Kristi L. Nelson April 18, 2017 A dozen years ago, Dr. Geogy Thomas wasn’t prepared to see pregnant women addicted to pain medication in his little rural primary-care clinic. When they trickled in, he’d refer them to a high-risk obstetrics practice at the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, an hour away. Then he […]
National Take Back Day offers several places for drug disposal
You can always take unwanted prescription drugs to the dropbox in the Knoxville Police Department lobby, but on April 29, you’ll have even more options for drug disposal. That’s the 12th annual U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency’s National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day. From 10 a.m.-2 p.m., you can drop off drugs at numerous locations across the country. […]
Knoxville Hosts Opioid Forum
Last month, the Knoxville News Sentinel and BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee sponsored an opioid epidemic forum to address the growing opioid problem in Tennessee. The event offered the community opportunities to ask questions and get involved. According to the Knoxville News Sentinel, health care professionals in Tennessee wrote more than 7.8 million opioid prescriptions in […]
Timeline: How the opioids crisis took hold
Anita Wadhwani and Ayrika L. Whitney In 1995, the Food and Drug Administration approved OxyContin for prescription use. Its active ingredient, oxycodone, has been deemed highly addictive since the 1960s. The drug hit the market at a time of increasing recognition by the U.S. medical community that many patients in pain were being inadequately treated. In 1996, […]
Beyond pills: Treating pain without opioids
April 8, 2017 Holly Fletcher John Moore tried several prescriptions to treat his recurring, excruciating headaches. But each came with its own drawbacks. The side effects of one prescription put him on the verge of tears; another made him feel like he “wanted to shoot myself; another made me want to shoot everybody else,” Moore said. […]
Legislation educating ‘at-risk’ mothers of drug dependent babies passes committee
April 7, 2017 Zach Vance Nearly one-third of babies born in Niswonger Children’s Hospital at any given time are diagnosed with neonatal abstinence syndrome, according to hospital officials. Last year, more than 200 babies born in the Tri-Cities were exposed to addictive opiate drugs while in their mothers’ wombs. According to a Tennessee Department of […]
Tennessee’s plans to battle opioid abuse: nurses in recovery, naloxone kits
March 31, 2017 Kristi L. Nelson The state’s new weapons to fight the opioid addiction epidemic might be nurses who have been addicts themselves, and naloxone kits in the hands of those most likely to overdose. Oh, and $13.8 million from the Sen. Lamar Alexander-led 21st Century Cures Act. The Tennessee Department of Mental Health […]
You have a voice in opioid epidemic
March 30, 2017 To understand what brought the scores of people to a forum at the West High School lecture hall Tuesday night, you must look at the numbers in the opioid epidemic. Tennessee has the second-highest opioid prescription rate in the country, more than one prescription for every man, woman and child. Opioid prescription […]
Drug court ‘probably the worst best thing that’s happened to me’
March 26, 2017 Stacey Barchenger It’s almost like a movie set: The room is a warehouse with a judicial bench and courtroom walls erected at one side. Commanding a wood podium in front of a state seal is Nashville Criminal Court Judge Seth Norman, and he’s talking about coining out. The term that means nothing […]
How opioids took hold of Tennessee
Anita Wadhwani Tennessee’s opioid crisis: An abbreviated timeline 1995 Food and Drug Administration approves OxyContin for prescription use. Its active ingredient, oxycodone, has been deemed highly addictive since the 1960s. 1999 5 percent of people receiving state-funded addiction treatment are abusing prescription pain relievers. 342 deaths due to drug overdoses 2000 416 individuals receive state-funded treatment […]