Tag: opioid
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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…
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Alabama SB39: Another Shot in the Opioid Battle
On March 28, 2018, Alabama Senate Bill 39 was sent to Governor Ivey’s desk for signature. SB39 introduces stiffer penalties related to fentanyl possession and distribution. It amounts to a local effort forming part of a nationwide, multi-pronged response to the opioid epidemic that has plagued the country in recent years. While this bill is…
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Just What the Doctor Ordered: An Alabama Perspective on the Opioid Epidemic
Sometimes, Alabama is No. 1. In 2012, Alabama was the highest per capita painkiller prescribing state, with an average of 143 prescriptions written per 100 people — almost three times the rate of the lowest prescribing state.1 Alabama has been home to other No. 1s, too. In 2012, Dr. Shelinder Aggarwal, a former Huntsville-area pain…
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FDA Classifies Kratom as Opioid
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has officially classified the plant kratom, originally seen as an opioid alternative, as an opioid itself, stating that compounds in kratom act like prescription-strength opioids. Found in Malaysia, the leaves of the kratom plant are traditionally crushed and made into a tea to treat pain as well as heroin…
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Alabama Opioid Overdose and Addiction Council Issues Formal Report
MONTGOMERY — Co-chairs of the Alabama Opioid Overdose and Addiction Council, Attorney General Steve Marshall, Commissioner Lynn Beshear of the Alabama Department of Mental Health, and Acting State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris, announced the issuance of the Council’s formal report of its findings. The Council was created in August 2017 by an executive order…
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New Research Shows Americans with Mental Illness use Opioids at Alarming Levels
More than half of all opioid medications distributed each year in the United States are prescribed to adults with mental illness — patients diagnosed with depression and anxiety — according to new research by Dartmouth-Hitchcock and the University of Michigan. The study, published in the July issue of the Journal of the American Board of…
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An Overlooked Epidemic: Older Americans Taking Too Many Unneeded Drugs
Consider it America’s other prescription drug epidemic. For decades, experts have warned that older Americans are taking too many unnecessary drugs, often prescribed by multiple doctors, for dubious or unknown reasons. Researchers estimate that 25 percent of people ages 65 to 69 take at least five prescription drugs to treat chronic conditions, a figure that jumps to nearly…
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Medical Association’s 2018 State and Federal Agendas
The Medical Association Board of Censors has met and approved the Association’s 2018 State and Federal Agendas. These agendas were developed with guidance from the House of Delegates and input from individual physicians. As the Alabama Legislature and U.S. Congress begin their work for 2018, additional items affecting physicians, medical practices and patients may be…
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Office of Civil Rights Issues Guidance on HIPAA in Light of Opioid Crisis
With an increased focus on opioid use and addiction, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights has issued guidance related to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 due to misunderstandings over when a health care provider can share an individual’s protected health information in situations of overdose or…
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CMS Announces New Medicaid Policy to Combat Opioid Crisis
Just a week after President Trump declared the opioid epidemic a public health emergency, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a new policy to allow states to design demonstration projects that increase access to treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD) and other substance use disorders (SUD). CMS’s new demonstration policy responds to…