Primary Care Physicians Bench Themselves In Battle Over Opioid Crisis
Experts are frustrated that primary care doctors -- who are in the best position to recognize, stave off or treat addiction -- are sitting out the fight. The doctors, however, say they aren't trained to handle the issue, and often refer the patients to people who are.
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Primary Care Doctors Are Staying Out Of The Fight Against Opioids
The scarcity of doctors trained to deal with addiction may be particularly acute in Española, but the issue resonates in cities and towns across the country, where roughly 20,000 people die annually from opioid-related overdoses. In the face of one of the country’s most pressing and fastest-growing public health crises, few primary care doctors treat substance abuse disorders, even though they are uniquely positioned to recognize problems and help patients before it’s too late. Instead, many primary care doctors follow an old script: Refer patients to addiction centers and Narcotics Anonymous, and move on. (Tedeschi, 10/19)
In other news about the epidemic —
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New Jersey Attorney General Warns Of Prescription Fentanyl Danger
The New Jersey attorney general is seeking to suspend the medical license of a doctor who prescribed the powerful painkiller fentanyl to a patient who later fatally overdosed. Attorney General Christopher Porrino also warned other physicians on Monday to use extreme caution in prescribing the drug, marketed as Subsys. The complaint against Dr. Vivienne Matalon of Cherry Hill, N.J., also announced Monday, comes amid concerns that many physicians are inappropriately prescribing Subsys to patients for whom it’s not intended, putting them in danger and helping to further fuel the epidemic of opioid abuse in the country. (Armstrong, 10/17)
Kaiser Health News:
Organ Donation And The Opioid Epidemic: ‘An Unexpected Life-Saving Legacy’
On the final day of June 2015, Colin LePage rode waves of hope and despair. It started when LePage found his 30-year-old son, Chris, at home after an apparent overdose. Paramedics rushed Chris by helicopter to one of Boston’s flagship medical centers. Doctors revived Chris’s heart, but struggled to stabilize his temperature and blood pressure. At some point, a doctor or nurse mentioned to LePage that his son had agreed to be an organ donor. (Bebinger, 10/19)
