Join the October All-Participants Meeting at 3PM Eastern
CEPOP will be hosting its October All-Participants Teleconference today at 3:00pm EST. Today’s meeting will include presentations from Dr. Melissa M. Garrido from the Boston University School of Public Health on a SUD fraud study and Deborah Steinberg from the Legal Action Center on a study about the costs of SUD services on Medicare. Please contact Sanjyot Sangodkar for meeting details.
Lawmakers Request GAO Examine Federal SUD Programs
Last week, Congressman David Trone (MD) and Senator Edward J. Markey (MA) sent a letter to Government Accountability Office (GAO) Comptroller General of the United States, Mr. Gene Dodaro, urging the agency to review the Office of National Drug Control Policy’s (ONDCP) Drug-Free Communities (DFC) Support Program. The DFC Support Program currently supports nearly 700 community with identifying and responding to drug-related issues and creating a plan to address substance use and substance use disorder at the local level. The lawmakers request that GAO examine the DFC programming efforts and how they can be made more culturally competent to increase the program’s effectiveness in diverse and underserved communities. The lawmakers conclude that “Increasing social supports for individuals, families, and communities can help prevent substance use and the progression to substance use disorder. It is our obligation to ensure the federal government is doing all it can to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of ONDCP’s efforts in this area.” A copy of the letter can be found here.
Articles & Resources
DEA Holds Biannual National Take Back Day
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) held their annual National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on October 29. The annual event provided the public with a safe and convenient way to dispose of prescription drugs and education opportunities about medication misuse. Results from the October 2022 event are still being tabulated but during the April 2022 Take Back Day DEA and their network of state and local law enforcement partners hosted 5,144 collection sites and collected 721,093 pounds of prescription medications. DEA has collected 15,989,566 pounds of old, unwanted, and unneeded medications through their Take Back Day events, which began over a decade ago. To supplement their bi-annual events, DEA also provides the public with year-round disposal receptables at nearly 15,000 locations, including pharmacies, hospitals, police departments, businesses and select Veterans Administration medical centers. In an official announcement promoting the event, DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said, “I encourage everyone across the country to dispose of unneeded medications to help keep our communities safe and healthy. The Take Back campaign is part of DEA’s continued efforts to combat the drug poisoning epidemic and protect the safety and health of communities across the United States.” The collection site locater and partner toolbox with education materials can be found here.
Articles & Resources
DEA – DEA Gears Up for National Prescription Drug Take Back Day
What We Read Last Week
Several articles were published last week pertaining to the opioid epidemic, covering a variety of different components of the topic. Links to relevant articles are provided below.
Ad Council – Ad Council and Leading Tech Companies Team Up on Coordinated Efforts to Educate Youth and Parents on the Dangers of Fentanyl
Bloomberg Law – Medicare Mental Health Proposals Expand Aid for Substance Abuse
Government Executive – Federal Agencies Detail Their Priorities in Battling the Fentanyl Epidemic
JAMA Network Open – Opioid Dose Trajectories and Associations With Mortality, Opioid Use Disorder, Continued Opioid Therapy, and Health Plan Disenrollment
JHU Hub – Documents Highlight Role of Pharmacies in Driving Opioid Epidemic
New York Times – Biden Administration Offers Plan to Get Addiction-Fighting Medicine to Pregnant Women
NIST – Drug overdose deaths chart
Pain Management Nursing – Piloting Smart Home Sensors to Detect Overnight Respiratory and Withdrawal Symptoms in Adults Prescribed Opioids
Pew – A New Paramedic Policy May Guide Overdose Patients Into Treatment
Pew – What Do You Know About Health Quality Measures for Opioid Use Disorder?
Pew – States Should Measure Opioid Use Disorder Treatment to Improve Outcomes
STAT – Documents detail how pharmacy giants Walgreens, CVS, and Walmart failed patients in the opioid crisis
The American Journal of Psychiatry – Performance Measurement for Opioid Use Disorder Medication Treatment and Care Retention
The Hill – Opportunities for Biden and Congress to combat the overdose crisis right now
USC – During the Height of the Opioid Epidemic, the Out-of-Pocket Price of Naloxone Increased by 500%
This Week’s Calendar
In the week ahead, there are no relevant events or hearings noticed at this time. In the event that there are any changes to the schedule for this week, we will make additional information available.
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