In the News
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njspotlight.com: STATE REGULATIONS DECREASE OPIATE PRESCRIPTIONS NATIONWIDE, CDC FINDS
Posted 7/7/2017
But too many patients still taking dangerously high levels of addictive drugs
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newjersey.news12.com: Opioid prescribing is falling in the US, but not everywhere
Posted 7/7/2017
NEW YORK (AP) - Overall opioid prescription rates have been falling in recent years, but the powerful drugs have become more plentiful in more than than 1 in 5 U.S. counties, a report released Thursday finds.
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money.cnn.com: The opioid crisis is draining America of workers
Posted 7/7/2017
Use of opioids has become a key factor in why "prime age" workers, mostly men, are unable or unwilling to find work, according to a new report by Goldman Sachs (GS).
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harvard.edu: Rising threat: Death by fentanyl
Posted 7/5/2017
As the opioid crisis rages across the United States, people suffering from addiction as well as the first responders, doctors, and counselors trying to help them are facing another deadly challenge: fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 100 times more powerful than heroin and a growing part of the nation’s illicit drug supply.
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motherjones.com: The Opioid Epidemic Is Literally Changing Kids’ Brains
Posted 7/5/2017
One effect: These children are more likely to use drugs later in life.
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cbsnews.com: Opioid addiction skyrockets in young adults, but few get treatment meds
Posted 7/1/2017
Opioid addiction among Americans under the age of 25 is skyrocketing, climbing nearly sixfold between 2001 and 2014. Yet only 1 in 4 teens and young adults with opioid addiction receive recommended treatment medication despite having good health insurance, according to new research.
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vox.com: America leads the world in drug overdose deaths — by a lot
Posted 6/29/2017
America has about 4 percent of the world’s population — but about 27 percent of the world’s drug overdose deaths.
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nj.com: Patches, pills and lollipops: 4 things to know about fentanyl
Posted 6/29/2017
Fentanyl has only made its way into illegal drugs in the past five years, but its history goes far further back: The powerful opioid was first synthesized by Janssen Pharmaceuticals in 1960.
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nj.com: Doctors raked in cash to push fentanyl as N.J. death rate exploded
Posted 6/29/2017
The most powerful opioid ever mass-marketed was designed to ease cancer patients into death. It's ideal for that: the drug is fast acting, powerful enough to tame pain that other opioids can't and comes in a variety of easy delivery methods -- from patches to lollipops. But a dose the size of a grain of sand can kill you.
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thehill.com: We can’t cure the opioid epidemic if it’s not treated as a health crisis
Posted 6/29/2017
We’re living with a virus-like disease sweeping our nation. Nearly every community is affected. The rates of death rise year after year. Between 1990 and 2015, the percentages of death more than quadrupled. We lost more people than the population of Pittsburgh.