Nearly two-thirds of hospitals have boosted investments in opioid medication management in the past twelve months, according to a recent survey of more than 90 Vizient member hospitals and health systems.

In 2017, Pennsylvania hospitals treated about 37,000 patients for opioid use disorder, representing the highest number in a decade, according to The Morning Call.

Oak Lawn, Ill.-based Advocate Christ Medical Center's pharmacy now provides certain emergency department patients with a free naloxone kit before discharge, making Downers Grove, Ill.-based Advocate Health Care the first system in the Chicago area to offer this service, the health system announced Oct. 16.

Many people still want opioids to manage pain after surgery despite heightened media coverage surrounding addiction risk and the opioid epidemic, according to survey results presented at the American Society of Anesthesiologists' annual meeting in San Francisco.  

Researchers from Providence, R.I.-based Brown University and Rhode Island Hospital in Providence received an $800,000 grant from the Laura and John Arnold Foundation to conduct the country's first randomized trial of a peer-based recovery intervention for patients with a high risk of overdose. 

Using non-narcotic pain relief throughout the perioperative process

Former Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell launched a nonprofit called Safehouse, which will operate a safe injection site in Philadelphia despite government pushback, according to NPR.

In January 2017, the CDC reported more than 64,000 annual deaths related to drug overdose — a 21 percent increase from 2016 alone.1 To put this statistic into perspective, the number of drug overdose related deaths has now surpassed the peak of deaths from the AIDS epidemic, fatal car crashes and gun violence.2-3 Emergency departments and hospitals are being overloaded, with visits for opioid overdoses in EDs rising 30 percent in all parts of the U.S.4

While some policymakers claim Medicaid expansion is partially to blame for the nation's opioid crisis, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia found Medicaid expansion was not linked to increased opioid misuse, according to a Journal of General Internal Medicine study published in September.

The bipartisan opioids bill, awaiting President Donald Trump's signature, would allow hospice workers to destroy a patient's unneeded opioids to reduce the risk of future misuse, according to Kaiser Health News.

The comprehensive opioids bill passed by the Senate and Congress includes a provision to protect opioid use disorder patients from a predatory practice known as patient brokering, according to The Washington Post.

Many patients unable to obtain the anti-addiction drug Suboxone due to strict federal requirements are turning toward illicit means to secure the medication, which helps curb opioid withdrawal symptoms, according to NPR.

Numerous resources and strategies exist for physicians seeking to help patients with opioid use disorder access specialized care, according to AMA Wire.

Solving the nation's opioid epidemic is no easy task. It's a problem that has sparked more than 800 lawsuits, sent thousands of children into foster care and, in 2017, killed more than 48,600 people.

The Senate passed a final version of the opioids bill in a 98 to 1 vote Oct. 4, according to The Seattle Times.

Wayne Jonas, MD, a physician, retired army medical officer and alternative medicine researcher, shared three ways clinicians can help chronic pain patients  avoid opioid dependency in an Sept. 24 post on his website.

Emma Passé, an account executive at Employee Benefit Management Services, described her unsuccessful efforts to turn down prescribed painkillers after abdominal surgery and said clinicians must realize "pain is a symptom, not a disease," in an op-ed for USA Today.

The opioid crisis can be understood in a lot of different ways. It’s been described as a failure of policy, the collateral damage in the pursuit of irresponsible profits, or just the latest trend in an eons-old cycle of addiction. But one area that has not received enough scrutiny is the very nature of how healthcare is delivered and paid for in the United States.

The Department of Justice will distribute almost $320 million to support individuals affected by opioid-related crimes.

Many hospital leaders and clinicians are reassessing current pain management strategies and opioid stewardship efforts amid the ongoing opioid epidemic.