CDC Director Robert Redfield, MD, spoke about the opioid epidemic during a conference in New Orleans July 12 and commented on how he nearly lost one of his adult children to opioids, The Washington Post reports.  By Alyssa Rege - 7/18/18

A study published in Academic Emergency Medicine examined whether low-dose ketamine is as effective as opioids for acute pain control in the emergency department.  By Anuja Vaidya - 7/18/18

The Netherlands has distributed heroin to its citizens via supervised injection sites or heroin treatment centers since the 90s. Dutch public health experts cite these actions as one reason the country sees significantly fewer opioid-related deaths than the U.S., according to Cleveland.com.  By Harrison Cook - 7/17/18

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf issued new opioid prescription guidelines for worker compensation cases, according to The Morning Call.   By Harrison Cook - 7/17/18

Between 1999 and 2014, 1 out of 10 children enrolled in Tennessee's Medicaid program were prescribed opioids, according to a study published in Pediatrics.  By Harrison Cook - 7/17/18

A recent blog post by Tina Joros of Allscripts, discusses how practitioners are seeking out ways to improve the safety of opiod prescribing.   By Staff - 7/17/18

Massachusetts currently leads the nation in decreasing opioids prescription, according to a Blue Cross Blue Shield report cited by The Boston Herald.  By Harrison Cook - 7/16/18

Jon O'Brian, executive director of Keystone Contractors Association, which represents commercial construction workers across Pennsylvania, created an opioid awareness campaign after learning many young apprentices were overdosing on heroin, according The Morning Call.  By Harrison Cook - 7/16/18

In the ever-growing slew of opioid alternative pain management strategies, art therapy shows promise in modifying emotional and physical pain-related problems, according to Harvard Health Publishing.  By Harrison Cook - 7/13/18

"Privacy must be considered in any meaningful discussion about sharing medical records," however, "prejudice against people with opioid and other substance use disorders can lead to job loss and rupture of important relationships," writes Melissa Stein, MD, medical director of Bronx, N.Y.-based Montefiore Health System's Division of Substance Abuse, in an opinion piece for STAT.  By Harrison Cook - 7/13/18

New York recently allowed medical marijuana to be used as an alternative to prescribed opioids to combat the opioid epidemic, according to Iohud.  By Harrison Cook - 7/13/18

Chicago licensed approximately 1,500 pharmaceutical representatives due to a citywide ordinance that aims to to slow down over-prescription practices, according to Chicago Sun Times.  By Harrison Cook - 7/13/18

Synthetic opioids such as fentanyl contribute to half of all opioid overdoses in the U.S., according to a July 11 Health Alert Network warning from the CDC.  By Harrison Cook - 7/12/18

Opioid abuse diagnoses declined 5 percent in 2017, according to a report Blue Cross Blue Shield Association released July 12.  By Harrison Cook - 7/12/18

In a JAMA Surgery-published study of 34,186 surgical patients, 23.1 percent reported preoperative opioid use.  By Anuja Vaidya - 7/12/18

Opioid misuse and overdoses are rising at an alarming rate. The crisis is due in part to wider use of prescription opioids, despite the risk for addiction and lack of evidence about long-term effectiveness to treat pain. It will require a comprehensive response from many stakeholders to stem the tide of the devastation from opioid abuse.  By Staff - 7/12/18

Cardinal Health, McKesson Corp. and AmerisourceBergen distributed 1.6B opioids in Missouri between 2012 and 2017, which equates to about 260 pills per resident, according to an investigative report Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., released July 11.  By Harrison Cook - 7/12/18

More than 750 CVS storefronts nationwide will carry deposit containers for unused opioid prescriptions, according to The Baltimore Sun.  By Harrison Cook - 7/12/18

  Ohio physicians are still prescribing too many opioids to residents, despite the implementation of opioid-limiting legislation, according to a new report from The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  By Harrison Cook - 7/11/18

Ohio will give Elysium Therapeutics $3 million in funding to develop a new class of opioids that cannot be abused, according to The Inquirer.  By Harrison Cook - 7/10/18