Patient-Centered Care Key for Pain Management in Opioid Crisis

The Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force calls for patient-centered and comprehensive approaches to pain management. An individualized, patient-centered approach to pain management could help improve care outcomes and patient experience while still addressing the opioid crisis, according to a proposed report from the Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force (Task Force). The proposal, published at the end of 2018, outlines how individual providers and the industry as a whole can address pain management for patients with acute and chronic pain, two issues that have become more pervasive in recent years. “Chronic pain affects an estimated 50 million US adults or 20 …

JUUL has entered the school system

(CNN)Juul spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to fund youth programming, efforts that a company employee said “seem to duplicate those of big tobacco,” according to internal emails, memos and contracts released as part of a congressional investigation into the company. Democratic members of the House Oversight Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy presented the documents Thursday as part of an investigation into Juul’s role in “the youth vaping epidemic.”   Read full article here.

Increased trafficking of Meth In The U.S.

Federal drug data provided exclusively to NPR show seizures of meth by authorities have spiked, rising 142% between 2017 and 2018. There are many paths to meth use. Some drug users say they take it to pick themselves up after taking downers: heroin or fentanyl. Those on the streets say they take it to stay awake at night and avoid rape or robbery. Meth offers a relatively cheap high that can last days. That means fewer injections and less worry about finding money for the next hit. And some drug users pick up meth because they are terrified of fentanyl, …

International Overdose Awareness Day – Mercer County

Please join us for International Overdose Awareness Day observation on 8/27/2019 from 6pm to 8pm. The address for Woolsey Park is 221 Washington Crossing Pennington Road in Titusville.  It should be a powerful evening!

Signature Fundraiser: Farm2Fork 10/8/2019

We are excited to announce our annual signature fundraiser, Farm to Fork! The event drew over 300 people last year. The event will be held on Tuesday, October 8, 2019, from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m., at Unionville Vineyard. This is our only fundraising event and is attended by prominent New Jersey leaders and residents. Tickets are available on a first come, first served basis, so register early! We are also offering four different levels of sponsorship to advertise your company. Please see the attached flyer to see the benefits of your sponsorship. Signature Sponsorship Gold Sponsorship Silver Sponsorship Bronze Sponsorship …

Medicare Going In ‘Right Direction’ On Opioid Epidemic

Prescriptions for two drugs used to treat opioid addiction increased significantly from 2016 to 2018 for people on Medicare, according to a federal report out Wednesday. About 174,000 Medicare beneficiaries received such a medication — either buprenorphine or naltrexone — to help them with recovery in 2018, according to the Office of Inspector General in the Department of Health and Human Services. In addition, prescriptions for naloxone, the drug that can reverse an opioid overdose, spiked since 2016, rising 501% ― and that is likely an underestimate because it doesn’t include doses of the nasal spray Medicare members might have received through …

Mental Health Service Use Up After Campaign to Reduce Stigma

(HealthDay News) — A social marketing campaign in California designed to reduce stigma about mental health issues appears to have encouraged more people to seek care for their symptoms of mental distress, according to a study published online June 26 in the American Journal of Public Health. Read full article here!

8 WISCONSIN TEENS HOSPITALIZED WITH SEVERE LUNG DAMAGE DUE TO VAPING, DOCTORS SUSPECT

Eight teens were hospitalized in July with seriously damaged lungs in Wisconsin, the state Department of Health Services reported Thursday. “We suspect that these injuries were caused by vaping,” said Dr. Michael Gutzeit, chief medical officer at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin where the teens were admitted, at a press conference.  Their symptoms, including cough, shortness of breath, and fatigue, worsened over days or weeks before the patients arrived at Children’s Hospital. Some reported fever, anorexia, chest pain, nausea and diarrhea. Scans and X-rays showed inflammation or swelling throughout both lungs, said Gutzeit. READ FULL ARTICLE HERE.