Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Hazelden's Shift Toward Addiction Medication May Be 'Game Changer'
Stateline: At Fabled Addiction Treatment Center, A New Approach
For decades, the fabled Hazelden Foundation here has relied on group therapy, individual counseling and other nonmedical approaches to help tens of thousands of people recover from drug and alcohol addiction. But several years ago, Hazelden realized that too many of its opioid-addicted patients were dying of overdoses after dropping out of the traditional 12-step treatment programs. (Vestal, 8/8)
In other news on the opioid epidemic, Narcan data reveal the double-edged view of the anti-overdose medication, fentanyl's role in the crisis continues to draw scrutiny, a throwback ad campaign features a new twist, and more —
The Boston Globe: An Unequal Burden
Use of the antioverdose drug Narcan has increased dramatically in Boston, with Roxbury among the hardest hit, according to new data that show which neighborhoods are bearing the brunt of the opioid scourge.Outside of downtown, a constricted area that attracts transients, Roxbury experienced the highest per-capita use of Narcan for the 12 months ending June 28, according to figures compiled by Boston Emergency Medical Services.The drug was used 268 times in Roxbury during that period, a 77 percent jump over the previous 12 months, in emergency calls in which Narcan was administered by EMS crews, civilians, and first responders such as police officers and firefighters. (MacQuarrie, 8/6)
Richmond Times-Dispatch: In SW Va., Drug Touted For Helping Addicts Is Attacked As Part Of The Problem
Suboxone, a mixture of the synthetic opioid buprenorphine and the overdose reversal drug naloxone, has become the go-to drug in the U.S. for helping people to stop taking painkillers or heroin. Virginia aims its substance abuse funding toward medication-assisted treatment, which is meant to combine a drug such as Suboxone with recurring counseling sessions. Studies suggest that addicts are less likely to relapse if the drug is used as part of a complete treatment program. But recovering addicts, elected officials and law enforcement agents throughout the mountain towns near the southwestern tip of Virginia say the drug is more menace than miracle. (Ramsey, 8/6)
PBS NewsHour: Concerns Grow As Fentanyl Fuels Rise In Opioid Overdose Deaths
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, overdose deaths involving prescription opioids have quadrupled since 1999. But amid growing concern over the country’s problem with heroin and prescription opioids, a lesser-known drug in that same group is just as lethal. David Armstrong of STAT joins Hari Sreenivasan from Boston to talk more about the threat posed by fentanyl. (Armstrong and Sreenivasan, 8/6)
The New York Times: ‘This Is Your Brain On Drugs,’ Tweaked For Today’s Parents
For a generation of commercial-watching adolescents, it was an indelible image: an egg, sizzling in a frying pan, representing “your brain on drugs.” It was a straightforward message, and the ad’s final line — “Any questions?” — asked as the egg white clouded and cooked, was strictly rhetorical.Three decades later, the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids (the group formerly known as the Partnership for a Drug-Free America) is bringing the frying pan out of retirement and firing up the stove again. But this time questions are the point. (White, 8/7)
Kaiser Health News: Doctors Need A New Skill Set For This Opioid Abuse Treatment
In a big hotel conference room near New York’s Times Square, six doctors huddle around a greasy piece of raw pork. They watch as addiction medicine specialist Michael Frost delicately marks the meat, incises it and implants four match-sized rods. “If you can do it well on the pork, you can easily do it on the person,” Frost tells his audience.Frost consults for Braeburn Pharmaceuticals, the company behind the newly FDA-approved treatment Probuphine, and is teaching doctors how to use it. They are learning to implant it in pork so they can later implant it in patients’ arms. (Shakerdge, 8/8)
The Philadelphia Inquirer: Gov. Wolf Takes Aim At Opioids In Philly
Gov. Wolf came to Philadelphia on Friday to tout a $20 million state program to coordinate treatment for people addicted to opioids."This is a disease we need to get our arms around," Wolf said at Thomas Jefferson University. "We're losing people every day."Wolf said 2,500 deaths in Pennsylvania were attributed to opioid overdoses last year, more than twice the 1,200 killed in traffic accidents.The funding, though modestly spread across the state, is a good start, he said. (Wood, 8/6)
