Stanwood, Wash., is responding to the opioid epidemic by mobilizing its Multi-Agency Coordination group, which is typically used to respond to natural disasters, according to NPR.

President Donald Trump signed the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act Oct. 24 to increase the country's opioid epidemic response efforts.

CMS on Oct. 23 introduced the Maternal Opioid Misuse model, which seeks to provide better care coordination for pregnant and postpartum Medicaid members with opioid use disorder.

Fatal drug overdoses have fallen nationwide over the last six months, according to a CDC report. However, health experts warn against early claims of the opioid and drug epidemic ending.

Most hospitals are leaning on EMRs to support their opioid management programs, according to a KLAS Research report.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy, Ad Council and Truth Initiative created a new drug prevention ad as part of the White House's "The Truth About Opioids" public awareness campaign, which targets young adults between ages 18 to 24.

First lady Melania Trump visited Philadelphia-based Thomas Jefferson Hospital Oct. 17 to speak at the National Convening on Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome hosted by HHS.

More than 600 physicians have stopped prescribing opioids altogether in North Carolina, according to a survey from the North Carolina Medical Board cited by North Carolina Health News. 

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.