Drug overdose deaths fell for first time in five years, though still exceeded 100,000 Lev Facher By Lev FacherMay 15, 2024

https://www.statnews.com/2024/05/15/opioid-overdose-deaths-2023-cdc/?utm_campaign=morning_rounds&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8OXdgFN-_zSJ1jIoUI_85fcRfDjNWUqTiX6BncFxxl8JKAzJ2bjO9jRvptTJr8VS2RjAucUcj8KDO_yhqUj-W1N_QUvQ&_hsmi=312000659&utm_content=312000659&utm_source=hs_email Not enough people are getting medicine after an overdose, study says About 17% of people on Medicare who survived a drug overdose in 2020 experienced another one within a year, according to a new study in JAMA Internal Medicine. But a much smaller percentage — just 4% — received medication for opioid use disorder in the year after an overdose. These drugs, including methadone or buprenorphine, are effective, cheap, and easy-to-distribute treatments that can help people recover from addiction. Of the study’s 136,762 Medicare beneficiaries who survived an overdose, 1,323 died within a year. Researchers from a collection of federal agencies including CDC, CMS, and NIH found that receiving addiction medication, filling a prescription for naloxone (an emergency medicine that can reverse overdose), and receiving a behavioral health assessment or crisis services all reduced a person’s odds of dying from an overdose in the year after surviving one. The results point to a continued need to improve access to these medications and services, the authors write. But you already know that if you read reporting from STAT’s Lev Facher on overdose deaths in the U.S., federal research on treatment, and how private equity got into the recovery business. June 17, 2024 Overdose, Behavioral Health Services, and Medications for Opioid Use Disorder After a Nonfatal Overdose https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/2820177?utm_campaign=morning_rounds&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_j5nN2-kCLBvOznZcbhwgakS5-jEqBQ2fpiYnAabyuJ4lHYo9Fjxv-tNSNrwxJhim8SOq-nLLRjCp-E8xVOUgiNjFkBw&_hsmi=312000659&utm_content=312000659&utm_source=hs_email How the U.S. is sabotaging its best tools to prevent deaths in the opioid epidemic Lev Facher By Lev Facher https://www.statnews.com/2024/03/05/opioid-addiction-treatment-methadone-buprenorphine-restrictions/?utm_campaign=morning_rounds&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--bvFHmnkwTfO7Ftac0vXI3T63fUICKpAEkvMb6AmSd0DtTY_uNSxNnFuwxM0MLgyQ5wXWqme_OrcCIS6Fx5xnkab13uQ&_hsmi=312000659&utm_content=312000659&utm_source=hs_email March 5, 2024