opioid-epidemic
Report: Rural areas have less access to substance use treatment resources
Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro has proposed allocating more than $48 million to the department’s efforts in his 2023-24 fiscal year budget.
Staff shortages, ‘burdensome’ regulations among top hurdles for addiction treatment providers
At the three-hour-long public hearing hosted by the Center for Rural Pennsylvania, a bipartisan and bicameral legislative agency, panelists provided lawmakers with an update on various efforts to stem the tide of opioid addiction and prevent overdose deaths in the commonwealth.
Study finds community-led prevention approach reduces opioid overdose deaths in Pa. counties
The research conducted by the University of Pittsburgh analyzed data on overdose deaths from 48 Pennsylvania counties from 2016-2019, found that the opioid overdose death rates in counties that implemented a community-led approach with the help of the Pennsylvania Overdose Reduction Technical Assistance Center (ORTAC), which provides support to counties fighting opioid use, was “consistently lower” than in other counties.
Report: Stigma against people living with addiction entrenched in Pa. | Tuesday Morning Coffee
Hard hit by the opioid epidemic, Pa. residents take a dim view of people struggling with addiction, a new poll has found.
‘Vulnerable’ and ‘overlooked’, state officials highlight need to address substance use disorder in older adults
Older adults “are underdiagnosed when it comes to the disease of addiction” because they tend to take more medication than other age groups and because SUD symptoms in older adults are similar to those of other medical conditions, he said.
Amid nationwide injectable Naloxone shortage, Pa. entities rely on Narcan supply
Naloxone, an injectable, intramuscular drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the rapid reversal of opioid overdoses, has been in scant supply since Pfizer, the drug’s maker, ran into manufacturing issues in 2020, causing the price of the Naloxone to soar even as demand for the drug increased during pandemic-fueled shutdowns, The Guardian reported earlier this month.
With increase in polysubstance use, state agency will ‘expand’ focus from opioid epidemic
The new approach, announced Monday by Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs Secretary Jen Smith, will “expand” the agency's focus to address “the increase of polysubstance and stimulant use across the commonwealth.”
Gov. Wolf asks lawmakers to make an early return to Harrisburg, extend opioid declaration
Gov. Tom Wolf asks Pennsylvania lawmakers to extend the opioid disaster declaration by Aug. 26.
With a rise in overdose deaths, how is Pa. combating the opioid epidemic?
Preliminary data from the state Department of Health show a 14 percent increase in overdose deaths in 2020, compared to 4,458 deaths the year before.