The Wednesday Weekly Addiction + Recovery News Clips - November 9, 2022
The Wednesday Weekly is a collaboration of Sober Linings Playbook and Recovery in the Middle Ages Podcast.
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Highlights
National
CDC data highlights increase in alcohol-related death rate | New CDC guidelines give more leeway to prescribing pain meds | National Parks Services asks guests to refrain from licking toxic toads
Fentanyl
Trick or treat: despite warnings, fentanyl did not show up in Halloween candy this year | CA schools respond to tragedies by making OD-reversing naloxone available
State and Local
Colorado law paves way for prosecutors to pursue fentanyl dealers | New Jersey investigators uncovering fraud in state’s substance use disorder treatment facilities
Studies/Research in the News
Alcohol increases risk of stroke in young people | Parental discord linked to future alcohol use disorder
Opinion
Opioid settlement funds should go to prevention | Ed Worley: from crack addiction to successful artist
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National
National Park Service asks visitors stop licking toxic toads
Go into almost any park and there's often reminders to refrain from going near, petting or feeding wildlife. Not licking strange animals was simply a given — until now. Sonoran desert toads secrete a potent toxin that can make people sick if they touch it or get the poison in their mouth, according to the National Park Service. Despite the risks, some people have discovered that the toad's toxic secretions contain a powerful hallucinogenic known as 5-MeO-DMT.
NPR - Nov. 6, 2022
Trevor Project Ousts CEO Who Played A Role In The Opioid Crisis
Amit Paley, the embattled CEO of The Trevor Project, was removed from the helm of the LGBTQ suicide prevention organization this month by the group’s board of directors following widespread staff backlash against his leadership, the organization confirmed. Paley’s ouster comes a few months after HuffPost revealed that Paley had worked with Purdue Pharma, the notorious OxyContin maker, while he was employed by the global consulting firm McKinsey & Company. His exit was first reported by Teen Vogue.
Huffington Post - Nov. 6, 2022
The rate of alcohol-related deaths in the U.S. rose 30% in the first year of COVID
The rate of deaths that can be directly attributed to alcohol rose nearly 30% in the U.S. during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to new government data. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had already said the overall number of such deaths rose in 2020 and 2021. Two reports from the CDC this week provided further details on which groups have the highest death rates and which states are seeing the largest numbers.
WGBH - Nov. 5, 2022
The CDC details about 2020's rise in the alcohol-related death rate
The rate of deaths that can be directly attributed to alcohol rose nearly 30% in the U.S. during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to new government data. A report released Friday focused on more than a dozen kinds of "alcohol-induced" deaths that were wholly blamed on drinking. Examples include alcohol-caused liver or pancreas failure, alcohol poisoning, withdrawal and certain other diseases. There were more than 52,000 such deaths last year, up from 39,000 in 2019.
NPR - Nov. 5, 2022
How Robert Downey Jr. saved Wes Bentley's life during drug addiction
Wes Bentley says that watching Robert Downey Jr. publicly open up about his past drug use inspired him to seek help for a crippling heroin addiction in the late-aughts.
Page Six - Nov. 5, 2022
‘Face Off’ Contestant Laney Chantal Dies at 33
Fans of Face Off are mourning the loss of a contestant from the Syfy competition series. Laney Chantal, who came in fifth place in the show’s fifth season in 2013, died on October 31. She was 33 years old. Chantal’s family members announced her passing in an obituary, saying the makeup artist — born Alaina Chantal Parkhurst — died of an accidental overdose in Milford, Michigan.
MSN - Nov. 5, 2022
Alcohol-Related Deaths Surged In Middle-Aged U.S. Women During Pandemic
Alcohol-related deaths, particularly those of middle-aged women, surged during the pandemic, according to data released by the Centers for Disease Control on Friday. The death rate has been steadily increasing for years, but between 2019 and 2020, the CDC found it spiked by 26%. For women between the ages of 35 and 44, such deaths increased by an even higher 42%.
People - Nov. 4, 2022
CDC issues a revamp of opiod guidelines, giving clinicians more leeway
Many doctors in the U.S. are uneasy when it comes to prescribing opioids, considering the risks of addiction and overdose. But opioids are necessary to treat some kinds of pain. And today the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention came out with new guidelines on when and how the drug should be prescribed. NPR health reporter Will Stone has been studying these new guidelines.
NPR - Nov. 3, 2022
Amid backlash, CDC's new opioid guidance aims to curb addiction and treat patients
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday issued new guidance for doctors who treat pain patients that reverses a 2016 version used to sharply curtail opioid prescriptions, ultimately leading to devastating results for some pain patients.
