The Wednesday Weekly Addiction + Recovery News Clips - August 16, 2023 (the Dopey Day edition)
The Wednesday Weekly is a collaboration of Sober Linings Playbook and Recovery in the Middle Ages Podcast.
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Highlights
National
Kratom use rises as regulations are weighed | Purdue Pharma’s bankruptcy settlement blocked by Supreme Court
State and Local
Georgia hospital uses peer recovery coaches in the ER | Portland, OR treatment services overwhelmed as overdoses spike
Studies/Research in the News
Gene therapy offers hope for alcohol addiction | Medication to treat opioid use disorder still significantly under-used
Opinion
Dopey Day (Aug. 16) honors the memory of those we’ve lost and celebrates the hope and promise of recovery | Congress must modernize access to methadone to save lives
Books and Movies
Mother and son write memoir on their journey through addiction | Netflix’s “Painkiller” Executive Producer says America’s worst addiction isn’t to drugs
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National State/Local Studies/Research Opinion Reviews Comments
National
Kratom use rises in NJ as effects, regulations are weighed
Kratom, an herbal leaf from a tree native to Southeast Asia is used by as many as 15 million Americans as a stimulant or sedative depending on the dosage, thanks to chemical compounds that act much like opioids. When used responsibly, some users say kratom is an invaluable way to boost energy, relieve pain and anxiety or even help ease debilitating withdrawal symptoms from oxycodone and other addictive pain relievers. Others — including some local addiction experts — say kratom is highly addictive itself and ripe for misuse, and they are seeing more users coming to their rehab clinics.
NorthJersey.com - Aug. 14, 2023
Xylazine causes open wounds, making the illegal drug supply even more dangerous
Baltimore's harm reduction vans have long been a place for people to exchange used needles for clean needles. In recent months, more people have been coming to Baltimore's two mobile harm intervention vans in need of serious wound care due to a drug called xylazine.
NPR - Aug. 13, 2023
Purdue Pharma's $6 Billion Opioid Settlement Blocked By Supreme Court
The Supreme Court temporarily blocked Purdue Pharma, the makers of OxyContin (a highly addictive Opioid) from moving forward with bankruptcy proceedings and a $6 billion settlement. The settlement would have widely shielded the Sackler family, the previous owners of Purdue Pharma, from any future liability and Opioid-related lawsuits aimed at them. The Biden administration requested the Supreme Court put the case on hold after receiving inquiries from a US Trustee, part of the Department of Justice, who questioned the authority of state and lower courts being able to make such large decisions resulting in widespread consequences.
Addiction Center - Aug. 11, 2023
‘There's A Lot of Growth in That Industry’: Addiction Treatment Viewed as Behavioral Health’s Top Expansion Area
More than 40% of polled behavioral health industry insiders believe the addiction and substance use disorder (SUD) treatment space has the most significant growth opportunity moving forward. That’s according to a new survey from Kipu and Behavioral Health Business.
Behavioral Health Business - Aug. 11, 2023
Opioids expose unhealthy bankruptcy addictions
Two big opioid cases suggest the U.S. bankruptcy process is unjustly providing relief for some while inflicting pain unnecessarily on others. These largely unwarranted legal safeguards and undercapitalized restructurings are not restricted to the opioid trade, but it would be helpful if the attention they are receiving now help eradicate them.
Reuters - Aug. 11, 2023
Inside California’s Program to Better Treat Addiction in Prisons
California’s program is expensive: $283 million for the current fiscal year. But in January, it became the first state to secure permission from the federal government to use Medicaid for health care in correctional facilities, which will allow officials to use federal funds to cover opioid treatment. My colleague Noah Weiland, a health reporter for The Times, just published an article about a sprawling effort in California to treat addiction in prisons and jails. The state is one of only a few in the nation with a comprehensive treatment program across its prison system, something addiction and public health experts say is increasingly necessary.
New York Times - Aug. 10, 2023
How to Help Your Spouse or Partner with an Alcohol Addiction
It can be heartbreaking to witness someone you love struggle with alcohol addiction. It's important to understand that while your loved one's alcohol addiction is a serious issue, there are ways you can help and support them through it. Dr. Shah offers six tips to help a spouse who is newly sober or is taking steps to get sober.
Hackensack Meridian Health - Aug. 10, 2023
Aaron Carter's Twin Sister Angel Opens Up About His Addiction
Angel Carter is opening up about her family's “painful” past — and the unexpected death of her twin brother Aaron Carter. In this week’s issue of PEOPLE, the 35-year-old recalled how her parents abused alcohol and created a toxic family dynamic that ultimately worsened when her brothers Nick and Aaron were launched into stardom as kids.
