Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
For Opioid-Dependent Newborns, Doctors Experiment With Low-Tech Approaches That Also Keep Them With Moms
KCUR: Doctors Grapple With How Best To Treat Opioid-Dependent Newborns
In her third trimester, [Victoria Worden] started treatment using methadone, and when her daughter, Lili, was born, the newborn was started on morphine to help ease her withdrawal and symptoms such as clenched muscles and high-pitched screaming. Worden was allowed to hold, feed and care for her daughter at the hospital during those first few difficult weeks. About 2 percent of infants are estimated to be born drug dependent, and in areas gripped by the opioid crisis, that number is even higher.And as health experts grapple with the problem, they’re increasingly encouraging hospitals to adopt the low-tech but relatively new treatment approach that Worden was offered. (Smith, 8/1)
San Antonio Press Express: One In Three Texans Knows Someone Addicted To Prescription Painkillers, Poll Says
One in three Texans knows someone addicted to prescription painkillers, according to a new poll that depicts the reach of the opioid crisis in the Lone Star State. White and wealthier Texans are more likely to know someone who has suffered drug addiction, according to the 2018 Texas Lyceum issue poll released Tuesday. While the opioid crisis has hammered states in the Midwest and Northeast, Texas isn’t immune. More than 1,170 Texans died in 2015 from overdosing on opioids, the highest number in over a decade, according to state data. Bexar and Harris Counties accounted for at least 111 and 239 of the overdose deaths that year, respectively. (Morris, 7/31)
Kaiser Health News: Patients With Chronic Pain Feel Caught In An Opioid-Prescribing Debate
It started with a rolled ankle during a routine Army training exercise. Shannon Hubbard never imagined it was the prologue to one of the most debilitating pain conditions known to exist, called complex regional pain syndrome. The condition causes the nervous system to go haywire, creating pain disproportionate to the actual injury. It can also affect how the body regulates temperature and blood flow. (Stone, 8/1)
Boston Globe: Beacon Hill Lawmakers Reach Deal On Opioids, But Not On Health Care
As its formal session barreled toward a close early Wednesday, the Massachusetts Legislature passed broad changes to how the state targets the opioid epidemic, but it failed to reach deals on major legislation addressing health care and the state’s school funding formula. The success — and death — of several closely watched pieces of legislation buffeted state lawmakers’ dash to wrap any remaining formal business from the past 19 months. (Stout, Freyer and Dayal McCluskey, 7/31)
