Tag: opioid
-
CDC Reports Rising Rates of Drug Overdose Deaths in Rural Areas
Rates of drug overdose deaths are rising in nonmetropolitan (rural) areas, surpassing rates in metropolitan (urban) areas, according to a new report in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) released this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Drug overdoses are the leading cause of injury death in the United States,…
-
CVS Pharmacy, Others to Limit Prescriptions for Opioids
Beginning in February 2018, CVS Pharmacy will limit the dose of opioid pain medication and restrict new prescriptions for acute pain to a 7-day supply, which adheres to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines for prescribing opioids. This limit involves capping daily low-dosages and requires patients to receive versions of the medication that…
-
Opioid Prescribing Still High and Varies Widely Throughout U.S.
Opioid prescribing in the United States peaked in 2010 and then decreased each year through 2015, but remains at high levels and varies from county to county in the U.S., according to the latest Vital Signs report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Six times more opioids per resident were dispensed in 2015 in…
-
Opioids in Alabama: Where Do We Go From Here?
The numbers are staggering. In 2015 alone opioid-related overdoses accounted for more than 33,000 deaths — nearly as many as traffic fatalities. Today more than 2.5 million adults in the U.S. are struggling with addiction to opioid drugs, including prescription opioids and heroin. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: About 91 Americans…
-
Public Restrooms Become Ground Zero in the Opioid Epidemic
A man named Eddie threaded through the midafternoon crowd in Cambridge, Mass. He was headed for a sandwich shop, the first stop on a tour of public bathrooms. “I know all the bathrooms that I can and can’t get high in,” said Eddie, 39, pausing in front of the shop’s plate-glass windows, through which we…