Lawmakers, Thought Leaders Continue Seeking Solution for Opioid Epidemic

Despite increased effort to curb misuse and increase access to addiction treatment services, the opioid epidemic continues to rise nationwide. There is a correlation between substance misuse and brain injury; in fact, approximately one quarter of those entering brain injury rehabilitation are there as a result of drugs or alcohol. Further, nearly 50 percent of people receiving treatment for substance misuse have a history of at least one brain injury. 

Latest News on the Opioid Epidemic

1. Five proposed class-action lawsuits, brought on behalf of health insurance customers in California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York since 1996, contend that the opioid epidemic has increased health insurance costs for everyone, not just for addicts, and that opioid manufacturers downplayed the risk of the drugs to increase profits. (Read Article: The Wall Street Journal, May 2, 2018)
   
2. Ohio Governor John Kasich announced new rules yesterday designed to prevent chronic pain patients from becoming opioid addicts. Under the rules, which are expected to go into effect in the fall, physicians must re-evaluate patients’ opioid use at periodic checkpoints when patients are prescribed increased doses of painkillers. Ohio led the nation in opioid overdose deaths in 2014, and deaths have continued to rise with increased use of heroin and illegal fentanyl. (Read Article: Cleveland.com, May 2, 2018)
3. A nationwide survey on behalf of Buzzfeed News found seven in ten doctors have reduced their prescriptions of opioid medications, or stopped prescribing them alltogether, over the past few years. (Read Article: Buzzfeed News, May 2, 2018)