“My job as a teacher is to be a first responder to poverty,” says Greg Cruey, a middle school teacher at Southside K-8 school. “If my students learn other stuff too, that’s great.” Read the full story

From SteppinOutRadio.com:

Like so many moms across the country, Elaine’s son became addicted to opioid pain pills, after they were subscribed to him to treat a sports injury. And, like many moms across the country, Elaine had no clue her son was addicted to them. Sadly, her son lost his life to a heroin overdose, and Elaine set out to change the laws across the country. She founded a nationwide advocacy group that pushes for legislative change to drug policies in each state.

Listen to the full interview here.

And read the article on SteppinOutRadio.com here.

From the New York Times:

Fentanyl is a big culprit, but there are also encouraging signs from states that have prioritized public health campaigns and addiction treatment.

Read complete article here.

We engaged opinion leaders and lined up support at the Annual International Conference on Opioids Recently Held at Harvard Medical School.

MEDIA RELEASE
For Immediate Release:

MEDIA CONTACT:
Rob Horowitz
[email protected],
401-595-5026

Prevent Opioid Abuse Calls for Action to Accelerate the Positive Downward Trend in Opioid Painkiller Prescriptions

“It is up to Every State in the Nation to Act”

Responding to a recent study showing a 9% nationwide decline in the number of opioid-based pain reliever prescriptions filled by pharmacies last year, Prevent Opioid Abuse, a national organization working to educate patients and parents about the risks of opioid-based painkillers and the available non-opioid alternatives, today called on every state in the nation to arm its’ residents with the real-time information required to dramatically speed up this positive trend. The organization pointed out that even with this welcome decline, about 200 million opioid prescriptions were written last year with millions of people taking these highly addictive medications for the first time.

Prevent Opioid Abuse urged all states to follow the lead of New Jersey, Rhode Island, Nevada and Maryland, and adopt legislation giving patients and parents the information they need to prevent opioid addiction at the time when they most need it – when an opioid painkiller is about to be prescribed.

The legislation requires prescribers to inform all patients, and parents of minors , about the risk of addiction before an opioid is prescribed and when appropriate, discuss the availability of non-opioid alternative pain relief treatments. This common-sense requirement enables patients and parents to recognize signs of addiction and alerts them to less risky alternative methods of pain relief. Maryland became the most recent state to adopt this legislation with Governor Larry Hogan signing it into law on April 24, 2018.

“While it is good to see this positive downward trend, we have a long way to go before we truly accomplish curbing the opioid epidemic,” said Elaine Pozycki, Founder of Prevent Opioid Abuse. “Requiring a conversation between doctors and patients and parents before an opioid is prescribed that includes a discussion of non-opioid pain relief alternatives will speed the decline in the number of opioid prescriptions written.”

Pozycki added, “All patients and parents of patients have the right to know that the medicine they are being prescribed can lead to dependency and addiction. They should also be made aware that there are non-opioid alternatives available that will work for all but the most extreme pain.”

Unfortunately, doctors rarely discuss the addiction potential of opioids before prescribing them,” said Andrew Kolodny, MD, Co-Founder of Physicians for Responsible Prescribing and a Senior Adviser to Prevent Opioid Abuse. “Requiring this conversation will not only result in better- informed parents, patients and prescribers, it will save lives and spare many families from the devastating impact of opioid addiction.”

The over-prescribing of opioid-based pain relievers, such as Oxycodone and Vicodin, is the primary cause of today’s epidemic of opioid addiction, both to opioid-based painkillers and their illegal street cousin, heroin. Two hundred million prescriptions for opioid-based painkillers are written annually in the United States, and Americans take more than 80 percent of the opioid-based painkillers used globally, despite representing just 5 percent of the world’s population.

The results of this overprescribing can be seen in every state of the nation. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention, more than 42,000 people died from overdoses from opioids in the United States in 2016, exceeding the number of people that died from breast cancer

“The National Opioid Commission has made the proposed requirement for a conversation between prescriber and patient before an opioid is prescribed one of its major national recommendations.

Governor Signs Bill Last Week Dealing With Opioid Prescriptions

April 27, 2018 – 9:34 pm
It would require health care providers to have discussions with patients before writing an opioid prescription.