USA Today - Nov. 3, 2022
1 in 5 deaths of US adults 20 to 49 is from excessive drinking, study shows
An estimated 1 in 5 deaths of people ages 20 to 49 were attributable to excessive alcohol use in the United States, according to the study published Tuesday in JAMA Network Open. For people ages 20 to 64, drinking-related deaths accounted for 1 in 8, the study said.
CNN- Nov. 2, 2022
Telemedicine Laws For Opioids And Substance Use Disorder Treatment
Continued access to telehealth services, particularly as it relates to medication assisted treatment (MAT) for substance use disorder (SUD), enjoys strong support among patients and clinicians, yet laws continue to trail behind technology as the telehealth industry continues to grow. In a recent episode of the Mission: Recovery podcast, Foley & Lardner LLP Partner and member of the ATA’s Board of Directors Nathaniel Lacktman and Associate Sunny Levine met with host Maroof Ahmed, M.D., co-founder of Quit Genius, a leading digital addiction clinic for treatment of substance use disorders.
Mondaq - Nov. 2, 2022
Pharmacy giants tentatively agree to $10B opioid settlement
CVS and Walgreens tentatively agreed to pay a combined $10 billion to resolve lawsuits brought by states and local governments alleging the retailers mishandled prescriptions of opioid painkillers.
Fierce Health Care - Nov. 2, 2022
Cheryl Burke Talks 'Putting My Sobriety First' After Being a 'Functioning Addict'
On Red Table Talk Wednesday, the Dancing with the Stars pro opens up about prioritizing her sobriety after previously using alcohol to “numb” herself. "I used alcohol to numb," Burke said on the show. "I'm an addict. I was a functioning addict. It was when I wasn't drinking that people were like, 'What's wrong with you?'" She explained that although she's been sober for four years, it's been difficult recently amid her public divorce ex-husband Matthew Lawrence.
People - Nov. 2, 2022
The message in ‘Friends’ star Matthew Perry’s 15 rehab stints
About 3 out of every 4 people who have a substance use problem will eventually recover — if they keep at it. “Friends” star Matthew Perry startled many of his fans by announcing that he had been to drug rehab 15 times and spent some $9 million on getting into recovery. He also may have scared some people experiencing addiction. Is it always that hard to quit? Is it always that expensive? And if you’ve tried to beat an addiction 14 times, does a 15th try really make sense? The answer to those questions is no, no and yes.
NBC - Nov. 1, 2022
Master P's Daughter Tytyana Miller's Cause of Death Confirmed
Five months after Master P's daughter, Tytyana Miller, died, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner's office has confirmed the cause of her death. According to the official coroner's report released on Tuesday, Miller died from fentanyl intoxication on May 27, confirming reports that the 25-year-old had died as a result of drugs. Master P first took to Instagram on May 29 to announce that his daughter, whom he shares with ex-wife Sonya C, had died.
ET - Nov. 1, 2022
'RHOC' 's Braunwyn Windham-Burke Celebrates 1,000 Days Sober: 'I've Been Through a Lot'
“At the end of the day, not one thing that I have been through would have been better if I had taken a drink,” Braunwyn Windham-Burke said of her sobriety journey. Braunwyn Windham-Burke is celebrating 1,000 days of sobriety. In an interview with PageSix, The Real Housewives of Orange County alum, 44, shared her excitement for reaching the milestone this month despite some of the personal challenges she faced over the past three years.
People - Nov. 1, 2022
National State and Local Studies in the News Opinion Comments
Fentanyl
Fentanyl Is The Biggest Public Health Problem Currently Facing The U.S.: Federal, State, And Local Governments Aren’t Doing Enough To Combat It
Provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that more than 107,000 people died of a drug overdose in 2021, with 75% of those deaths involving an opioid. Illicit fentanyl is the primary culprit. While the federal government is spending billions pursuing different supply- and demand-side strategies to combat the problem, it is behind the eight ball when it comes to this ever-growing crisis. Similarly, state and local authorities aren’t doing enough.
Forbes - Nov. 6, 2022
‘One pill can kill’: Tragic teen deaths spur California schools to finally battle fentanyl crisis
Many schools across California are only just now addressing the fentanyl crisis, officials scrambling to respond with mentions of the deadly drug in health classes or with boxes of the overdose-reversal drug Narcan stocked in administrative offices. The most proactive districts have been spurred to act by tragedy.
San Francisco Chronicle - Nov. 4, 2022
Why is fentanyl so dangerous?
One of the greatest dangers of fentanyl is its potency. Deaths attributed to the drug began to climb in 2013, when traffickers began mixing illicit fentanyl with other drugs including heroin, counterfeit pain pills and cocaine. In some instances, drug users have no idea that fentanyl has been added. Here is what you need to know.
