medication-Assisted Addiction Treatment (MAT) (suboxone and methadone) reduces relapse and mortality.
8/14/17 Doctors trained at lowest-ranked medical schools prescribe more opioids
Study suggests better training would help physicians make wiser prescriptions.
8/14/17 Why the opioid epidemic has reached a ‘new level of crisis’
“Researchers say that mortality rates and treatment costs have climbed drastically in recent years."
8/11/17 To fix the opioid epidemic, we must address the causes
Psychologist recommends the President should, “… provide meaningful economic, social and treatment opportunities for our young people…"
6/27/17 An EMT’S view from the front lines of America’s heroin crisis.
6/10/17 Breaking Our Addiction to Rehab
Author argues that we need evidence based, medical treatment for addiction.
6/5/17 Drug Deaths in American are Rising Faster Than Ever
Data suggests that between 59,000 and 65,000 people died in 2016 from drug overdoses.
5/11/17 New hepatitis C infections triple due to opioid epidemic
Infections tripled between 2010-2015.
4/26/17 The opioid epidemic’s startling age divide
Younger American are dying of heroin overdoses; older Americans are dying of prescription opioid overdoses. The problem is most serious in the Northeast and Midwest.
4/26/17 The opioid epidemic may be deadlier than we think
A chart showing increasing deaths from addiction, ending with data in 2015.
4/20/17 How Surgery Helped Fuel the Opioid Epidemic
Painkillers after surgery implicated.
4/8/17 Opioids, My Mom’s Death, and Why People Trust Science Less
4/7/17 States hit hardest by opioid epidemic lacking proper rehab services
“Regions of the country hit hardest by the wave of opioid misuse and abuse in recent years — The Great Plains and the Southeast — do not have enough facilities or programs to treat those who need help… Those that fared best included California…"
2/27/17 More White Americans Are Getting Addicted to Opioid Painkillers
“… and women are the fastest-growing group of individuals who become addicted."
2/16/17 China’s fentanyl ban a “game-changer’ for opioid epidemic, DEA officials say
China will ban the manufacture and sale of four variations of the synthetic drug fentanyl, starting March 1
2/15/17 Long-Term Opioid Use Could Depend on the Doctor Who First Prescribed It
A study found “that the prescribing patterns of whichever physician… were an important factor in their future opioid use."
1/19/17 A quiet epidemic: SLO County's opioid problem
1/6/17 Inside a Killer Drug Epidemic: A Look at America's Opioid Crisis
12/24/16 Opioids Contribute to Rising Death Toll: 28,657 in 2014
10/11/16 California Has Most Opioid-Related Deaths in Nation: Report
9/27/16 New California law aims to curb doctor shopping by opioid addicts
9/23/16 Opiate epidemic can affect anyone
9/16/16 In America's drug death capital: how heroin is scarring the next generation
6/21/18 ‘If I could go back in time:’ A mother reflects on her son’s overdose (KY)
6/21/18 Opioid addiction affecting more seniors in recent years (FL)
6/12/18 Who should pay for the cost to cities of opioid abuse?
Cities and states are suing Purdue Pharma.
6/8/18 Big Pharma’s avoidable role in the man-made opioid epidemic
Purdue Pharma’s unique marketing practices played a significant role in the opioid epidemic.
6/3/18 UPDATE: Huntington Police & Fire Departments No Longer Respond to Overdoses (WV)
5/27/18 Progress made on opioid crisis, but state must do more (NY)
5/9/18 Milwaukee addict recovery home facing questions after five OD deaths since 2017 (WI)
5/8/18 aTAcK addiction offers three ideas to end overdose deaths in Delaware (DE)
5/4/18 One Senator’s Push to Curb Opioid Abuse - and to Rein in the Facilities That Shelter Addicts
Covering Sen. Pat Bates’ work on the issue.
5/2/18 Florida Doctor Convicted in Woman’s Fatal Opioid Overdose (FL)
5/1/18 More schools stocking NARCAN amid growing opioid epidemic
Important step for saving lives
4/28/18 Amid the opioid epidemic, white means victim, black means addict
Characterizing addiction by race.
4/26/18 Undercover operation leads to Modesto doctor’s arrest in opioid-prescription fraud
Doctor selling prescriptions for cash.
4/17/18 Patrick Kennedy profits from opioid-addiction firms
The representative behind the Mental Health Parity Act of 2008 is paid by industry and doesn’t see a conflict.
3/30/18 When fighting an opioid addiction, prepare for years of vigilance and long-term medication
People addicted to opioids face staggering relapse rates of 80% to 90% within 90 days
if they try short-term rehab or detox programs that wean them off the drugs without
assistance from medications, says Richard Rawson, a UCLA psychiatry professor emeritus.
3/30/18 Opioid manufacturers to pay New York $100M a year
A reason for San Clemente to sue them.
3/23/18 Quitting Heroin in the Sunshine State (FL)
3/22/18 Omissions on Death Certificates Lead to Undercounting of Opioid Overdoses
As well as deaths associated with treatment.
3/19/18 Trump’s opioid plan to take three-pronged approach, including death penalty for high-volume traffickers
Our President on the issue.
3/14/18 Panel: Opioid Epidemic a Social as Much as a Medical Problem
Suggestion is better social cohesion.
3/2/18 Pennsylvania cuts red tape for medication-assisted treatment for opioid addiction (PA)
3/2/18 Scammers, Fraudsters Capitalize on Opioid Addiction Treatment
Insurance is paying for unknown treatment.
2/27/18 New DOJ Opioid Task Force Complements Ongoing E&C Investigation
AG Jeff Sessions convenes “Prescription Interdiction and Litigation” Task Force.
