President Donald Trump’s nominee for “drug czar” visited New Haven on Monday, prompted by the massive medical emergency caused by the synthetic cannabinoid K2, to discuss the ongoing and deadly addiction epidemic that continues to grip Connecticut.
opioid
Posted inHealth
More ER docs turning to non-opioids to fight overdose epidemic
Emergency department physicians across the state are using more non-opioid treatments for conditions that historically have required powerful opioids for pain management, as they try to play a lead role in the overdose epidemic that kills on average 115 Americans every day. This change, coupled with other efforts, has resulted in a significant decrease in opioids ordered at emergency departments in at least two hospitals, Norwalk and Middlesex, from 2016 to 2017.
Posted inHealth
Fentanyl continues to drive deadly overdose epidemic
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner recorded more than 1,000 accidental overdose deaths for the first time in the last six years, and overall drug deaths in the state have nearly tripled in that time.
Posted inHealth, Politics
Murphy presses for federal probe of ‘sober homes’ after overdose deaths
WASHINGTON — A rash of overdoses in “sober homes” in Connecticut and other states has prompted Sen. Chris Murphy and a bipartisan group of his colleagues to ask federal investigators to determine if additional oversight is needed of these residences for people recovering from substance abuse.
Posted inNews
U.S. House OKs 18 bills, but little money, to fight opioid addiction
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House of Representatives finished work Friday on a package of 18 bills aimed at fighting opioid addiction – but denied President Obama his request for $1.1 billion to confront the growing crisis.
Posted inHealth, Politics
Blumenthal leads bipartisan Senate effort to reform VA
WASHINGTON — With continuing scandals at the nation’s veterans’ hospitals, Sen. Richard Blumenthal and a Republican colleague introduced a sweeping new bill Thursday aimed at protecting whistleblowers and speeding the firing of bad actors at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Posted inHealth, Politics
Feds release opioid prescription guidelines
WASHINGTON — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday released long-awaited guidelines for prescribing opioid-based pain medicine, but it’s not clear how closely doctors will follow them.
Posted inHealth
Senate approves bill to fight opioid abuse that would offer CT help — within limits
WASHINGTON – Senate approval of a bill to fight the nation’s opioid epidemic is still likely to leave states like Connecticut on the front lines of the crisis – and to leave them short of all the help they need to prevent the destroyed lives that result from the abuse of pain killers and heroin.
Posted inHealth, Politics
Governors ask for money, share strategies to combat opioid crisis
WASHINGTON — The nation’s governors have pressed the federal government for money to help them combat the opioid abuse and heroin addiction that has resulted in a spike of overdoses and strained state public health systems. They also shared with the Obama administration and each other policies they’ve implemented to confront the crisis.
Posted inHealth, Politics
Courtney seeking emergency money to fight opioid addiction, overdoses
WASHINGTON – Days after President Obama said he’d ask Congress to boost funds to fight opioid and heroin addiction, Rep. Joe Courtney introduced a bill that would seek $600 million in emergency funds to pay for both drug enforcement and treatment.