Treatment for substance use disorder is often not a “one-and-done” type of situation. Because of the nuanced and often emotional work involved, as well as the reduction or elimination of physical dependence on substances, treatment can often take multiple attempts. This is true whether it’s as outpatient or at an inpatient facility. Whatever treatment looks like, recovery is always continuous work.
The soaring death toll has been fueled by a much more dangerous black market opioid supply. Illicitly synthesized fentanyl – a potent and inexpensive opioid that has driven the rise in overdoses since it emerged in 2014 – is increasingly replacing heroin. Fentanyl and fentanyl analogs were responsible for almost two-thirds of the overdose deaths recorded in the 12 months period ending in April 2021.
While the spread of fentanyl is the primary cause of the spike in overdose deaths, the coronavirus pandemic also made the crisis worse.
Young adults who experienced trauma in childhood are more at risk for misusing prescription opioids, according to new research from the University of Georgia.
The study, which was recently published in the Journal of American College Health, supports arguments to expand opioid risk screeners to include adverse childhood experiences.
The sudden increase of people dying of overdoses in 2020 and 2021 is mainly being driven by an influx of powerful synthetic opioids into the marketplace—most notably fentanyl. This fast-acting drug is 100 times as powerful as morphine.
“The people in the community who need naloxone are non-medical professionals. If we tied it to medical professionals only, we would see an increase in overdose deaths,” says Christy Sutherland, medical director of the PHS Community Services Society in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
Professional athletes are viewed at times as somewhat of “superheroes,” millionaires who are invincible and do not have the same problems as everyone else.
That could not be further from the truth.
Athletes are not immune to the same issues people in society deal with, and currently, the U.S. is fighting an opioid overdose epidemic
Overdose deaths hit new heights in the U.S. — over 100,000 dead this year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — but experts say it’s part of a fourth wave of the overdose epidemic, in which a growing number of drug users die with multiple substances in their systems.
Behind that 100,000 figure, they said, is an ongoing surge in the number of cocaine, methamphetamine and other drug deaths that are connected to the simultaneous use of fentanyl.
Nearly 2 years into the pandemic, Indiana is navigating a new normal, especially for Hoosiers struggling with addiction and recovery.
Naloxone seems like a miracle drug in many ways. It is an extremely safe medication. It restores breathing to those experiencing opioid overdose, but if someone were to give it even if the person wasn’t overdosing, it would do no harm. And, it’s easy for people who use drugs to learn how to use it.
Bartholomew County officials are expressing concern as drug overdose deaths this year have largely kept pace with last year, when the county recorded the highest number of fatal overdoses since at least 2015.
From Jan. 1 to this past Wednesday, there were 28 drug overdose deaths in Bartholomew County, according to the Bartholomew County Coroner’s Office. By comparison, the coroner’s office recorded 30 fatal drug overdoses from Jan. 1 to Oct. 30, 2020.