The Wednesday Weekly Addiction + Recovery News Clips - August 2, 2023
The Wednesday Weekly is a collaboration of Sober Linings Playbook and Recovery in the Middle Ages Podcast.
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Highlights
National
Teens often left to detox without medications | Biden “Drug Czar” Dr. Rahul Gupta emphasizes need to address addiction and mental illness simultaneously
State and Local
Oregon faces Medicaid shortcomings when it comes to treatment for addiction | California tries contingency management for stimulant use disorders
Studies/Research in the News
Medications for alcohol use disorder “hugely underutilized” in British Columbia | As alcohol-related deaths in the U.S. rise, gender gap falls
Opinion
A doctor opines on the WHO’s new stringent recommendations for alcohol | U.S. veteran makes the case for keeping kratom legal
Books and Movies
“The Forgotten Ones” sheds light on opioid crisis within Minneapolis’ East African community
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National State/Local Studies/Research Opinion Reviews Comments
National
Teens with addiction are often left to detox without medication
Teens who land in emergency rooms with an opioid overdose generally receive naloxone to reverse the effects of dangerous drugs in their system and are sent home with a list of places they can go for follow-up care. But too often, those teens never seek additional help. They are left to suffer through the agony of withdrawal with no medications to ease their cravings. As a result, many, seeking relief, go back to opioids, often with tragic consequences.
CNN - Aug. 1, 2023
Angus Cloud Dead: Fez on ‘Euphoria’ Was 25
Angus Cloud, the actor best known for playing the drug dealer Fezco “Fez” O’Neill on HBO’s “Euphoria,” died Monday in Oakland, Calif. He was 25.
Variety - July 31, 2023
Dopey Podcast remembers one of it’s own, interviews Stanford psychiatrist, addiction expert and author (“Dopamine Nation) Dr. Anna Lembke
Dopey Nation remember DN Legend and old time friend and contributor to the show, Brian 'HottWheels' Connolly. We are also joined by brilliant New York Times best seller, Anna Lembke, an American psychiatrist who is Chief of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic at Stanford University. Her book Dopamine Nation has been flying off the shelves and is an incredibly accesable look at addiction and recovery. PLUS emails, voicemails and the return of my dad!
Dopey Podcast - July 28, 2023
Jamie Lee Curtis opens up about opioid addiction
Jamie Lee Curtis shudders to think what would have happened had her opioid addiction raged during today's fentanyl crisis. The Oscar-winning actress, 64, has been sober for more than 23 years, a milestone she doesn't take lightly. In a new interview on MSNBC's Morning Joe on Friday, she said she'd be "dead" had the potent synthetic opioid drug been as available back then as it is today. "I was an opiate addict, and I liked a good opiate buzz," Curtis said. "And if fentanyl was ... as easily available as it is today on the street, I'd be dead."
Yahoo! - July 28, 2023
UK: Funding cuts means addicts left to fight disease alone
Funding for addiction treatment services has been halved in a decade in real terms while drug deaths have doubled. Support workers on the ground say councils are leaving addicts to fend for themselves. We speak to one man who has been waiting 10 years for help.
Sky News - July 28, 2023
Mental illness, drug addiction go hand in glove, Biden’s drug czar tells lawmakers
At a House oversight hearing Thursday, the Biden administration’s top drug policy official emphasized the need to address both mental illness and drug addiction simultaneously to reduce fentanyl deaths. According to a 2021 survey by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, over nine million adults in the U.S. have this co-occuring disorder.
Stat News - July 27, 2023
Dennis Quaid Says Addiction Led to 'White Light Experience,' Faith Saved Him
Dennis Quaid has shared the spiritual moment that finally led him to confront his struggles with drug addiction in the 1980s and seek help.
