Tag: opioid
-
It’s Not Just About Opioids…
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, more than 30 percent of overdoses in the United States involving opioids also involve benzodiazepines, or “benzos.” Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show more than 115 Americans die each day from an opioid-related overdose. However, between 1996 and 2013 the number of adults…
-
Study: Is the Opioid Crisis Response Overlooking Women?
CONNECTICUT – Women’s Health Research at Yale is calling on a government committee to revise its report on a coordinated response to the opioid epidemic so that it reflects the unique needs of women. In a commentary published in the peer-reviewed journal Biology of Sex Differences, WHRY Director Carolyn M. Mazure, Ph.D., and Jill Becker, Ph.D., chair…
-
MME Edit Coming in Early 2019
The Alabama Medicaid Agency is working on implementing Morphine Milligram Equivalent (MME) edits in early 2019. Higher doses of opioids are associated with higher risk of overdose and death – even relatively low dosages (20-50 MME per day) may increase risk. Therefore, beginning in early 2019, Alabama Medicaid will limit the amount of cumulative MME’s allowed per…
-
BCBS Alabama to No Longer Cover OxyContin Beginning in 2019
BIRMINGHAM, AL – Effective Jan. 1, 2019, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama will no longer cover OxyContin for members with the exception of Blue Advantage members. This is in response to concerns for members’ care and safety. Since 2015, opioid prescriptions in the U.S. and in Alabama have declined. Over the last two years,…
-
Overshadowed by Opioids, Meth is Back and Hospitalizations Surge
The number of people hospitalized because of amphetamine use is skyrocketing in the United States, but the resurgence of the drug largely has been overshadowed by the nation’s intense focus on opioids. Amphetamine-related hospitalizations jumped by about 245 percent from 2008 to 2015, according to a recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. That…
-
Study: Risky Sedative Prescriptions for Older Adults Vary Widely
Despite years of warnings that older adults shouldn’t take sedative drugs that put them at risk of injury and death, a new study reveals how many primary care doctors are still prescribing them, how often, and where the practice is most prevalent. Mapped out county by county, the nationwide study shows wide variation in prescriptions…
-
Alabama Medicaid Alert: Short-Acting Opioid Naïve Limits
Effective Nov: 1, 2018, the Alabama Medicaid Agency will begin implementing limits on short-acting opiates for opioid naïve recipients. The Agency defines “opioid naïve” as a recipient with no opioid claim in the past 180 days. Edit Details: A 7-day supply limit for adults age 19 and older A 5-day supply limit for children age 18…
-
POLL: Rural Americans “Profoundly Worried” about Opioid Crisis
BOSTON — According to a new NPR/Robert Wood Johnson Foundation/Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health poll, rural Americans cite drug/opioid abuse as the biggest problem facing their local community (25 percent), followed by economic concerns (21 percent). The poll of 1,300 adults living in the rural United States found that a majority of rural Americans…
-
Congress Passes New Opioid Package; Awaiting Presidential Signature
Earlier this week Congress reached agreement on legislation to address the opioid epidemic with the passage of the “SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act,” which President Donald Trump is expected to sign. The legislation touches on almost every aspect of the epidemic and includes numerous provisions to expand access to substance-use disorder (SUD) prevention and treatment…
-
New Interactive Map Shows How Alabama Measures Up in the National Opioid Crisis
WASHINGTON, Oct. 4, 2018 – A new interactive data tool launched by the United States Department of Agriculture and NORC at the University of Chicago shows for the first time an in-depth, county-by-county, look at the impact of the opioid epidemic across the entire country. The tool is intended to help leaders build grassroots strategies to…