New data finds one American is dying from alcohol, drugs and suicide every four minutes — that’s the highest number recorded so far.
Addiction & Substance Abuse
For newborns with opioid withdrawal, forgoing intensive care and rooming with mom may be best
One of the more heartbreaking ripple effects of America’s opioid addiction epidemic is a massive increase in newborns experiencing drug withdrawal. Public health officials have tracked a 400 percent increase in such cases — technically known as neonatal abstinence syndrome — with one impacted baby born every 25 minutes as of 2012.
Before Patrick Morrison worked for the International Association of Fire Fighters, he was a firefighter himself. He’s experienced the horrifying and profoundly saddening events that first responders see every day. And like many other firefighters, he turned to alcohol to deal with the accumulating mental trauma.
By now, the enormity of America’s opioid abuse and overdose epidemic is common knowledge. With 78 Americans dying every day from an opioid overdose and with enough painkillers prescribed to give just about every U.S. adult their own bottle of pills, there’s hardly a community that’s gone untouched by the deadly problem. And a new study reminds us that we’ll be dealing with the aftermath far into the future.
In 2014, more than 28,000 people in the U.S. died from an opioid overdose. That same year, more Americans died from drug overdoses than during any other year on record, with the escalating numbers fueled by opioid abuse. Solutions to the problem are as complex as the epidemic itself, however a recent study pointed to one tool that can make a significant difference: prescription drug monitoring programs.
Drug Safety
Messaging study: Putting a human face on opioid addiction increases public support for naloxone
Every day in the U.S., more than 40 people die after overdosing on prescription painkillers. Deaths from a more notorious form of opiates — heroin — increased five-fold between 2001 and 2013. Addressing this problem — one that’s often described as a public health crisis — requires action on many fronts, from preventing abuse in the first place to getting those addicted into treatment. But when it comes to overdoses, there’s one answer we know works: naloxone.
Recent pieces address President Obama’s remarks on events in Ferguson, an Obamacare program that works but is shutting down, retail workers’ pay, and more.
Health Impact Assessments
Tennessee’s Jekyll and Hyde Moment: Should Pregnant Women Who Use Drugs Be Treated as Criminals?
By Sara Satinsky: Should pregnant women who use drugs be charged as criminals or given help? From a public health perspective the choice is clear: provide treatment to help women quit drugs before their use harms their child. Less than a year ago, Tennessee adopted a progressive policy to provide such treatment, but now is on the brink of taking a big step back.
Public Health Practice
Worth reading: Veterans’ health, Medicare data, and public-health challenges in West Virginia
The Washington Post provides in-depth coverage on issues facing veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan; an unprecedented release of Medicare data gives reporters a lot to work with; and journalists consider how West Virginia’s reliance on a few industries has influenced the state’s response to contaminated water and drug addiction.
Imprecise and potentially shaming terms like “drug abuse” can interfere with treating diseases of addiction, explain Linda Richter and Susan E. Foster in a piece in the Journal of Public Health Policy.