Today - July 26, 2023
White House plan would bolster mental health coverage
The Biden administration on Tuesday announced a proposal meant to force health insurers to cover mental health and addiction care as comprehensively as they cover treatment for physical health conditions. If the plan is enacted, it could help end decades of whack-a-mole between government regulators and insurance companies. While insurers have been legally required to cover mental health and addiction treatment since the 1990s, many have never truly complied, forcing patients to jump through bureaucratic hoops, or even pay out-of-pocket, to obtain care. The new rule would force insurers to evaluate their own networks to measure not just whether they’re offering adequate mental health and addiction coverage, but also whether patients are truly accessing it.
Stat News - July 25, 2023
National State and Local Studies in the News Opinion Reviews Comments
State / Local
Oregon Health Authority report flags shortcomings in Medicaid system
The agency’s Ombuds Program report found a lack of residential treatment options for Oregon Health Plan members who need mental health or addiction treatment.
Oregonians enrolled in the state’s Medicaid program face a maze of red tape and shortage of residential facilities to treat them for drug addiction or mental health care. The findings – and patient accounts – are within a state report that analyzed problems and concerns of people in the Medicaid-funded Oregon Health Plan, which covers medical, dental and behavioral health for nearly 1.5 million low-income Oregonians.
Oregon Capital Chronicle - July 31, 2023
Florida: Jury convicts St. Augustine addiction medicine doctor on 14 counts of drug trafficking
A federal jury has found 58-year-old Scott Andrew Hollington, a prominent addiction medicine doctor in St. Augustine, guilty of 14 counts of unlawfully distributing and dispensing controlled substances without a legitimate medical purpose and 5 counts of obstructing justice.
Action News Jax - July 29, 2023
California: Davis man graduates addiction court
Yolo County’s Addiction Intervention Court recently celebrated the graduation of a Davis resident, Manuel Beteta, during a Yolo Superior Court ceremony. Addiction Intervention Court is a specialty 18- to 24-month court program serving up to 30 individuals who, due to their struggles with substance-use disorders, become involved in the criminal justice system. A collaborative effort involving the Yolo County Public Defender’s Office, District Attorney’s Office, Superior Court, Probation Department and Health and Human Services Agency, the program provides intensive support services and supervision aimed at increasing a participant’s overall quality of life while reducing recidivism. Beteta, 32, made his first court appearance on July 8, 2020. AIC officials deemed him suitable for the program, and his journey there began the following October.
Davis Enterprise - July 28, 2023
Indiana revokes licenses for 3 Landmark Recovery addiction treatment centers after 3 deaths
The state has revoked the licenses of a troubled northern Indiana addiction treatment center and two sister facilities, its parent company acknowledged Thursday. The Indiana Division of Mental Health and Addiction revoked the license for Praxis Landmark Recovery in Mishawaka and sister facilities in Bluffton and Carmel, the company said.
AP - July 27, 2023
California: Drug Treatment Is Available in San Francisco. Why Don’t People Use It?
The city’s Department of Public Health recently launched a public awareness campaign to inform people suffering from addiction that they can access treatment by visiting a triage center at 1380 Howard St. The department is expanding hours at the center as the city’s overdose crisis continues at a record pace. People suffering from addiction on the city’s streets told The Standard they don’t believe they are ready to begin treatment, or their past experiences have dissuaded them from seeking help.
The San Francisco Standard - July 26, 2023
California tries contingency management to fight drug use
Among the most difficult addictions to witness at San Francisco general hospital’s drug clinic is methamphetamine, which leaves users tearing at their skin and unable to eat, sleep or sign up for help. The worst part: The clinic workers largely are powerless because unlike with opioid addiction, for which doctors prescribe medications such as methadone, there is no medicine for stimulant use disorder. Faced with that immense suffering, California will try a new approach to stimulant addiction: Paying people with gift cards to reward them for staying sober. This model, known as “contingency management,” rewards people with financial incentives each time their drug tests are negative for stimulants. It’s been shown to have success in clinical trials — and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has been using it for more than a decade — but it hasn’t taken off in California. Medicaid previously wouldn’t cover it, so there was no funding to expand its use.
