President signs 21st Century Cures Act
Julie Miller, Behavioral Healthcare
President Obama signed the 21st Century Cures Act on Tuesday, which authorizes $1 billion over two years to supplement existing grant programs for addiction treatment and prevention, prescription drug monitoring programs and workforce development. It also includes the final version of the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act, which was introduced in response to the Sandy Hook tragedy on Dec. 14, 2012, when a gunman entered a school and shot 20 children and six adults.
Heroin, fentanyl overdose deaths increase at alarming rate
Gary A. Enos, Addiction Professional
Overdose deaths involving heroin and synthetic opioids continued to rise sharply in 2015, while an increase in overdose deaths from prescription opioids occurred at a slower rate, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported on December 8. The overall number of opioid overdose deaths rose to 33,091 last year, compared with 28,647 deaths in 2014. Some of these deaths involved both illicit and prescription opioids.
Indiana Task Force: Treat addiction as a public health issue
Jordan Fischer, RTV6
A drug task force convened by Gov. Mike Pence says the state of Indiana should treat addiction as a public health issue, rather than a criminal one, in its final report released the first week of December. The report, compiled by the Governor's Task Force on Drug Enforcement, Treatment & Prevention, covers everything from the effectiveness of efforts to combat the HIV epidemic in Scott County to recommendations for treating inmates with substance use disorders.
New Hampshire PDMP records significant decrease in painkiller prescriptions
Brian Wallstin, New Hampshire Public Radio
In the past year, the number of narcotic painkillers prescribed in New Hampshire decreased by more than 13%, while cases of suspected “doctor shopping” by patients dropped by nearly two-thirds. The new data, presented to Gov. Maggie Hassan and legislative leaders in November, suggest that two years after it was launched, the state’s Prescription Drug Monitoring Program is working as designed.
