Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Naloxone Access Likely Helping Decline In Opioid Overdose Deaths: Study
CNN: Use Of Opioid Overdose Antidote By Laypersons Rose 43% From 2020 To 2022, Study Finds
After years of continuously rising opioid overdoses, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that overdose deaths decreased 3% in 2023, the first annual decrease since 2018. A new study shows how the increased administration of naloxone by non-medical laypersons – or bystanders with little to no medical training – could be one factor contributing to this decline. (Tupper, 10/14)
San Diego Union-Tribune: Everywhere They Go, People Ask For Narcan. But Overdoses Are Increasingly Hard To Stop
Overdoses in San Diego County are both highly visible and deceptively hidden. Drug use in public, particularly among people living outside, is an obvious reminder of how the crisis intersects with homelessness. Downtown San Diego sometimes features people standing at seemingly impossible angles, knees bent and arms loose, in what one fire captain described as the “fentanyl fold.” Yet that’s only part of the picture. Last year, calls about more than 13,700 potential overdoses took the San Diego Fire and Rescue Department to almost every corner of the city. (Nelson, 10/13)
Stateline: Overdose Deaths Are Down Nationally, But Up In Many Western States
Despite an encouraging national dip in the past year, overdose deaths are still on the rise in many Western states as the epicenter of the nation’s continuing crisis shifts toward the Pacific Coast, where deadly fentanyl and also methamphetamine are finding more victims. Overdose deaths remain sharply higher since 2019. Many states are working on “harm reduction” strategies that stress cooperation with people who use drugs; in some cases, states are getting tougher on prosecutions, with murder charges for dealers. (Henderson, 10/14)
Meanwhile —
The Washington Post: Sacklers Lay Out Strategy For Defending Opioid-Related Lawsuits
The billionaire family that owns Purdue Pharma is signaling they intend to fight lawsuits against them by challenging the use of public nuisance laws, a legal strategy that has already led to billions of dollars in settlements between drug companies and communities ravaged by the opioid crisis. Attorneys for Sackler family members disclosed their lines of defense as part of a court filing Monday in the long-running bankruptcy saga of Purdue Pharma. Creditors are also seeking to recover billions of dollars they claim the Sacklers withdrew from the company in the years before the bankruptcy to evade future claims, an allegation the family denies. (Ovalle, 10/14)
NPR: New Rules Should Make Methadone Easier To Get, But Change Is Slow In Many Places
It should be easier to get methadone today than it has been in decades. In April, 2024, the federal government relaxed some of the rules around the treatment for opioid addiction. But many patients are still not benefitting from those changes. Kellyann Kaiser, 30, is among those in recovery who had been waiting eagerly for greater access to methadone. She said she was addicted to opioids from the age of 13 into her late 20s. She tried several different addiction medications, including buprenorphine and naltrexone. (Brown, 10/12)
Also —
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Number Of Missouri Kids Poisoned By Cannabis Edibles Rises
For the first time in her 10-year career, Dr. Lindsay Clukies is admitting toddlers into the hospital and even the intensive care unit for accidentally eating products infused with cannabis. (Munz, 10/14)
