Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
'Putting Gasoline On Fire': How Anti-Anxiety Drugs Are Playing A Part In Opioid Crisis
STAT: More Than Just An Opioid Crisis: Deaths From Anti-Anxiety Drugs On The Rise, Too
Deaths from opioids grab news headlines, government budgets, and the futures of troubled people. But these deadly drugs often have help. Benzodiazepines — underestimated and, some say, overprescribed — are killing people, too. (Samuels, 2/18)
North Carolina Health News: Law Enforcement Taking A More Active Role In Saving Lives From Overdose
“Hillbilly heroin,” they called it – OxyContin, and other opioid prescription painkillers. Police Chief Bill Hollingsed of Waynesville, in Western North Carolina’s Haywood County, recalls about four years ago when the county medical examiner shared with him a shocking statistic: Twenty-five percent of recent deaths investigated by that office were attributable to overdose of these drugs. Hollingsed was aware opioid use was on the rise, but such a high rate of death – “It took even those of us in law enforcement by surprise,” he said. (Sisk, 2/18)
