Minn. Clinic Offers A Model For Overcoming Opioid Abuse
The doctors in Little Falls, Minn., realized in 2014 that use of opioids in the city was soaring and came up with a plan that has weaned 324 patients off controlled substances and reduced prescriptions substantially. Meanwhile, in Maryland, a legislative committee hears testimony about the benefits of setting up a safe space for drug use.
The Star Tribune:
Successful Little Falls Effort To Curb Opioids Gets Big Notice In D.C.
Before the rising toll of opioid overdoses was labeled an epidemic, and before the death of pop star Prince showed that anyone could be a victim of painkiller misuse, there was a group of doctors in Little Falls, Minn., looking at their drug prescriptions and wondering what the heck they were doing. Stunned by the number of opioid prescriptions and drug-related arrests, doctors with CHI St. Gabriel’s Health in 2014 were among the first in the nation to launch a campaign to reduce opioid dependence. (Olson, 9/26)
The Associated Press:
Safe Drug-Use Space In Baltimore Could Save Money, Lives
A safe space in Baltimore for drug use for those addicted to opioids would generate an estimated $6 million in net healthcare cost savings and bring 121 people into treatment annually, according to a panel of law enforcement officials and a Johns Hopkins professor on Tuesday. The panel appeared before a joint legislative committee on behavioral health and opioid use disorders in Annapolis and presented research that indicated Maryland would benefit from opening a safe-consumption space in Baltimore. (Slater, 9/26)