Annapolis, Md (KM). It’s something doctors and other health care providers don’t often discuss with their patients, but now they’ll be required to do so under a bill signed into law last week by Governor Larry Hogan. It would require physicians, dentists, nurses and other medical professionals who prescribe opioid pain killers to their patients to discuss with them the risks of addiction from these drugs. They would also need to offer a non-opioid pain relievers if they’re available.

Read complete article here.

Women Are At Risk In The Opioid Crisis

The opioid epidemic is one of the worst public health crises in American history. How did it take hold, and what can we do to avoid dangerous and deadly consequences for ourselves and our loved ones? Real Woman investigates.

Read complete article here.

A CDC study came out today on opioid overdoses: https://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/index.html.

A few key points:

• Opioid overdoses went up 30% from July 2016 through September 2017 in 52 areas in 45 states.
• The Midwestern region witnessed opioid overdoses increase 70% from July 2016 through September 2017.
• Opioid overdoses in large cities increased by 54%
• Overdoses in people ages 25-34 (↑ 31%), 35-54 (↑36%), and 55 and over (↑32%)

MEDIA RELEASE

For Immediate Release:

MEDIA CONTACT:

Rob Horowitz

[email protected],

401-595-5026

Prevent Opioid Abuse Calls on House of Delegates to Pass HB 653 Arming Patients and Parents with the Information Needed to Prevent Opioid Addiction

Say ‘Patients and Parents Have the Right to Know’

Annapolis, MD – Prevent Opioid Abuse, a national organization working to educate patients and parents about the risks of opioid-based painkillers and the availability of non-opioid alternatives, urged speedy adoption of HB 653. The legislation is being heard in the Health & Government Operations Committee today.

Sponsored by Delegate Karen Lewis Young, (D-3A), the legislation would require prescribers to inform patients, and parents of minor children, about the risk of addiction before an opioid is prescribed and when appropriate, discuss the availability of non-opioid alternative pain relief treatments. This common-sense requirement enables patients and parents to recognize signs of addiction and alerts them to less risky alternative methods of pain relief.

Prevent Opioid Abuse Founder Elaine Pozycki said, “This common-sense requirement enables patients and parents to recognize signs of addiction and alerts them to less risky alternative methods of pain relief. People have the right to know this lifesaving information in real time. I urge its speedy passage.”

“Unfortunately, doctors rarely discuss the addiction potential of opioids before prescribing them,” said Andrew Kolodny, MD, Co-Founder of Physicians for Responsible Prescribing and a Senior Adviser to Prevent Opioid Abuse. “Requiring this conversation will not only result in better informed parents, patients and prescribers, it will save lives and spare many families from the devastating impact of opioid addiction.”

“Prescribers are the gatekeepers in promoting responsible use. Therefore, it is critical that they play a role in minimizing the rate of addiction,” said, Delegate Lewis Young. “Approximately 85% of those who have an opioid addiction were originally introduced through a medical prescription.”.

Lewis Young added, “Research has demonstrated that better information can be effective in ensuring that patients understand the risks associated with opioid medications and improving communication between providers and their patients. That is what my legislation will promote.”

The over-prescribing of opioid-based pain relievers, such as Oxycodone and Vicodin, is the primary cause of today’s epidemic of opioid addiction, both to opioid-based painkillers and their illegal street cousin, heroin. More than 200 million prescriptions for opioid-based painkillers are written annually in the United States, and Americans take more than 80 percent of the opioid-based painkillers used globally, despite representing just 5 percent of the world’s population.

The results of this overprescribing can be seen right here in Maryland. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention, more than 2,000 people died from drug overdoses in Maryland in 2017, making it the state with the 7th highest overdose rate in the nation. Nationally, overdoses of prescription painkillers alone have increased by 500% over the past 17 years, resulting in more than 200,000 deaths in that time period, the CDC reports.

HB 653 is based on similar laws that have been adopted by New Jersey, Rhode Island and Nevada. The National Opioid Commission has made the proposed requirement for a conversation between prescriber and patient before an opioid is prescribed one of its major national recommendations.

The legislation’s co-sponsors, include Delegates Angel, Barron, Cullison, Fraser–Hidalgo, Gibson, Kelly, Lafferty, Mautz, McMillan, Metzgar, Morales, Platt, Robinson, Sample–Hughes, Tarlau, Turner, and Vogt. A companion bill, SB 522 ,was heard by the Senate Education, Health & Environmental Affairs Committee last week.