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Special Report: Physician Leadership is Boosting War on Opioids

Special Report: Physician Leadership is Boosting War on Opioids

MONTGOMERY – According to a new report by the American Medical Association, physicians have taken the lead in the nation’s battle on opioids by lowering the number of opioid prescriptions they write, making better use of state prescription drug monitoring programs, becoming better trained and certified in the use of opioid use disorders, and in access to naloxone.

“Everyone can agree there is no quick fix to the country’s opioid epidemic. In Alabama, our physicians took a leadership role many years ago by taking a hard look at where we were and where we needed to be,” said Mark Jackson, executive director of the Medical Association of the State of Alabama. “As an association, we created the first educational program to train our physicians, and we passed legislation to reduce prescription drug abuse and diversion. Our Smart & Safe Alabama Program continues to be the only prescription drug awareness program in Alabama created and maintained by physicians. Even though Alabama has come a long way in the fight against opioids, we have a long way yet to go.”

According to the progress report, although physician leadership is helping to reverse the opioid epidemic, more than 115 people in the United States die from an opioid-related overdose every day. Physicians and medical specialty groups are continuing in a concerted effort to expand access to quality care for pain and substance use disorders in an attempt to quell the epidemic.

The report also found:

  • Opioid prescribing decreased for the fifth year in a row. Physicians have decreased opioid prescriptions nationwide for the fifth year in a row. Between 2013 and 2017, the number of opioid prescriptions decreased by more than 55 million — a 22.2 percent decrease nationally. During that time, Alabama beat the national average by decreasing opioid prescriptions by 23.3 percent.
  • Physicians are enhancing their education. In 2017, nearly 550,000 physicians and other health care professionals took continuing medical education classes and other education and training in pain management, substance use disorders and related areas. Many of these resources are offered by the AMA, state, and specialty societies, and more than 350 of these resources can be found on the AMA opioid microsite, end-opioid-epidemic.org. The Medical Association was one of the first states to offer an opioid prescribing education course in the country in 2009. The main course is offered three times each year and has reached more than 5,000 prescribers to date.
  • Access to naloxone is on the rise. Naloxone prescriptions more than doubled in 2017, from about 3,500 to 8,000 naloxone prescriptions dispensed weekly. So far in 2018, that upward trend has continued; as of April, 11,600 naloxone prescriptions are dispensed weekly – the highest rate on record. In 2016, the Medical Association helped pass legislation in Alabama authorizing the State Health Officer to sign a standing order to allow Alabama’s pharmacists to dispense naloxone to people in a position to assist others at risk of an overdose as well as to an individual at risk of experiencing an opiate-related overdose.

Posted in: Opioid

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Successful Take Back Alabama Week Ends with Opioid Summit

Successful Take Back Alabama Week Ends with Opioid Summit

REVISED APRIL 27, 2018 ─ The Medical Association’s Take Back Alabama Week kicked off this week with a press conference at Walgreens in Birmingham on Monday, April 23. Representatives from AmerisourceBergen, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama, Pfizer, Prime Therapeutics and Walgreens joined Attorney General Steve Marshall and Birmingham physician Gregory Ayers to announce the installation of 13 new safe medication disposal kiosks in select Walgreens locations in Alabama.

“Once they are in the consumers’ hands, many of these medications are not all used,” Dr. Ayers said during the press conference. “A patient may use only a few pills out of a prescription, and then many of these medications are left over that just sit unused in a medicine cabinet…unsecured in most cases. These medications need to be disposed of safely so they don’t get into the hands of those who don’t need them. These kiosks offer a very safe avenue for disposal.”

The kiosks allow individuals to safely and conveniently dispose of unwanted, unused or expired medications, including controlled substances and over-the-counter medications at no cost. They are available during regular pharmacy hours.

The week ended with Take Back Alabama’s parent program, Smart & Safe Alabama, exhibiting at the Annual Opioid Crisis in Alabama: From Silos to Solutions to further spread the word about the new medication disposal kiosks as well as raising awareness for prescription drug safety.

Check out some of the news coverage, compliments of WIAT:

 


APRIL 20, 2018 ─ According to the Alabama Department of Public Health, 749 Alabama residents died in 2016 due to drug overdose, which includes prescription drug overdose. This number is up from 726 in 2015…and this is why the Medical Association of the State of Alabama created Take Back Alabama Week. In an unprecedented partnership, the Medical Association reached out to Walgreens, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama and Pfizer to form a strategic alliance for education about and safe disposal of prescription medications.

Take Back Alabama Week is April 23-28, and kicks off Monday, April 23, with a media event at Walgreens located at 4700 Highway 280 in Birmingham. The event is the perfect opportunity to spread the word about the availability of safe medication disposal kiosks in 13 Walgreens locations across Alabama. Attorney General Steve Marshall and Birmingham physician Gregory Ayers will join representatives from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama and Pfizer to kick off the campaign.

“While Alabama has beaten the national average from 2013 to 2017 in the percentage of reduction in opioid prescriptions, we still lead the nation in the total number of opioid prescriptions on a per capita basis,” said Medical Association Executive Director Mark Jackson. “That’s why joining forces with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama, Walgreens and Pfizer is so important. We are waging an information campaign to educate Alabamians not only of the dangers of the misuse of opioids and other prescription medications but also that there are alternatives to opioids. It begins with an open and honest conversation with your physician to find the best treatment plan for each patient.”

DISPOSAL LOCATIONS

Visit the following Walgreens locations to safely dispose of your unused medications:

7155 US Highway 431
Albertville, AL 35950

1815 9th Avenue N.
Bessemer, AL 35020

101 Green Springs Highway
Birmingham, AL 35209

4700 Highway 280
Birmingham, AL 35242

9325 Parkway E.
Birmingham, AL 35215

2940 W. Main Street
Dothan, AL 36305

900 Rucker Boulevard
Enterprise, AL 36330

2 Greeno Road S.
Fairhope, AL 36532

1801 Montgomery Highway S.
Hoover, AL 35244

7813 Highway 72 W
Madison, AL 35758

3948 Airport Boulevard
Mobile, AL 36608

6680 Atlanta Highway
Montgomery, AL 36117

2515 Crawford Road
Phenix City, AL 36867

Walgreens at these locations have drop boxes in which residents may safely deposit unused prescriptions and over-the-counter medications…no questions asked. These boxes are locked, and there is no danger of your medications getting into the hands of someone who could accidentally overdose or misuse them.

For more information, log on to www.SmartAndSafeAL.org/takeback.

Posted in: Smart and Safe

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