“Most states have seen an increase in drug overdose deaths in the past year. Zinnia Health analyzed how overdose deaths changed during the coronavirus.

The coronavirus has caused increased stress and isolation for many people. Some have turned to substance abuse or increased the quantity and frequency of drug use during the coronavirus restrictions. Others turned to new drugs if their prefered drug became more difficult to access.

More drug users were using alone due to social distancing measures, which increases the risk of overdose death since there isn’t someone to administer first aid and call for help. With in-person socializing and community-based programs temporarily closed, there were fewer in-person recovery resources available.”

Read complete article here.

Elaine Pozycki featured in USA Today Network:

“More than 75,000 of our fellow Americans died of an opioid overdose in the year that ended in April, according to the National Center of Health Statistics. This new record shows that the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, including increased stress caused by isolation and financial pressures and more difficulty getting treatment, has resulted to an acceleration of the opioid epidemic, leading to more new cases of Opioid Use Disorder and to a stepped-up number of relapses. The devastating consequences of this expansion to our families, friends, neighbors and the American community are being driven home every day in ruined lives and avoidable deaths.”

See the entire piece here.

From the New York Times:

Americans died of drug overdoses in record numbers as the pandemic spread across the country, federal researchers reported on Wednesday, the result of lost access to treatment, rising mental health problems and wider availability of dangerously potent street drugs.

In the 12-month period that ended in April, more than 100,000 Americans died of overdoses, up almost 30 percent from the 78,000 deaths in the prior year, according to provisional figures from the National Center for Health Statistics. The figure marks the first time the number of overdose deaths in the United States has exceeded 100,000 a year, more than the toll of car crashes and gun fatalities combined. Overdose deaths have more than doubled since 2015.

Read complete article here.

From MarketWatch:

“It’s easy to assume the opioid epidemic afflicts young people. But seniors can get hooked too.

Weeks before my recent oral surgery, the dental office gave me prescriptions for two pain medications in case I needed them later. One was ibuprofen (500 mg); the other actually scared me.

An orange warning sticker on the cap, CAUTION: OPIOID, caught my eye. The next line bluntly summarized the danger: RISK OF OVERDOSE AND ADDICTION.

Inside, I found four white pills.”

Read the complete article here.

From Addition Professional:

“Nearly half of opioids prescribed to children and young adults after surgery, dental care or for other conditions have been deemed “high risk” in a study conducted by researchers from Michigan Medicine at the University of Michigan.

Findings from the research were published this month in the journal Pediatrics.”

Read full article here.

https://www.hmpgloballearningnetwork.com/site/ap/news/half-opioid-prescriptions-young-people-deemed-high-risk

From the Partnership to End Addiction:

“Emergency room visits for opioid overdoses rose 28.5% last year, compared with 2018 and 2019, a new study finds.

Opioid overdoses accounted for one in every 313 emergency room visits in 2020, compared with one in 400 in the previous two years, HealthDay reports.”

Read complete article here.

Opioid Overdose-Related Visits to Emergency Rooms Increased Sharply During Pandemic

From the Partnership to End Addiction:

Guidelines released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2016 aimed at making opioid prescribing safer may have led to shorter prescriptions with lower doses, a new study suggests.

The guidelines say clinicians treating acute pain should prescribe opioids at the lowest effective dose, and for no longer than the pain is likely to last — three to seven days in most cases.

Read the entire article here.

CDC Guidelines May Have Led to Shorter Opioid Prescriptions with Lower Doses

“The opioid crisis is best understood as an epidemic of opioid addiction. When I use the term “epidemic” I am referring specifically to the very sharp increase in the number of Americans suffering from opioid use disorder that occurred over the past 25 years. During the first 12 years of the epidemic, there was a 900% increase in the number of Americans seeking treatment for addiction to prescription opioids. It is the increased prevalence of opioid use disorder that explains why we are experiencing record high levels of opioid-related overdose deaths. It is the reason we are seeing fentanyl flood into our communities. It is the reason we have seen a soaring increase in infants born opioid dependent and children entering the foster care system and outbreaks of injection-related infectious diseases and an impact on our workforce.”

Download full statement here (PDF, 248k)

From HTV10

Brandeis University Study Shows Few Opioid Prescribers Warned Patients of Risk of Addiction Before State Requirement

Published: July 22, 2021  ~   0

Founder of Prevent Opioid Abuse says findings take on a new importance as COVID-19 is predicted to up substance abuse disorder

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contacts: 

Jennifer Latchford  

jennifer.latchford@antennagroup.com

551-579-0496

Rob Horowitz

rhorowitz99@yahoo.com

401-632-0686

April 15, 2020 – A New Jersey law requiring conversations between prescribers and patients to discuss risks of addiction before an opioid-based pain reliever is prescribed, resulted in a more than fourfold increase in the percentage of doctors warning patients about the risks of addiction and a significant drop in patients started on opioids. The study was conducted by Dr. Andrew Kolodny, medical director of opioid policy research at Brandeis University’s Heller School for Social Policy and Management. Dr. Kolodny presented the findings today at the Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit, which was held virtually, rather than at its original Nashville location.

The Patient Opioid Notification Act requires that medical practitioners discuss the addictive potential of opioid-based painkillers with their patients – and parents of minor patients – as well as discuss, when appropriate, safer non-opioid pain relief alternatives. Versions of this legislation have been adopted in 17 states. New Jersey was selected for the study because it was the first state to implement the law.

Representative David Trone (D-MD) will soon introduce national legislation based on these state laws that will require all patients and parents in the nation to be armed with this lifesaving information.

“With the COVID-19 pandemic delaying many elective medical and dental surgeries and procedures, we know that there will be an uptick in opioid prescribing in the future,” explained,  Elaine Pozycki, founder of Prevent Opioid Abuse. “At this critical time, it is imperative that patients be provided this information at the time their opioid is prescribed.

Major Findings

• The number of patients prescribed opioids for acute pain decreased significantly after the law went into effect. The aspect of the law likely to have been responsible for this change was the mandatory warning about the risk of addiction. In the month after the law was implemented nearly 5000 fewer patients were started on opioids.

• The number of clinicians who prescribed opioids for acute pain dropped by more than 1000 after the law went into effect.   
• Nearly all prescribers (97.5%) were aware of the new opioid prescribing rules. 
• Prior to enactment, only 18% of the participants warned patients about the risk of opioid addiction when prescribing opioids.  After enactment, 95% routinely warned patients about the risk of addiction.

What people are saying about the Study

Dr. Andrew Kolodny said, “These findings show that very few opioid prescribers were warning patients about the risk of addiction before New Jersey required them to do so.”

“Requiring prescribers to talk to their patients about the risk of addiction right before an opioid is first prescribed makes sense now more than ever, especially with the anticipated surge of addiction anticipated because of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Congressman David Trone. “I will soon introduce national legislation that aligns with what we learned from this study and works to prevent the opioid crisis in this country from getting worse.”

Background:

Brandeis University researchers analyzed data from the New Jersey Prescription Drug Monitoring Program and conducted structured interviews with New Jersey clinicians.

The Patient Opioid Notification Act is now law in New Jersey, Rhode Island, Maryland, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Utah, Washington, Louisiana, Missouri, and Nebraska for all patients; in California, Connecticut, Michigan, Pennsylvania and South Carolina, it covers minors and their parents.

Prevent Opioid Abuse is a national organization working to educate patients and parents about the risks of opioid-based painkillers and the availability of non-opioid alternatives.

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