Two Congressional Committees holding hearings… more on the opioid crisis than on residential recovery.
2/14/18 Westchester couple sues sober home over Rye High School senior Hank McWilliam’s OD death (NY)
2/12/18 Patent Brokering: Making profit off opioid addiction
Brokers admit to receiving thousands of dollars from referrals.
2/10/18 End of an era: Purdue to stop marketing opioids to doctors
Purdue Pharma, behind the overprescription of opioids, stops marketing them.
2/6/18 Data: Opioid Epidemic Driving More Children Into Foster Care (IN)
2/6/18 Alabama sues OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma over opioid epidemic
Another state sues Purdue for its role in spreading the fiction that OxyContin isn't addictive
2/5/18 Sanders Demands Investigation into Pharma’s Role in Opioid Epidemic
Insists pharmaceutical companies testify before Congress.
2/10/18 End of an era: Purdue to stop marketing opioids to doctors
Purdue Pharma, behind the overprescription of opioids, stops marketing them.
2/6/18 Alabama sues OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma over opioid epidemic
Another state sues Purdue for its role in spreading the fiction that OxyContin isn't addictive
2/5/18 Sanders Demands Investigation into Pharma’s Role in Opioid Epidemic
Insists pharmaceutical companies testify before Congress.
11/30/17 An overlooked solution to the opioid epidemic
Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCHC) are expanding Medication-Assisted Treatment.
11/11/17 Proven treatment for opioid addiction underused
How to reconcile using another drug, suboxone, to reduce addiction to opioids?
10/26/17 Trump Declares Opioid Crisis A “Health Emergency” But Requests No Funds
Aides said he would soon do so.
10/26/17 Drug company founder indicted in US-wide opioid conspiracy
Fraud and racketeering case brought against founder of an opioid medication.
9/29/17 “The greatest drug fiends in the world": an American opioid crisis — in 1908
A history of how the US handled a previous opioid crisis.
9/17/17 Amid Opioid Crisis, Insurers Restrict Pricey, Less Addictive Pain Killers
“… Some question whether insurers have played a role, too.”
9/7/17 Opioid Epidemic May Be Keeping Prime-Age Americans Out of the Workforce
“Thousands of children have been affected by the widespread abuse of opioids by their parents, swelling the ranks of foster care…”
9/6/17 What to understand how big pharma helped create the opioid epidemic? Read this report
A federal Senate report indicates Insys Therapeutics lied and misrepresented its drug.
8/30/17 For Trump, Opioids Are Still Not A Crisis
Time Magazine weighs in on the policy response.
8/21/17 Trump Misdiagnoses the Opioid Crisis
“The crisis, he said, is the fault of the Mexicans and Chinese who allow drugs to be sent from their nations to ours.”
8/14/17 What Trump’s National Opioid Emergency Should Look Like
Coming soon to a neighborhood near you: Medication-Assisted Addiction Treatment (MAT) (suboxone and methadone) reduces relapse and mortality.
8/14/17 Doctors trained at lowest-ranked medical schools prescribe more opioids
Study suggests better training would help physicians make wiser prescriptions.
8/14/17 Why the opioid epidemic has reached a ‘new level of crisis’
“Researchers say that mortality rates and treatment costs have climbed drastically in recent years."
8/11/17 To fix the opioid epidemic, we must address the causes
Psychologist recommends the President should, “… provide meaningful economic, social and treatment opportunities for our young people…"
6/27/17 An EMT’S view from the front lines of America’s heroin crisis.
6/10/17 Breaking Our Addiction to Rehab
Author argues that we need evidence based, medical treatment for addiction.
6/5/17 Drug Deaths in American are Rising Faster Than Ever
Data suggests that between 59,000 and 65,000 people died in 2016 from drug overdoses.
5/11/17 New hepatitis C infections triple due to opioid epidemic
Infections tripled between 2010-2015.
4/26/17 The opioid epidemic’s startling age divide
Younger American are dying of heroin overdoses; older Americans are dying of prescription opioid overdoses. The problem is most serious in the Northeast and Midwest.
4/26/17 The opioid epidemic may be deadlier than we think
A chart showing increasing deaths from addiction, ending with data in 2015.
4/20/17 How Surgery Helped Fuel the Opioid Epidemic
Painkillers after surgery implicated.
4/8/17 Opioids, My Mom’s Death, and Why People Trust Science Less
4/7/17 States hit hardest by opioid epidemic lacking proper rehab services
“Regions of the country hit hardest by the wave of opioid misuse and abuse in recent years — The Great Plains and the Southeast — do not have enough facilities or programs to treat those who need help… Those that fared best included California…"
2/27/17 More White Americans Are Getting Addicted to Opioid Painkillers
“… and women are the fastest-growing group of individuals who become addicted."
2/16/17 China’s fentanyl ban a “game-changer’ for opioid epidemic, DEA officials say
China will ban the manufacture and sale of four variations of the synthetic drug fentanyl, starting March 1
2/15/17 Long-Term Opioid Use Could Depend on the Doctor Who First Prescribed It
A study found “that the prescribing patterns of whichever physician… were an important factor in their future opioid use."
1/19/17 A quiet epidemic: SLO County's opioid problem
1/6/17 Inside a Killer Drug Epidemic: A Look at America's Opioid Crisis
12/24/16 Opioids Contribute to Rising Death Toll: 28,657 in 2014
10/11/16 California Has Most Opioid-Related Deaths in Nation: Report
9/27/16 New California law aims to curb doctor shopping by opioid addicts
9/23/16 Opiate epidemic can affect anyone
9/16/16 In America's drug death capital: how heroin is scarring the next generation