Cal Matters - July 26, 2023
New Jersey: Murphy’s choice for health commissioner is pioneer in addiction treatment
Dr. Kaitlan Baston, a pioneer in addiction treatment based in Camden, has been tapped to lead New Jersey’s Department of Health after the departure next month of current health commissioner Judy Persichilli. “Dr. Baston’s breadth of experience as a physician, highlighted by her many leadership roles within the addiction and health care space, will make her an exceptional Commissioner at the Department of Health,” Murphy said in a statement, noting he was “thrilled” to nominate her to the post.
NJ Spotlight News - July 26, 2023
National State/Local Studies/Research Opinion Reviews Comments
Studies/Research in the News
New Alberta study examines drug poisoning cases involving fentanyl and benzodiazepines
An Alberta doctor who specializes in addiction says a forthcoming study based on data from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) is "eye-opening" and underscores the role fentanyl is playing in the province's illicit drug supply. The study, which will appear in the journal Forensic Science International's September issue and was published online in July, looked at concentrations of fentanyl and benzodiazepine drugs in the blood of people who died of fentanyl toxicity over the last three years.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation - Aug. 1, 2023
Life-saving medications for alcohol use disorder 'hugely under-utilized' in B.C., study finds
Medications to treat alcohol use disorder can save lives and keep people out of hospital, but they remain out of reach for the vast majority of British Columbians living with the medical condition, according to a new study from researchers at the B.C. Centre on Substance Use.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation - July 29, 2023
As alcohol-related deaths rise in the US, women are increasingly at risk, study shows
Men are nearly three times more likely than women to die from alcohol use in the United States, but a new report shows that gap has narrowed as the risk for women has grown, especially in recent years. For men, the rate of alcohol-related deaths has been on the rise since 2009, with particularly sharp increases each year since 2018. But the upward trend for women started at least a decade earlier and has been rising faster, on average, each year since.
CNN - July 28, 2023
New study finds medications to treat alcohol addiction underused
Medications for alcohol use disorder are underutilized in British Columbia, despite their safety and effectiveness, according to a new study published today in the journal Addiction. The study found that between 2015 and 2019 fewer than five percent of British Columbians who met the criteria for moderate to severe alcohol use disorder (AUD) received medications for the minimum recommended time of three months.
Medical X Press - July 25, 2023
National State/Local Studies/Research Opinion Reviews Comments
Opinion
A Conversation with Dr. Laura Catena on Wine, Alcohol and The World Health Organization (WHO)
In recent years the World Health Organization (WHO) has become increasingly vocal about what it believes are the deleterious effects of consuming any amount of alcoholic beverages. The WHO’s position has been criticized for being based on flawed studies and amounting to little more than a surreptitious reintroduction of Prohibition. To get a different take on the WHO’s position, I recently sat down with Dr. Laura Catena, a medical doctor and an accomplished winemaker, to get her views on the WHO’s stringent new recommendations.
Forbes - July 29, 2023
Let’s prevent the feds from jeopardizing veteran addiction recovery: Don’t criminalize kratom
During my time in uniform, I observed firsthand servicemembers and veterans who returned from service with injuries and chronic pain. Unfortunately, due to these issues many have become dependent on dangerous opioids for relief and sadly, many will wind up as another of the 80,000 opioid overdose deaths per year in the United States. One of the tools and resources many veterans have used to quit their opioid dependence, manage pain, improve mood and focus, and get their lives back on track has been through controlled use of a pure, unadulterated kratom product. For many, it is literally a miracle solution keeping them from a downward spiral of addiction and destruction.
The Hill - July 28, 2023
National State/Local Studies/Research Opinion Reviews Comments
Books and Movies
"The Forgotten Ones" highlights opioid crisis in Minneapolis' East African community
Opioid addiction is impacting young and old, and now a documentary – "The Forgotten Ones" – is being released in order to break down stigmas and encourage support. Abdirahman Warsame is the film's producer. "Through the storytelling you know, people will start to empathize. And through that empathy we hope to create connection because the opposite of addiction and sobriety is connection," Warsame said.
CBS - July 27, 2023
National State/Local Studies/Research Opinion Reviews Comments