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Confronting the Opioid Epidemic: A Comprehensive Treatment Approach at Odyssey House
With more than 60,000 opioid overdose deaths nationally in 2016, a multi-pronged treatment approach is necessary to address the worst drug crisis in American history. Odyssey House is on the front line in treating those diagnosed with the most severe opioid use disorders. Since 2014, individuals...
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New York State Expands Services to Combat Addiction and Address the Opioid Epidemic
In September, we marked Recovery Month, the annual observance dedicated to increasing awareness of substance use and mental health disorders. We also celebrate people in recovery, and their successes. And thanks to all the great work we are doing in New York State, we are seeing more and more of...
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Pain and Its Impact on the Opioid Epidemic
In several past articles on the opioid epidemic in America, I have complained that the problem of severe, chronic pain has been overlooked as a contributing factor. It appears that that is no longer true. For example, a very recent report by the National Academies of Science to the Food and Drug...
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Taking a Holistic Approach to Treating Opioid Addiction
Opioid overdoses led to more than 33,000 deaths in the U.S. in 2015—an average of 91 per day, according to the Centers for Disease Control. That national death toll is the “equivalent to America enduring another 9/11 attack every two-and-a-half weeks,” says New Jersey governor Chris...
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Reducing Opioid Overdose Deaths: NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Responses
Let us address the epidemiology of overdose deaths in New York City. Like cities and states around the United States, New York City is in the midst of an opioid overdose epidemic. In 2016, someone died every seven hours of an overdose in New York City, resulting in 1,374 confirmed deaths. More New...
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The Doctor Will Actually See You Now
In New York City only 1 out of 10 adults struggling with substance use issues accesses any form of clinical care. This profound treatment gap – the mismatch between community need and clinical care – perpetuates our city’s escalating opioid crisis. Barriers to addiction treatment are well...
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Addressing Behavioral Health and Opioid Use Disorder in Primary Care Settings
The Staten Island Partnership for Community Wellness (SIPCW) is a non-profit organization established to promote wellness and to improve the health of the Staten Island community through collaboration and a multidisciplinary approach. For more than 20 years, SIPCW has addressed critical public...
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The Opioid Epidemic: Expanding Access to Medicated Assisted Treatment
The Researched Abuse, Diversion, and Addiction-Related Surveillance (RADARS) System describe the diversion and abuse of prescription opioid analgesics, using data from January 2002 through December 2013. Because drug abuse is an illegal activity that is often concealed from authorities, the RADARS...
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Treating Individuals with Both Opioid Addiction and Mental Illness
As we work to address the nation’s opioid crisis, we must recognize that a disproportionate share of prescription painkillers is being consumed by people with anxiety and depression. We at the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH) are partnering with the Office of Alcohol and Substance...
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Transformations at MHA Westchester: Integrated Services to Address the Opioid Epidemic
Current national trends indicate that each year more people die of overdoses—the majority of which involve opioid drugs—than died in the entirety of the Vietnam War, the Korean War, or any armed conflict since the end of World War II. Each day 90 Americans die prematurely from an overdose that...