People - Aug. 9, 2023
Robert De Niro's Daughter Reflects on Late Son's Addiction Battle
Robert De Niro's daughter Drena released a lengthy statement on Instagram about her 19-year-old son Leandro De Niro Rodriguez's passing a day after an official autopsy confirmed his cause of death.
Yahoo! - Aug. 9, 2023
National State and Local Studies in the News Opinion Reviews Comments
State / Local
Wisconsin: Opioid epidemic roundtable includes Sen. Tammy Baldwin
U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin was at Marshfield Clinic in Ladysmith on Friday, taking part in a roundtable discussion with public health officials, law enforcement, and a city administrator about the opioid epidemic.
WQOW - Aug. 11, 2023
Boston plans 35-acre island facility to combat homelessness and addiction
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu announced plans to rebuild the city's Long Island Bridge and build a facility to combat homelessness, addiction, and mental health. The bridge was demolished in 2014 after it was determined to be structurally unsafe, which cut off access to the addiction recovery facility that once operated there.
Washington Examiner - Aug. 11, 2023
Minnesota: What’s behind the addiction in Minneapolis’ drug epidemic?
In Minnesota, hospital-treated non-fatal overdoses suspected to have involved a synthetic opioid, like fentanyl, nearly tripled over the two-year period spanning 2020 to 2022, according to the Minnesota Department of Health. A vast majority of those overdoses (89% and 92% in 2021 and 2022 respectively) are suspected to have involved fentanyl.
Minn Post - Aug. 11, 2023
Georgia: Grady Hospital using ‘peer recovery coaches’ to help ER patients struggling with addiction
Grady Memorial Hospital is connecting emergency department patients with substance-use disorders to more addiction treatment and recovery services right in the ER. The recently launched initiative is part of an ongoing study with Emory University. The program connects Grady ER patients with substance-use disorders with peer recovery coaches trained by the Georgia Council for Recovery.
WABE - Aug. 10, 2023
California: San Joaquin Co. could get addiction, mental health treatment site
San Joaquin County announced a new proposal this week to help combat the opioid crisis. The plan calls for the development of an addiction and mental health treatment facility in French Camp that would be called the San Joaquin Be Well Campus.
ABC 10 - Aug. 10, 2023
Vermont: UVM - No closure, layoffs at university’s Center on Rural Addiction
All of the center’s 14 full-time employees received layoff notices last week after grant funding expired. But a University of Vermont spokesperson said the center has secured the funding it needs to stay open.
VT Digger - Aug. 9, 2023
Vermont: In medical error, 15 incarcerated people given codeine, Tylenol instead of opioid addiction medication
In a medical error, an estimated 15 people incarcerated at Northwest State Correctional Facility in St. Albans received codeine and Tylenol on July 23 rather than buprenorphine to treat their opioid use disorder, according to a memo from the Vermont Department of Corrections health services division. The department relies on a private contractor, Wellpath, to provide health care services in its prisons.
VT Digger - Aug. 9, 2023
Oregon: Portland's addiction recovery services overwhelmed as drug overdoses spike
Drug overdoses have spiked in the Portland metro over the last couple of years, and life-saving addiction recovery and treatment services – including withdrawal management programs - are in short supply.
KATU - Aug. 8, 2023
New York: Albany County legislator ferocious in fight against addiction clinic
Alison McLean Lane said it is her civic duty to represent Menands constituents -- despite her boss' fight in the Assembly to solve the opioid crisis. Since an addiction clinic opened its doors in Menands this summer, the village has been in an uproar over the center’s proposed expansion of services to include treatment for people who struggle with opioid addiction.
Times-Union - Aug. 7, 2023
Council Bluffs, Iowa: Nonprofit hopes to fund drug rehab for people with addictions
“People that don’t know anything about addiction are very fortunate, because I know a lot now that I never really wanted to know,” Gayle Rea said. Gayle has taken that unwanted knowledge and is using it as fuel for her new nonprofit organization, Give Recovery. “The mission is to pay for residential drug treatment for addicts that are ready to receive treatment and go to recovery,” Gayle said.
The Daily Nonpareil - Aug. 5, 2023
National State/Local Studies/Research Opinion Reviews Comments
Studies/Research in the News
Form of gene therapy offers hope for severe alcohol addiction, study finds
A form of gene therapy that is already being trialled in patients with Parkinson’s disease might provide a one-off treatment for severe alcohol addiction. The research, which was published in Nature Medicine, found that the macaques permanently started overexpressing dopamine and decreased their subsequent alcohol consumption by up to 90%.
The Guardian - Aug. 14, 2023
Dopey Day: A Holiday To Rival The Opioid Epidemic
I believe it is no coincidence (mostly because I don’t believe in coincidences), that the Dopey Podcast hit 10 million downloads, on the 5 year anniversary of O’Connor‘s death. It is poignant and bittersweet, in a way that is endemic of the time we live in. At the time of Chris’s death, the landscape of the drug-using world was in the throes of devastating change. Fentantyl, a drug that almost no one had heard of outside of a hospital setting, was rapidly creeping into the drug supply in nearly every major city.
