-
Seven Steps to Fix the Opioid Addiction Crisis Now: We Already Have Most of the Tools We Need
Recently, Professional Voices revisited an issue that The Fix has been focused on since its inception: the public health debacle caused by the overprescribing of opioid pain medications, and the related increase in heroin use and overdose, which has contributed to the deaths of tens of thousands of...
-
The NYSPA Report: A Multifaceted Approach to the Opioid Epidemic
There has been much discussion around NY State and the country about a surge in heroin usage and overdose deaths. Although the perception is that a drop in “doc shopping” caused the increase in heroin usage, the picture is complex and the history goes back further than some may realize. Heroin...
-
The Opioid Addiction Epidemic: An Interview with Andrew Kolodny, MD, National Expert on the Current Opioid Addiction Epidemic in the United States
Ira Minot (IM): We are honored to have this opportunity to speak with you Dr. Kolodny. Our readers are anxious to learn about the current opioid epidemic. Andrew Kolodny (AK): I am very pleased that Behavioral Health News is devoting this issue to the current opioid epidemic. Opioid addiction is...
-
#CombatHeroin: New York State’s Campaign to Address Heroin and Prescription Opioid Abuse
Heroin and prescription opioid medication abuse are persistent national problems that are reaching deep into communities across New York State. The problem is increasingly affecting teenagers and young adults, though older New Yorkers are consistently affected. More and more people are dying...
-
Unintended Consequences: Are We Inadvertently Increasing Heroin Overdose Deaths?
Two years ago, The Fix spearheaded an effort to highlight the public health epidemic caused by the overprescribing of opioid pain medications which resulted in the tens of thousands of overdose deaths that were making front page news. The epidemic was iatrogenic- “caused by physicians”- in...
-
Better Pain Management is Essential for Reducing Addiction to Prescription Painkillers
Limiting use of prescription painkillers has become a major public health goal in the United States in large part because these drugs now cause more overdose deaths than cocaine and heroin combined. (1,2) Much of this effort focuses on persuading physicians to limit the frequency and the amount of...
