Recent spike in drug overdose deaths has Cuyahoga County on pace to match 2017’s record total

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A recent spike in fatal drug overdoses has Cuyahoga County officials concerned there could be as many drug-related deaths in 2018 as last year's record-setting total. Fourteen people died of drug overdoses during a recent five-day period from Aug. 2 to Aug. 6, the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office said in a [...]

By |2018-08-08T23:30:43-07:00August 8th, 2018|News|Comments Off on Recent spike in drug overdose deaths has Cuyahoga County on pace to match 2017’s record total

Heroin deaths surpass gun homicides for the first time, CDC data shows

Heroin deaths surpass gun homicides for the first time, CDC data shows Opioid deaths continued to surge in 2015, surpassing 30,000 for the first time in recent history, according to CDC data released Thursday. That marks an increase of nearly 5,000 deaths from 2014. Deaths involving powerful synthetic opiates, like fentanyl, rose by nearly 75 percent [...]

By |2018-07-26T12:51:24-07:00July 25th, 2018|News|Comments Off on Heroin deaths surpass gun homicides for the first time, CDC data shows

New opioid report finds evidence of pill mills and doctor shopping in Ohio

WASHINGTON, D.C. - While Ohio has taken steps to crack down on over-prescription of  highly addictive opioids, a new report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found almost 50 health care providers around the state who prescribed the narcotics to at-risk Medicaid beneficiaries during a year-long period that ended in May 2017. [...]

By |2018-07-10T19:38:39-07:00July 10th, 2018|News|Comments Off on New opioid report finds evidence of pill mills and doctor shopping in Ohio

Dr. Marc Siegel: The opioid crisis has a solution — Here it is

I recently attended a symposium examining how medical schools can prepare future doctors to deal with the continuing opioid crisis. I joined over 90 educators from 30 medical schools at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University to discuss devising a curriculum based on a successful model that Brown has created. The curriculum on [...]

By |2018-07-09T09:25:46-07:00July 9th, 2018|News|Comments Off on Dr. Marc Siegel: The opioid crisis has a solution — Here it is

Ohioans lose 519,471 years of life from opioid overdose deaths in 7 years

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Ohioans lost more than a half-million years of life due to fatal opioid overdoses from 2010 through 2016, according to an analysis by the Ohio Alliance for Innovation in Population Health. On average, the preventable overdose deaths knocked almost 40 years off the lives of the 13,059 Ohioans who died, leaving holes [...]

By |2018-06-15T15:06:52-07:00June 15th, 2018|News|Comments Off on Ohioans lose 519,471 years of life from opioid overdose deaths in 7 years

Are We Getting Sea Life High on Opioids?

Believe it or not, mussels in Seattle are testing positive for opioids. Mussels are what are known as “filter feeders” since they absorb food from their surrounding environment. The problem that is surfacing is demonstrating the difference between “pollution” and “climate change,” which so many people assume are the same thing. Mussels absorb also all [...]

By |2018-06-12T07:41:58-07:00June 12th, 2018|News|Comments Off on Are We Getting Sea Life High on Opioids?

Fatal opioid overdoses increased in 2017 in Cuyahoga County, medical examiner says

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The number of deaths from opioid overdoses continued to increase in 2017 for Cuyahoga County, according to a report from the medical examiner's office. Of a record-breaking 727 fatal drug overdoses in 2017, 492 were from fentanyl, an opioid used as pain medication, and 191 were from carfentanil, a derivative of fentanyl [...]

By |2018-06-11T18:02:54-07:00June 11th, 2018|News|Comments Off on Fatal opioid overdoses increased in 2017 in Cuyahoga County, medical examiner says

Despair, hope and drugs in America: Is anyone safe?

While America was diverted by homegrown terrorism, economic stress and mass shootings, another scourge quietly moved to the fore. Drug addiction is nothing new. What is new is which part of the population it strikes. All have been hit at different times but right now, it seems to  be middle-aged white Americans battling opioids. Opioids [...]

By |2018-06-04T15:42:41-07:00June 4th, 2018|News|Comments Off on Despair, hope and drugs in America: Is anyone safe?

Cleveland police’s specialized opioid unit now a national model

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Scott Moran spent the last three years rushing out of the door as part of Cleveland police department's specialized unit that responds to each opioid overdose in the city. The veteran narcotics detective, who is part of a seven-man team called the Heroin Involved Death Investigation unit, uses a non-traditional approach to [...]

By |2018-05-22T08:08:19-07:00May 22nd, 2018|News|Comments Off on Cleveland police’s specialized opioid unit now a national model

Have opioid deaths in Northeast Ohio finally crested? Evidence suggests yes

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The number of deaths attributed to heroin and other opioids dropped in recent months in what medical and law enforcement officials say is the first sign of optimism that the fight against the deadly opioid epidemic might be working. The decline comes after eight years where deaths climbed dramatically, caused by the [...]

By |2018-05-21T20:20:57-07:00May 21st, 2018|News|Comments Off on Have opioid deaths in Northeast Ohio finally crested? Evidence suggests yes
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