Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
In Heart Of Opioid Epidemic, Some Hope Harsh Reality Check Can Help Save Lives
The New York Times: From Opioid Epidemic’s Front Lines, Filling In The Brutal Back Story
As a county coroner here, Frank Whitelaw has an unusual perspective to share with local students on the opioid crisis. He is the one who examines the bodies. But it is the families of the victims who get to him. “That is the most heart-wrenching part of this job,” he said. “I can deal with bodies all day and all night, to a degree, but when you are talking to the family, you feel that raw anguish. It’s horrible.” (Foderaro, 6/19)
The Washington Post: In Just One Year, Nearly 1.3 Million Americans Needed Hospital Care For Opioid-Related Issues
The coast-to-coast opioid epidemic is swamping hospitals, with government data published Tuesday showing 1.27 million emergency room visits or inpatient stays for opioid-related issues in a single year. The 2014 numbers, the latest available for every state and the District of Columbia, reflect a 64 percent increase for inpatient care and a 99 percent jump for emergency room treatment compared to figures from 2005. Their trajectory likely will keep climbing if the epidemic continues unabated. (Achenbach and Keating, 6/20)
And in other news —
The Associated Press: Few Opioid-Addicted Youth Get Standard Treatment Medication
Only 1 in 4 teens and young adults with opioid addiction receive recommended treatment medication despite having good health insurance, according to a study that suggests doctors are not keeping up with the needs of youth caught up in the worst addiction crisis in U.S. history. "Young people may be dying because they are not getting the treatment they need," said Brendan Saloner, an addiction researcher at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health who wrote an editorial published with the study Monday in JAMA Pediatrics. (6/19)
New Hampshire Public Radio: Uncertainty Around GOP Health Plan Looms Large At N.H. Drug Treatment Center
Serenity Place CEO Stephanie Bergeron said her team is already stretched thin trying to respond to the growing need for substance abuse treatment — and any changes in funding would have serious consequences for the health of both the facility and the people it helps... Sen. Maggie Hassan toured Serenity Place Monday as part of an effort to call attention to the potential consequences that declining health funding might have on local substance use treatment providers. (McDermott, 6/20)
Boston Globe: Officials Balk At Supervised Drug Injection Facility
City councilors expressed concern Monday about a supervised injection facility for drug users — an idea floated by a state lawmaker that has so far been panned by local officials... Opponents have decried the facilities as condoning drug use without an equal effort to address the root causes of addiction, while continuing to let the scourge of the opioid epidemic settle in Boston. (Valencia, 6/20)
Cincinnati Enquirer: Which State Has The Most Opioid-Dependent Patients With Private Insurance?
Kentucky doctors diagnosed more cases of opioid addiction for people privately insured than did doctors in any other state in the nation last year, a new report finds. The report, "America's Opioid Epidemic: Data on the Privately Insured Population," gives an indication of how the opioid and heroin epidemic affects people of all different backgrounds. (DeMio, 6/19)
The Washington Post: Baltimore City Running Low On Opioid Overdose Remedy
Baltimore health officials are running low on naloxone, the opioid overdose reversal drug used hundreds of times by bystanders in the past couple of years to save lives. Leana Wen, the city health commissioner, said demand has jumped significantly amid the drug epidemic, and the health department needs funding for more supplies. “We are rationing,” she said. “We’re deciding who is at the highest risk and giving it to them.” (Cohn, 6/19)
Health News Florida: New Florida Law Aims To Stop Fentanyl Dealers, Some Question If It Will Work
Under a newly signed Florida law, Possession of just four grams of the synthetic drug fentanyl can land a person in jail for a minimum of 3 years. Some are pushing back against the mandatory minimum sentence. But others claim it makes sense when one considers that that same amount—just four ounces--is enough to kill a room full of people. (McCarthy, 6/19)
