Healthcare advocates hope CT will dedicate all of its settlement with opioid manufacturers to fight addiction.
opioids
Posted inHealth
Congress acts. Connecticut war on opioids continues.
Addiction treatment specialists are breathing a little easier with the reauthorization of a key funding program.
Posted inJustice
Rejecting Purdue settlement, CT hopes to gain from other opioid deals
Dozens of drug companies, and others blamed for the opioid crisis may follow Purdue Pharma’s lead and try to settle claims against them.
Posted inJustice
Purdue bankruptcy opens door for CT towns to weigh opioid deal
Some Connecticut cities and towns may still prefer to accept Purdue Pharma’s offer to settle suits stemming from the nation’s opioid crisis, even though Connecticut and some other states have rejected it.
Posted inHealth
CT rejects proposed settlement of opioid suit against Purdue, Sacklers
Attorney General William Tong said the tentative settlement does not do enough to atone for the havoc wrecked by the opioid epidemic in Connecticut and across the nation.
Posted inHealth
Data show hundreds of millions of opioid pills flowed into CT
As the opioid epidemic flourished across the country between 2006 and 2012, Connecticut’s pharmacies dispensed more than 675 million opioid-based pills.
Posted inHealth
CT docs say health information exchange would help fight opioid epidemic
As Connecticut residents continue to die from opioid overdoses at an alarming rate, several doctors agree that being able to share health records electronically across the entire state would help fight the epidemic. But a system to accommodate that sharing remains elusive.
Posted inHealth
As opioid deaths soar, Esty backs bill that pays for more medical examiners
U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty Tuesday said she will propose legislation that will provide $10 million for police forensics and to help pay for more medical examiners. The Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is currently on provisional accreditation status because it has too few examiners to meet current demand.
Posted inHealth, Politics
‘It’s a public health crisis:’ Malloy proposals target opioids
The proposals include requiring physicians to prescribe opioids electronically rather than on paper; allowing visiting nurses to destroy unused medication; and allowing patients to direct that they not be prescribed an opioid medication.
Posted inHealth
After the save: A drug can reverse an overdose. Then what?
The drug naloxone can reverse an opioid overdose. Experts say it’s a vital tool, but in many ways, a short-term one: Naloxone saves lives, but it doesn’t necessarily change them. Now, a pilot program in one emergency room aims to connect people who have been revived after overdoses to longer-term recovery help.
Posted inHealth
Pharmacists offer overdose-reversing drug, but say demand muted
Some customers thank Ed Schreiner for making naloxone available at his pharmacy. The bin with brochures about the drug, which can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, is often empty. But since last year, only about a dozen people have asked Schreiner to prescribe the drug. Other pharmacists said they’ve been similarly surprised by the low demand, given the state’s ongoing opioid crisis.
Posted inEducation, Health
Study: Opioid hospitalizations for kids nearly doubled in 15 years
The hospitalization rate grew especially quickly among toddlers and preschool-aged children, surprising researchers.
Posted inHealth, Politics
CT Dems take stand on opioid funding – and lose
WASHINGTON — Despite protests and high drama over the level of money the federal government will spend fighting heroin addiction and prescription pain pill abuse, Democrats lost their battle this week to increase federal funds by nearly $1 billion to pay for additional treatment for addicts.
Posted inHealth, Politics
Opioid bill wins unanimous approval in Senate
The bill would limit initial opioid prescriptions for acute medical conditions to a seven-day supply, and aims to ensure that more first responders carry drugs that can reverse the effects of an overdose.
Posted inHealth
State reaches rebate deal on price of overdose reversal drug
The agreement comes after Attorney General George Jepsen questioned the drug maker about what he called a dramatic increase in the price of naloxone at a time when states were seeking to make it more available to first responders for use in opioid overdose emergencies.