July 31, 2017 Lurah Spell BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. — More than $100,000 in federal funding will be used in Northeast Tennessee to fight what has been labeled a nationwide opioid epidemic. The 21st Century Cures Act, signed into law in December 2016, provides $1 billion in funding to prevent the abuse of opioids, heroin and other […]
CDC Report: Local opioid prescriptions dip, overdose deaths still surging
July 22, 2017 Zach Vance Local health officials appear to be making headway against the flood of opioids prescribed in Northeast Tennessee. But in a deadly twist, overdose fatalities are rising in area counties, due in part to addicts turning from prescription medication to heroin and fentanyl. Released in early July, a Centers for Disease Control […]
Number of babies born drug dependent in East TN down 18%
July 12, 2017 Kendall Morris The fight against opioids is making an impact in East Tennessee as data shows the number of babies born with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) has dropped in the region. Comparing 2015 to 2016 data, the number of babies born with NAS in Knox County decreased by 18 percent. During the […]
Haslam: Non-cancer patients could see limits on long-term opioid scripts
July 10, 2017 Any Sher NASHVILLE — As he seeks remedies for Tennessee’s opioid abuse epidemic, Gov. Bill Haslam says his administration will explore whether to restrict long-term prescriptions of the powerful and addictive painkillers for many TennCare patients. “Should we ever be long-term prescribing opioids in TennCare in a non-cancer situation? That’s a question […]
Opioid Prescriptions Fall After 2010 Peak, C.D.C. Report Finds
July 6, 2017 Abby Goodnough WASHINGTON — The amount of opioid painkillers prescribed in the United States peaked in 2010, a new federal analysis has found, with prescriptions for higher, more dangerous doses dropping most sharply — by 41 percent — since then. But the analysis, by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, also […]
Patients With Mental Disorders Get Half Of All Opioid Prescriptions
June 27, 2017 Vickie Connor Adults with a mental illness receive more than 50 percent of the 115 million opioid prescriptions in the United States annually, according to a study released Monday. The results prompted researchers to suggest that improving pain management for people with mental health problems “is critical to reduce national dependency on opioids.” […]
Overcoming the opioid crisis
June 26, 2017 Hank Hayes KINGSPORT — Tennessee’s largest health insurer let business leaders at a Fourth Friday Kingsport Chamber of Commerce breakfast know it wants to be part of a solution to the opioid crisis. “We’re not here to lecture you on the dangers of opioid abuse. Our guess is everyone in this room has […]
The opioid epidemic is so bad that librarians are learning how to treat overdoses
June 24, 2017 Darran Simon Philadelphia (CNN) – A crowd hovered over the man lying on the grass as his skin turned purple. Chera Kowalski crouched next to his limp body, a small syringe in her gloved hand. Squeeze. The antidote filled the man’s nostril. The purple faded. Then it came back. Kowalski’s heart raced. […]
Drug crisis is pushing up death rates for almost all groups of Americans
June 9, 2017 Joel Achenbach and Dan Keating The opioid epidemic that has ravaged life expectancy among economically stressed white Americans is taking a rising toll among blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans, driving up the overall rate of death among Americans in the prime of their lives. Since the beginning of this decade, death rates […]
Emotions run strong at forum on opioid abuse
Daniel Connolly June 6, 2017 As the Shelby County chief medical examiner, Dr. Karen Chancellor has a close-up view of the increasing number of lives ended by drug overdoses. “Every day I come to work there is an overdose death, suspected overdose death or multiple ones,” she told the audience at the Tennessee Opioid Epidemic Forum Tuesday […]
