By Stephen P. Wood The opioid epidemic has been declared a public health emergency, allowing for access to public health funding, in an effort to raise awareness and deploy public health initiatives. This declaration was in response to the growing numbers of overdoses and overdose deaths in the United States.
By Brian Barnett, via the Washington Post I’m an addiction specialist, and my voice-mail inbox is always nearly full. Some messages are from desperate individuals looking for outpatient treatment or help finding a detoxification program. Others are from patients needing a letter confirming their treatment for a child-custody dispute or care providers informing me that…
By Scott Burris, JD There is a lot of interest in civil commitment these days, as a possible tool to fight two big health problems. As we continue to watch the rates of opioid-related deaths climb, and in the wake of an unfunded emergency declaration by President Trump, some policymakers are looking to involuntarily commit…
By Mason Marks Last year more than 64,000 Americans died of drug overdose, which is “now the leading cause of death” in people under 50. Opioids kill an estimated 91 Americans each day and are responsible for most drug-related deaths in the US. This public health crisis requires solutions that are supported by science and…
By Mason Marks The opioid crisis kills at least 91 Americans each day and has far-reaching social and economic consequences for us all. As lawmakers explore solutions to the problem, they should ensure that new regulations are based on scientific evidence and reason rather than emotion or political ideology. Though emotions should motivate the creation…
By Matthew J.B. Lawrence Research indicates that one of many challenges in addressing the opioid epidemic is getting people who are theoretically eligible for government-funded drug abuse treatment through CHIP or Medicaid to actually make use of those programs when their sickness or circumstances give them a window of opportunity to try to get help. The…
By Rebecca Haffajee This new post by Rebecca Haffajee appears on the Health Affairs Blog as part of a series stemming from the Fourth Annual Health Law Year in P/Review event held at Harvard Law School on Friday, January 29, 2016. It’s well known that the U.S. is in the midst of a prescription opioid overdose and abuse epidemic. Adverse outcomes from…
By Leo Beletsky, Wendy Parmet, and Ameet Sarpatwari Cross posted from Health Affairs Blog Amidst a surging crisis of opioid abuse and overdoses, many policymakers have called for expanded use of coercive treatment. Many states, including Massachusetts, already allow physicians, police, and court officers to seek a court order authorizing involuntary addiction treatment (formally referred to as substance use disorder (SUD)).…
By Rebecca Haffajee It’s established that the U.S. is in the midst of a prescription opioid overdose and abuse epidemic. From 1999 to 2011, the rate of fatal prescription drug overdoses involving opioids quadrupled from 1.4 deaths/100,000 people to 5.4 deaths/100,000 people. The rate of emergency department visits attributable to prescription drug misuse (mostly involving…
By Scott Burris The rising public and legislative awareness of opioid overdose has been a case study in the twists and turns of culture, risk perception and the role of evidence in policy making. An interesting case study, which does not mean I understand what happened or why. I first got involved in overdose through…
