Enough Painkillers Sold In One Town To Medicate Every Man, Woman, Child For 136 Days
A first-time release of CDC prescribing data shows vast regional disparities. Stateline reports on the numbers and the town -- Martinsville, Va. -- that topped the list. In other news on the national opioid epidemic: Massachusetts police test a new overdose database; experts wait on the impact of White House action; and the deaths of two sons drive one mother's mission to fight back.
Stateline:
New Numbers Reveal Huge Disparities In Opioid Prescribing
Using 2015 data from retail pharmacy receipts, the CDC for the first time reported the volume and potency of pain tablets sold in the nation’s drugstores and calculated per capita rates of morphine equivalent doses sold at the county level. Martinsville drugstores came out on top, selling enough Vicodin, Percocet, OxyContin and other opioid painkillers to medicate every man, woman and child in the city for 136 days, nearly seven times the national average. (Vestal, 8/14)
The Associated Press:
Police Try Out New Database For Documenting Opioid Overdoses
Police in Massachusetts are testing a new database for documenting opioid overdoses they hope will help departments share information in real time and get people into treatment. The database was developed by criminal justice experts Sean Varano at Roger Williams University in Rhode Island, and Pam Kelley with Kelley Research Associates in Massachusetts. (McDermott, 8/14)
CQ Roll Call:
Trump's Plan For Opioid Emergency Declaration Murky
President Donald Trump's order to his administration last week to use extraordinary authorities to respond to opioid abuse and addiction has left experts puzzling over how an emergency declaration could be applied to a simmering problem, unlike more typical disaster scenarios. If he declares an emergency, Trump would be following the recommendation of a presidential commission on opioid abuse led by Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J. (Siddons, 8/14)
Stat:
In One Night, She Lost Two Sons To Opioids. Now She's Fighting To Save Lives
Nick and Jack Savage both died of an accidental overdose of oxycodone and alcohol. The next month, two teenagers were charged with providing the pills and drinks that killed them. [Their mother Becky] Savage felt the bottom drop out of her life. She has since made it her mission to talk about the dangers of opioid abuse to anyone who will listen. She talks at school rallies and parent meetings, and to strangers who approach her while she’s out to dinner. (Thielking, 8/15)