Washington Post - Nov. 3, 2022
Halloween is over and it looks like no one got fentanyl candy after all
Law-enforcement spent weeks scaremongering about opioids showing up in candy this Halloween. Despite the media frenzy, no drugs seem to have actually turned up.
The Appeal - Nov. 1, 2022
Rahul Gupta on fentanyl and the nightmare of synthetic drugs
In this Washington Post Live conversation from Oct. 26, Rahul Gupta, the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, discusses harm-reduction programs and treatment for people addicted to substances, the evolution of overdoses in the United States and the nightmare synthetic drugs are inflicting across the country.
Washington Post - Nov. 1, 2022
Oz warned suburbanites that fentanyl has turned Pennsylvania into a border state. The applause line fell flat with a Philadelphian who said drugs like crack are still wreaking havoc.
Senate Republican hopeful Mehmet Oz leaned into the GOP's war on fentanyl Tuesday, warning supporters at a rally in suburban Philadelphia that keeping illicit drugs out of the hands of unsuspecting Americans is one of the top three issues at play in the midterm elections. The GOP talking point hit home with one rally-goer but fell flat with another who said there were other drugs plaguing the inner city.
Insider - Nov. 1, 2022
State / Local
New Colorado law gives Larimer County law enforcement tool to combat fentanyl crisis
Though investigating large-scale drug distribution networks is a heavy lift for law enforcement and the district attorney's office, Colorado's new law "gives us the ability to make those investigations worth it,” McLaughlin said. Prior to the law, overdose deaths were rarely investigated by law enforcement and the district attorney’s office because they had no way to prosecute someone for providing the drugs that caused someone’s death, Deputy District Attorney Lynzi Maas said.
Ft. Collins Coloradan - Nov. 7, 2022
Governor, First Lady host sixth Recovery Reinvented, recognize local Recovery Champions
Gov. Doug Burgum and First Lady Kathryn Burgum today hosted the sixth Recovery Reinvented, a daylong in-person and online event focused on reinventing recovery through eliminating the stigma of the disease of addiction. “Working together – all of us, all of you, the State of North Dakota, all of our partners, communities, faith-based organizations, providers, everyone coming together – the positive momentum we have in North Dakota is spreading across the country in terms of how we’re approaching the powerful, pervasive disease of addiction,” Gov. Burgum said in his opening remarks. “We believe that behavioral health, mental health, the disease of addiction – it’s all health, and it should be treated as such by focusing on the foundations of well-being, the physical health, the behavioral health and the economic health, and we can continue to grow as a strong and healthy state.”
North Dakota, Office of the Governor - Nov. 3, 2022
Cincinnati Children's opens outpatient opioid clinic after OD deaths
Older teens and young adults in the Cincinnati area have a new option in medication treatment for opioid use disorder, as overdose deaths in this younger population have escalated in southwest Ohio and the nation. Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center has opened an outpatient clinic for people ages 16 to 21. The hospital announced the endeavor Wednesday, saying it is welcoming patients to its Opioid Use Treatment Clinic to address the unrelenting opioid epidemic in the region.
Cincinnati Enquirer - Nov. 3, 2022
Minnesota: Hennepin County issues overdose spike alert
The Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office issued an overdose spike alert Thursday, reminding residents that help is available if you see a suspected overdose. According to the alert, there have been 34 suspected non-fatal overdoses and six suspected fatal overdoses in the last week. This includes the death of two people in their 20s at a home in Minneapolis Tuesday.
Fox9 - Nov. 3, 2022
New York: Overdoses spike in Onondaga County, some people did not respond to Narcan
More than 16 people have overdosed in 24 hours in Onondaga County, health officials said. The Onondaga County Health Department issued a warning Thursday afternoon about the overdoses. Some people overdosing did not respond to Narcan, a drug used to treat narcotic overdoses in an emergency situation, health officials said in a news release. Health officials said the what’s causing the overdoses has not been determined, but based on overdose patterns in other communities they could be related to a non-opioid sedative, xylazine, health officials said.
Syracuse.com - Nov. 3, 2022
Texas: Austin school district distributes fentanyl overdose kits to campuses
Donna Piket spent her Monday morning driving to different Austin school district campuses distributing boxes of Narcan, a nasal spray that treats overdoses of narcotics such as fentanyl. The district's efforts come after some fentanyl-related deaths among students in surrounding Central Texas school districts and as the city launches a campaign to bring awareness to the growing issue. The Austin district received about 200 kits of Narcan, a brand of naloxone hydrochloride, from Austin Public Health last week after the agency declared a public health crisis because of recent fentanyl-related deaths.
