Study: Opioids Leading Cause Of Poisoning Deaths In Under 5s
New research shows opioids accounted for over 47% of child poisoning deaths reported to the National Center for Fatality Review and Prevention between 2005 and 2018 for the under-5 age group. A separate study shows people recently released from prison are more at risk of opioid overdoses.
NBC News:
Opioids Were Most Common Cause Of Child Poisoning, Study Found
Opioids were the most common substance contributing to the poisoning deaths of children ages 5 and younger, according to a new study. The research, published Wednesday in the journal Pediatrics, found that opioids accounted for more than 47% of the poisoning deaths among children in that age group between 2005 and 2018 — 346 of 731 total deaths reported to the National Center for Fatality Review and Prevention. (McShane, 3/8)
The New York Times:
Opioids Are Leading Cause Of Child Poisoning Deaths, Study Finds
About 42 percent of the 731 fatalities were among infants one year old and younger and most of the incidents occurred in the child’s home, the study found. Many of the fatal poisonings happened while the child was supervised and nearly 100 of the children had open child protective services cases at the time of their deaths, the authors said. Over-the-counter pain, cold and allergy medications were the second most common substance contributing to the pediatric poisoning deaths. These accounted for about 15 percent and most often affected children two years old and younger, according to the study. (Chung, 3/8)
CNN:
Young Children Are Increasingly Victims Of Opioid Epidemic, Study Finds
“It truly is striking to see, looking at this data, how different the proportions were between 2005 and 2018,” said study co-author Dr. Christopher Gaw, an associate fellow at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia whose research primarily focuses on pediatric injury and poisoning. The number of deadly poisonings in this age group had been decreasing since the passage of the Poison Prevention Packaging Act in 1970, when harder-to-open childproof packaging became a standard for many medicines, other studies have shown. Gaw thinks that people’s preferences for particular drugs have shifted and that that has had an impact on fatality numbers. (Christensen, 3/8)
More on the opioid epidemic —
KATU:
Recently Released Inmates More At Risk For Opioid Overdoes, Study Says
A new study by Oregon State University, Oregon Health & Science University and Portland State University found people who are recently released from prison have 10 times the risk of an opioid overdose than the general public. Researchers say this underscores the need to help former inmates transition back to the real world safely, especially in the first two weeks. (3/8)
Politico:
Biden’s Next Battle In His Opioids Fight: His Own Bureaucracy
Physicians scrambling to stop people from dying in America’s unyielding opioid crisis say Biden administration officials are working at cross purposes in their fight to reverse record numbers of fatal drug overdoses. Even as the administration is implementing a new law that makes it easier for doctors to prescribe a lifesaving drug to treat opioid use disorder, one of its agencies, the Drug Enforcement Administration, subjects the drug to such strict regulation that many are reluctant to dispense it. As a result, physicians and treatment advocates say, the DEA policy is inadvertently making it more difficult to reduce opioids’ toll: more than 80,000 lives in 2021. (Mahr and Leonard, 3/8)
Rocky Mountain PBS:
As Opioid Crisis Reaches New Peaks, Future Of Overdose Prevention Sites In Colorado Remains Unclear
More than four years ago, Denver’s city council approved an ordinance that would allow for the creation of overdose prevention centers. Sometimes referred to as safe injection sites or safe consumption sites, these centers offer a safe place for people to use illicit drugs under the supervision of trained staff that can reverse overdoses and connect people with recovery resources, if necessary. As the U.S. grapples with the worst overdose crisis in its history — nearly 1,900 people died from an overdose in Colorado in 2021, a record high — Denver still does not have an overdose prevention center. (Cooke and Sandoval, 3/7)
The New York Times:
Executive Sentenced For Scheming To Flood Northeast With Opioids
In his quarter century as chief executive of Rochester Drug Cooperative Inc., Laurence F. Doud III made the distributor the country’s seventh-largest wholesaler, sending stock dividends to record highs as revenue topped $1 billion. He also directed a criminal conspiracy to deceive the Drug Enforcement Administration and pump opioids into pharmacies throughout the Northeast, federal prosecutors said, despite knowing that retailers were diverting the drugs and supplying them to addicts. (Moynihan, 3/8)
On treatments for addiction and overdoses —
Stat:
Health Secretary Signals Support For New Rule On Buprenorphine
A federal proposal to impose new restrictions on a key addiction-treatment medication has caused an uproar in certain segments of the medical community. But health secretary Xavier Becerra seems to be on board. (Facher, 3/8)
Reuters:
U.S. FDA Approves Amphastar Pharma's Nasal Spray For Opioid Overdose
Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Inc said on Wednesday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had approved its nasal spray for emergency treatment of known or suspected opioid overdose. (3/8)
