Public Health

Study: Prolonged opioid use is the most common postsurgical complication

A significant portion of surgical patients continue using opioid painkillers more than three months after surgery. This pattern of prolonged use does not differ among major and minor surgical patients, suggesting pain related to surgery is not the lone driver…

7 findings on Medicaid opioid use and spending

Amy Bernstein, policy director at the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, and Nevena Minor, a senior analyst at MACPAC, penned a Health Affairs blog post examining prescription opioid use by Medicaid beneficiaries and Medicaid prescription opioid spending.

GOP lawmakers in NC propose Medicaid expansion: 5 things to know

Republican legislators floated legislation to expand North Carolina's Medicaid program, Winston-Salem Journal reports.

Clinton Foundation and Adapt Pharma collaborate to deliver 40,000 doses of Narcan to college campuses

Adapt Pharma will donate 20,000 cartons — 40,000 doses — of the company's naloxone nasal spray Narcan to 4,726 universities across the nation to help curb the rates of opioid overdose deaths.

Opioid prescriptions down nearly 12% among Cigna policyholders

Bloomfield, Conn.-based Cigna said opioid prescriptions for its members have decreased about 12 percent in the past year.

Study: Medicaid enrollees have limited access to opioid treatment programs

Drug treatment programs for low-income individuals with opioid use disorders are scarce in many areas of the country where opioid abuse rates are high, according to a study recently published in the journal Health Services Research.

New Mexico becomes first state to mandate law enforcement carry of opioid overdose antidote

Bipartisan legislation makes New Mexico first in nation to require law enforcement to carry the opioid overdose antidote naloxone, reports VICE News.

Opioids fuel 50% spike in drug overdose deaths in NYC

The New York City Police Department said there has been a 50 percent uptick in drug overdose deaths in the city thus far in 2017, according to NY1.

Anne Schuchat | 50 Experts Leading the Field of Patient Safety 2017

Anne Schuchat, MD. Acting Director of the CDC. Dr. Schuchat began her career in public health in 1988 as an epidemic intelligence service officer with the CDC. The acting CDC director has played critical roles in several CDC emergency responses,…

Police fatally shoot man wielding BB gun outside of Ohio hospital

Police officers fatally shot a mental health patient outside of Mount Carmel St. Ann's hospital in Westerville, Ohio, on Thursday afternoon, according to a WKBN report.