Facebook Launches Feature Redirecting Users Searching For Opioids Or Treatment To Federal Help Line
Social media companies have been under increasing pressure to step up in the fight against the opioid epidemic. In other news related to the crisis: medication-assisted treatment, a big increase in deaths in rural areas and the dangers of fentanyl.
Stat:
Facebook To Redirect Users Searching For Opioids To Federal Crisis Help Line
Facebook users attempting to purchase opioids or seeking out addiction treatment will be instead be redirected to information about a federal crisis help line, the company announced Tuesday, a major step for an industry leader facing pressure to more aggressively police illicit drug sales on its platform. The announcement comes a week before an “opioids summit” convened by the Food and Drug Administration to get Facebook and other tech companies, including Twitter and Google, to take additional measures to help curb the nation’s opioid crisis. (Facher, 6/19)
The Hill:
Facebook Launches Feature Connecting Users With Opioid Treatment Information
“We look at this as one of a number of steps that we've taken and will be taking to find ways to connect the community on Facebook with the resources they need,” Avra Siegel, Facebook’s policy programs manager who’s running its efforts to counteract the opioid epidemic, told The Hill. The feature was planned in coordination with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and in consultation with Facing Addiction, an addiction advocacy nonprofit. (Roubein, 6/19)
Modern Healthcare:
MAT Underutilized By Hospitals In Treating Opioid Addiction
Roughly only one-third of patients who experienced non-fatal opioid overdose were prescribed some form of medication-assisted treatment, according a new study. Experts say that's causing thousands of people to miss out on a treatment that's proven to reduce the rate of death from overdose. The findings were published Tuesday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, which looked at the outcomes of more than 17,000 Massachusetts adults who survived an opioid overdose between 2012 and 2014. (Johnson, 6/19)
New Hampshire Public Radio:
Rural New England Counties See Big Increase In Overdose Rates
Opioid overdose rates are rising rapidly in rural counties, according to new research from the University of New Hampshire’s Carsey School of Public Policy. Rates remain higher overall in urban areas, but have jumped more quickly outside of city centers, researchers found. (Greene, 6/19)
Minnesota Public Radio:
Is Fentanyl More Dangerous Than Heroin?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that fentanyl was found in more than half of overdose deaths in 10 states last year including Wisconsin. What is at the root of this crisis? And how can it be fixed? (Miller and Erickson, 6/19)
Also, another drug-related health crisis —
NPR:
Meth Is On The Rise And Communities Are Paying A Heavy Price
Principal Mary Ann Hale dreads weekends. By the time Fridays roll around, 74-year-old Hale, a principal at West Elementary School in McArthur, Ohio, is overcome with worry, wondering whether her students will survive the couple of days away from school. Too many children in this part of Ohio's Appalachian country live in unstable homes with a parent facing addiction. For years, the community has struggled with opioids. Ohio had the second-highest number of drug overdose deaths per capita in 2016, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Rezvani, Martin and Hajek, 6/20)
