OVERDOSE NEWS BULLETIN
(News from across the Commonwealth and the Nation)
May 22, 2014 to May 30, 2014
|
|
|
|
05-29-2014
-Heroin
-Statistics
|
The number of people who have died in York County this year after overdosing on heroin stands at 19, topping the number of heroin overdose deaths for all of 2013. York County's District Attorney Thomas Kearney says the numbers, current as of Tuesday, show five other cases remain under investigation...(WITF)
|
|
|
05-28-2014
-Naloxone
-Legislation
|
State Sens. Andy Dinniman (D., Chester) and John Rafferty (R., Montgomery) have introduced legislation that would allow more first responders and family members to access naloxone, which can quickly counteract the effects of a heroin overdose the legislators announced Tuesday...(Philadelphia Inquirer)
|
|
|
05-27-2014
-Prescription
-Monitoring
-Editorial
|
As district attorneys, our position is based on extensive and conclusive research. Pennsylvania is currently a state living in the dark ages of prescription drug monitoring programs, which is why we support bipartisan legislation that would bring us the help stronger databases have provided other states. Making this information available to appropriate users, including law enforcement, will save lives...(US. News)
|
|
|
05-27-2014
-Prescription
-Monitoring
-Editorial
|
In theory, it makes sense that a doctor would want to know what medications her patient is taking; but, in practice, this surveillance program diminishes patient privacy. Access to the data does not end with doctors and pharmacists...(US. News)
|
|
|
05-27-2014
-Naloxone
-Legislation
|
Bill supported to use drug to counter heroin overdoses
Elected officials and emergency responders gathered at the Good Fellowship Ambulance company Tuesday to announce proposed legislation that would give first responders an important tool in the battle against "a plague" of fatal drug overdoses... (Daily Local News)(Mercury News)
|
|
|
05-27-2014
-Heroin
-Epidemic
-Smart Talk
|
Smart Talk: Heroin in Central PA
Today's heroin can be more pure and powerful, may be mixed with other substances, and cheaper to buy. Users also don't have to "shoot up" to ingest the drug either. At the same time, heroin has found its way into Pennsylvania suburbs and small towns too...(WITF)
|
|
|
05-24-2014
-Prescription
-Heroin
-Transition
|
|
|
|
05-28-2014
-Task Force
-Collaboration
|
Heroin task force looks for collaboration opportunities
(Wisconsin) Reducing access to drugs, substance abuse prevention and early intervention to treatment are just some of the things talked about by the Heroin Task Force Thursday. The group got together for its first meeting since dividing up to tackle six issues...(News 8000)
|
|
|
05-28-2014
-Prescription
-Monitoring
-Federal
|
Blackburn bill on prescription drug abuse advances
A bill pushed by Rep. Marsha Blackburn to curb prescription drug abuse cleared a House panel Wednesday. By voice vote, the health subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved the measure, which aims to balance the need to keep drugs away from abusers while ensuring continued access to patients with a genuine need...(The Tennessean)
|
|
|
05-28-2014
-Prescription
-Monitoring
-Federal
|
The dramatic shift in heroin use in the past 50 years: Whiter, more suburban
Now a new study in JAMA Psychiatry underscores just how dramatically heroin abuse has shifted away from predominately minority men living in cities. Compared to 50 years ago, heroin users today are older, live in nonurban areas, and are almost evenly male and female..(Washington Post)
|
|
|
05-28-2014
-Prescription
-Heroin
-Study
|
Drug users switch to heroin because it's cheap, easy to get
Drug users are attracted to heroin not only for the "high," but because it is less expensive and easier to get than prescription painkillers, a nationwide survey of heroin users indicate. Researchers have found that many suburban drug users have made the switch...(Science Daily)
|
|
|
05-28-2014
-Heroin
-Statistics
|
Heroin users 90% white, living outside urban areas
(New York) The image of the heroin user is changing, according to researchers who say the great majority are now white men and women who mostly live outside the cities...(Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
|
|
|
05-28-2014
-Heroin
-Awareness
-Music
|
Richie Sambora: We can end heroin addiction
(New Jersey) Sambora took the stage at the Pine Belt Arena on Tuesday with his band in front of a crowd of law enforcement agents, addiction experts and parents whose lives have been torn apart by drug use, in a more than four-hour-long forum aimed at spreading awareness about the drug crisis here...(USA Today)