Stereo Embers - Aug. 11, 2023
Large Study Debunks Myths About Rx Opioid Addiction
A large new study in Australia is debunking myths about the addictive nature of opioid pain medication and how a single prescription can lead to long term use. In an analysis of nearly 3.5 million Australians who were prescribed opioids for the first time, researchers found that 92% never progressed beyond low opioid use and only 3% became persistent users or needed higher doses.
Pain News Network - Aug. 10, 2023
Medications for Opioid Addiction Significantly Underutilized
Using data from the 2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), investigators found that of the 2.5 million adults with OUD in that year, 35.6% received some kind of substance abuse treatment, but only 22.3% received recommended medications for the condition, such as methadone, buprenorphine, or extended-release naltrexone.
Medscape - Aug. 10, 2023
Addiction-treating drug still seldom prescribed in ERs, study finds
Patients diagnosed in the emergency room with opioid addiction or overdose seldom leave with a prescription to treat their addiction, health researchers at Verona-based health records company Epic Systems found in a recent study.
The Cap Times - Aug. 7, 2023
Opioid addiction treatments are effective but few patients are getting them
Imagine if during a deadly public health crisis, 80% of Americans weren't able to get safe, effective medications proven to help people recover. A study published Monday in the JAMA found that's exactly what's happening with the opioid crisis. Nationwide, only one in five people with opioid use disorder receive the medications considered the gold standard for opioid treatment, such as methadone, buprenorphine or extended-release naltrexone.
NPR - Aug. 7, 2023
National State/Local Studies/Research Opinion Reviews Comments
Opinion
Addiction treatment demands speed, ease and coordination
Access to treatment for alcohol and drug addiction should be fast, easy and judgment-free. Sadly, it’s not always the case. The goal of the Yamhill County Behavioral Health Regional Network, which has counterparts emerging all across the state, is to change that.
Yambill County’s News-Register - Aug. 11, 2023
I returned to medicine after my opioid addiction. What I learned can help patients — and other physicians
In 2015, I looked back on eight years of sobriety and into the faces of the physicians who inhabited the hell I escaped. I had been hired as an associate director for the Massachusetts Physician Health Service to help doctors who had, like me, seen their lives decimated by addiction. The table divides the addicted from the recovered, and looking across it, I saw my earlier self in these doctors’ eyes, dulled by hopelessness, cravings and despair.
WBUR - Aug. 9, 2023
Congress must modernize access to methadone to save lives
Recently, the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee took steps to advance legislation that aims to strengthen the nation’s approach to the addiction and overdose crisis — and, ultimately, save lives. However, we are deeply disappointed that the Committee did not include the Modernizing Opioid Treatment Access Act (H.R. 1359) in that legislation. MOTAA is a bipartisan bill that would create a small, but necessary, adjustment in a longstanding closed system of clinics. Currently methadone treatment of opioid use disorder is only available at a small number of highly regulated opioid treatment programs that have historically been referred to as “methadone clinics,” with strict requirements such as frequent visits and observed dosing.
Seattle Times - Aug. 8, 2023
National State/Local Studies/Research Opinion Reviews Comments
Books and Movies
Vanderbilt film teaches kids to overcome addiction through mindfulness, self-compassion
Data from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation shows fatal overdoses among adolescents are skyrocketing. For one Vanderbilt researcher, those statistics hit close to home; her own son died from an overdose, and now she’s created a movie to tell his story and, hopefully, save lives. Losing her son in 2019 lead to a film about her son called “Speaking Through Me”. The film premieres this week at the Franklin Theatre with this message: “Substance misuse at a young age can damage your brain for a lifetime.”
WKRN - Aug. 14, 2023
Mother and son write memoir on their journey through addiction
Before There Was An After is a powerful and emotional memoir by a mother and son that recounts their seven-year journey through his heroin addiction and multiple attempts at recovery. It’s honest, heartbreaking, and revealing.
KOLO TV - Aug. 9, 2023
Netflix's 'Painkiller' EP Says America's 'Worst Addiction' Isn't Drugs
Netflix's latest limited drama series, Painkiller, gives a harrowing insight into the nation's opioid crisis and the toll it has taken on families around the country. The six-episode series, which stars Emmy-award winner Uzo Aduba, Matthew Broderick and Taylor Kitsch tells a fictionalized version of how the opioid crisis happened and its tragic aftermath, particularly decisions made by Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family that owned it. The series premiered on Netflix on August 10.
Newsweek - Aug. 7, 2023
National State/Local Studies/Research Opinion Reviews Comments