Post-Surgical Patients Are Rarely The Ones Who Start Long-Term Opioid Use
Its more common for those who receive their first prescription for back pain or “other ill-defined conditions” to go on to use painkillers for six months or more, according to new research. In other news related to the national epidemic, the Cherokee Nation asks a judge to allow its lawsuit against opioid distributors and retailers to be heard in the tribe's own court. And KHN reports that the public health crisis is taking a toll on the nation's foster care system.
Los Angeles Times:
Don't Blame The Surgeons: Long-Term Opioid Use Rarely Starts With Surgery, Study Finds
Don’t blame the nation’s surgeons for an opiate-abuse crisis that now claims 142 lives daily in the United States. New research suggests that patients leaving the hospital after surgeries or inpatient procedures are rarely the ones whose long-term opioid use started with a doctor’s prescription. Instead, the patients who most frequently go on to use opioid medications for six months or more got their first prescription for some sort of back pain, or for pain described in medical code as “other ill-defined conditions,” according to a research letter published Wednesday in the journal JAMA Surgery. (Healy, 8/17)
The Associated Press:
Cherokee Nation Says Opioid Lawsuit Belongs In Tribal Court
The Cherokee Nation is urging a federal judge to allow a tribal lawsuit against distributors and retailers of opioid medications to be litigated in the tribe’s own court. Cherokee Nation Attorney General Todd Hembree has filed written arguments with U.S. District Judge Terence Kern in a lawsuit that alleges the companies have contributed to “an epidemic of prescription opioid abuse” among the tribe’s citizens. The lawsuit alleges that six distribution and pharmaceutical companies have created conditions in which “vast amounts of opioids have flowed freely from manufacturers to abusers and drug dealers” within the tribe’s territory. (8/18)
Kaiser Health News:
Opioid Crisis Strains Foster Care System; Programs Aim To Keep Kids With Mom
Data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services show that from October 2012 to September 2015, as addiction surged, the number of kids entering the foster system rose 8 percent. In recent years, experts suggest, the number has continued to climb, though data aren’t yet available to track that increase. Even before this epidemic, social systems struggled to meet demand. Now, the swell of kids needing care is putting new pressure on a network already stretched to capacity — both financially and in its ability to find homes and families that can take in displaced children. (Luthra, 8/18)
And in news from Indiana, New Hampshire, California and Missouri —
The Associated Press:
Hospital In Drug-Troubled Indiana County Starting Detox Unit
A hospital in a rural eastern Indiana county hit hard by opioid abuse is planning to start a drug detoxification unit emphasizing treatment for those diagnosed with HIV. Fayette Regional Hospital in Connersville says the 46-bed unit will provide treatment for about a week for patients with severe intoxication or withdrawal problems and mental health disorders. The unit is meant to stabilize the patient before moving to another treatment program. (8/18)
New Hampshire Public Radio:
N.H. Overdose Deaths Expected To Decline This Year, But Not By Much
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is projecting at least 466 people will die from drug overdoses by year’s end — not quite as many as last year’s record of 486, but close. Chief Forensic Investigator Kim Fallon says officials make those projections using a formula that accounts for both confirmed and pending cases, as well as the months left in a given year. (McDermott, 8/17)
Daily Pilot:
H.B. And Costa Mesa Account For More Than 1,200 Opioid-Related ER Visits In 4 Years In O.C. Study
Emergency room visits stemming from opioid use increased by 141% in Orange County from 2005 to 2015, with large numbers of patients coming from Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa, Anaheim and Santa Ana, according to a study released this week by the Orange County Health Care Agency. More recently, between 2011 and 2015, 7,457 Orange County residents went to an emergency room for treatment of opioid addiction or overdose, according to the report. (Fry, 8/17)
Kansas City Star:
Missouri Doctor's License Suspended After He Gave Drugs To Patient He Was Having Sex With
From March 2013 to August 2015, central Missouri physician Justin LaMonda gave a patient a long list of drugs she didn’t need — including painkillers, anti-depressants, anti-anxiety medications and sedatives — without keeping records. ...Those were the findings of the Missouri State Board of Registration for the Healing Arts in an order handed down earlier this month that suspended LaMonda’s medical license for three years. (Marso, 8/17)
Detroit Free Press:
Oak Park Doc: I Peddled Pain Pills To Make Money
An Oak Park doctor is heading to prison after admitting she peddled more than $2 million in pain pills on the street so that she and her cohorts could make money, including two other doctors. Jennifer Franklin, 40, of Harrison Township, pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court to writing prescriptions for oxycodone without any medical reason, admitting she made $200,000 in the scheme. She also acknowledged that the street value of the addictive painkiller she prescribed totaled more than $2 million. (Baldas, 8/17)
