Here are five things to know about Massachusetts and the nation’s opioid epidemic:
1. Opioid-related hospital visits in Massachusetts have increased from around 30,000 in 2007 to above 55,000 in 2014. Non-heroin opioids account for the majority of these trips, though heroin use is on the rise.
2. “Heroin has gotten cheaper and more accessible, and as we clamp down on the availability of pills, which is a good thing, it does force patients to turn to heroin, so we need to be thinking about that as well as prescription control,” said Katherine Record, deputy director of behavioral health integration and accountable care in the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission.
3. Decreasing the rates of opioid addiction and overdose throughout Massachusetts has been a major priority for state policymakers. On March 14, the state passed an addiction prevention law Gov. Charlie Baker called “the most comprehensive measure in the country to combat opioid addiction,” according to WBUR.
4. An analysis by the Massachusetts HPC found that access to medication-assisted addiction treatment, which combines behavioral therapy with medicinal addiction treatment, varies widely throughout the state. In 2012, less than half of opioid-addicted adults and adolescents received medication-assisted treatment. “Clearly, this is not the right supply, but how much more do we need is an unknown that the state needs to continue working out,” said Ms. Record.
5. Addressing the opioid epidemic has proved a priority for the federal government. The Food and Drug Administration has issued new labeling requirements for opioid medications, the CDC has put forth new guidelines for opioid prescription and a bipartisan bill authorizing programs to fight opioid abuse was recently passed in the Senate.
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