|
|
|
05-28-2014
-Naloxone
-Responders
|
Bill Would Allow Responders To Give Overdose Antidote
(Missouri) Missouri law officers, firefighters and emergency medical technicians could administer an antidote for drug overdoses under legislation on the governor's desk...(CBS St. Louis)
|
|
|
05-27-2014
-Naloxone
-Rescue
|
Health Commissioner cites lives saved by overdose-reversing nasal spray
(New York) The city's new Health Commissioner again stressed the importance of outfitting more people with naloxone, the nasal spray that can reverse opioid overdoses, as the city continues to struggle with a heroin and prescription pill abuse crisis...(SI Live)
|
|
|
05-27-2014
-Heroin
-Statistics
|
New Face of Heroin is Young, White and Suburban, Study Finds
The new study should serve as a caution to those who still view heroin use - and opiate addiction - through the lens of old stereotypes. For instance, parents of teenagers should monitor prescription painkillers carefully and keep them away from kids because such early use can easily escalate, the experts said...(NBC News)
|
|
|
05-27-2014
-Heroin
-Awareness
-Music
|
|
|
|
05-27-2014
-Naloxone
-Debate
|
Effectiveness of anti-overdose drug Narcan debated
(Massachusetts) One of the initiatives Gov. Deval Patrick announced in his March declaration of a health emergency of opiate abuse was to increase distribution of an antidote effective at reversing drug overdoses. Under the plan, Narcan, a brand name of the generic drug naloxone, will be distributed to first-responders, including police and emergency medical technicians, as well as friends and families of known addicts...(Lowell Sun)
|
|
|
05-27-2014
-Naloxone
-Police
|
NYPD to be equipped with naloxone kits to fight heroin overdose
(New York) New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced his office will provide the New York City Police Department with funding that will allow 19,500 officers to carry naloxone kits, a drug that can instantly reverse a heroin overdose. The program, which is estimated to cost $1.17 million, will be funded through money recovered from drug dealers and other criminals...(CBS News)
|
|
|
05-27-2014
-Naloxone
-Police
|
(New York) Thousands of police officers will receive training in administering naloxone, and OD antidote described as "stunningly effective." Overdoses in the city surged 84% between 2010 and 2012...(Time)
|
|
|
05-27-2014
-Naloxone
-Police
|
(New York) As part of a push to combat deaths from heroin and opioids, police in New York City will soon start carrying a drug that can reverse the effects of an overdose. This will equip 19,500 police officers - more than half of the department's cops - with naloxone, a drug considered the standard treatment for opioid overdoses...(Washington Post)
|
|
|
05-27-2014
-Naloxone
-Police
|
(New York) Police officers across New York City will soon carry medications to reverse the effects of an overdose from heroin or opioid prescription pills, officials are set to announce Tuesday, expanding from a successful program on Staten Island to all precincts citywide...(New York Times)
|
|
|
05-27-2014
-Naloxone
-Police
|
New York police to carry heroin antidote as overdoses double
(New York) Some 19,500 officers with the New York Police Department, the nation's largest police force, will receive kits with the opiate antidote drug naloxone, which can instantly restore breathing in people who have overdoses...(Chicago Tribune)
|
|
|
05-27-2014
-Good Sam
-Naloxone
-Legislation
-Editorial
|
When to Kill the Bill: Dilemmas Compromise, and Overdose Prevention Laws
How much compromise is too much?...For advocates who fight for 911 Good Samaritan and naloxone access laws to prevent drug overdose deaths, the decision on what to do with a bad bill can be tricky, as lives literally hang in the balance. If a good bill is altered too drastically during the legislative process, advocates may be forced to hit the kill switch...(Huffington Post)
|
|
|
05-23-2014
-Awareness
-Editorial
|
Real drug danger
All these warnings have done little to reduce drug use, but they have instilled a deep sense of cynicism in far too many kids. With changes in drug laws across the country, perhaps it is time we started to tell children the truth: No one is going to die from overdosing on marijuana. Prescription painkillers are a different story...(Houston Chronicle)
|
|
|
|
|
|