Austin American-Statesman - Nov. 2, 2022
New York drug overdose deaths spiked by 68% during COVID pandemic
Drug overdose deaths in New York state spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report from the state comptroller's office. The analysis, published Tuesday, found that fatalities surged by 68% between 2019 and 2021. Additionally, the more than 5,800 deaths statewide from drugs in 2021 surpassed the previous peak in 2017 by more than 1,700.
ABC - Nov. 1, 2022
New Jersey: In New Jersey, investigators say they are uncovering abuse in the state’s booming rehab industry
New Jersey is investigating rehab facilities they say have engaged in “patient brokering” — funneling patients to specific treatment centers in exchange for cash or other favors. Patient brokering is among the most significant findings of a wide-ranging investigation into abuse in the state’s addiction rehab industry. Preliminary findings by the State Commission of Investigation were released in October; a full report is expected in the coming months. Here’s a primer on common abuses in the rehab industry and what the commission found.
Philadelphia Inquirer - Nov. 1, 2022
Studies/Research in the News
Parental discord linked to children's genetic risk for alcohol problems
Parents can transmit a genetic risk for alcohol problems to their children not only directly, but also indirectly via genetically influenced aspects of the home environment, such as marital discord or divorce, according to a Rutgers researcher. The study, published in Molecular Psychiatry, found that children's exposure to parents' relationship discord or divorce is associated with the potential for alcohol use disorder as adults.
Medical Life Sciences - Nov. 3, 2022
Alcohol may increase risk of stroke in young people, study finds
But experts say the rate of strokes is increasing among young people, and a new study suggests alcohol consumption may have something to do with it. Researchers used a Korean national health database to study 1.5 million people in their 20s and 30s and asked them about their alcohol consumption over the course of six years, according to the study published Wednesday in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
USA Today - Nov. 3, 2022
Human Cocaine and Heroin Addiction Is Tied to Impairments in Specific Brain Circuit
According to a new study, white matter in the brain that was previously implicated in animal studies has now been suggested to be specifically impaired in the brains of people with addiction to cocaine or heroin. The research, which was published on October 6 in the journal Neuron, was conducted by scientists from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Baylor College of Medicine.
Sci Tech Daily - Nov. 1, 2022
Researchers have built a virtual reality environment using “future-self avatars” to help people recover from substance use disorders.
“VR technology is clinically effective and increasingly common for treating a variety of mental health conditions, such as phobias, post-traumatic stress disorder, and post-operative pain, but has yet to find wide use in substance use disorders intervention or recovery,” says research leader Brandon Oberlin, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the Indiana University School of Medicine. “Capitalizing on VR’s ability to deliver an immersive experience showing otherwise-impossible scenarios, we created a way for people to interact with different versions of their future selves in the context of substance use and recovery.”
Futurity - Nov. 1, 2022
Better Than Opiates: Pain Relief Without Side Effects and Addiction
Scientists have identified new substances that have a similar pain-relieving effect to opiates, but without the negative aspects such as respiratory depression and addiction. Instead of activating opioid receptors, they work by stimulating adrenalin receptors. This is the result of research carried out by an international team of researchers led by the Chair of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at FAU. Their findings are a milestone in the development of non-opioid pain relief and have recently been published in the renowned scientific journal Science.
Sci Tech Daily - Oct. 31, 2022
Opinion
Thank Kathy Hochul for East Harlem's 'Zombieland' drug-addict dystopia
Whole blocks of East Harlem are plagued by “zombie” drug addicts freely shooting up, and the dealers who supply them — thanks to Gov. Kathy Hochul and her progressive allies. It’s another reason to reject Hochul’s “conspiracy” theories on why people are fearfully furious about crime: Normal folks view this neighborhood-destroying disorder as “crime,” even though Hochul & Co. have made it legal.
New York Post - Nov. 6, 2022
Spend opioid settlement funds on addiction prevention
As states begin to receive money from the multitude of lawsuits and settlements the opioid makers and distributors have agreed to pay, the number of overdose deaths in the country continue to increase, reaching an all-time high in 2021. Researcher Linda Richter worries that not enough of the settlement funds, upward of $22 billion, are going toward early-stage prevention measures.
Stat News - Nov. 2, 2022
‘I’ve had a gun put to my head many times’: Ed Worley, elite schoolboy, crack addict and now successful artist
At 34, Worley has had a remarkable life: a public schoolboy with everything ahead of him, then a crack-cocaine addict who spent eight years on and off the streets, homeless, psychotic, a thief, a brawler, a drug dealer, a graffiti artist, and now a successful artist with his first solo gallery exhibition.
The Guardian - Nov. 2, 2022