Billion-Dollar Initiative Announced to Battle Opioids
While the Trump Administration continues to do little more than talk about opioids, federal science experts and policymakers gathered to announce an aggressive plan to end the crisis once and for all. At a major conference in Atlanta this Wednesday, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) committed to spending $1.1 billion this fiscal year to research treatments for pain and opioid addiction. Francis Collins, director of the NIH, said the figure includes an additional $600 million from Congress. “What we want to do is push this forward at a much more accelerated pace,” Collins said. The initiative, called “Helping to End Addiction Long-Term,” covers a wide variety of projects, including “creating a more potent overdose-reversing medicine, studying what helps people stay sober, [and]even developing a vaccine against opioid addiction.” Collins also claimed the NIH would forge partnerships with private companies to develop pain medications without the potential for addiction.
Most Americans See Drug Addiction as a Disease, New Survey Says
A brand-new survey revealed that the majority of Americans consider prescription drug addiction to be a disease, ABC News reported. More than one in 10 Americans said they had a relative or close friend die from an opioid-related overdose, survey results said. The survey was conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, which regularly “carries out rigorous social science research projects with a special focus on critical areas where there is a potential for social impact.” Fifty-three percent of the American public sees prescription drug addiction as a disease, the report said, though the remainder of those surveyed indicated that addiction “indicates a lack of willpower or discipline” or that it was “caused by a character defect or bad parenting.”
Fentanyl Causes Drug Overdose Deaths to Soar in Ohio
According to The Associated Press, opioid-ravaged Ohio is getting hit with drug overdose deaths harder than before. Right now, there isn’t enough morgue space in Ohio for the number of incoming bodies (most of them due to opioid overdoses), which complicates matters for the Ohio authorities now struggling with a deadly mixture of methamphetamine, cocaine and fentanyl. Sadly, the US is no stranger to fentanyl: the synthetic opioid, which is 50 times more powerful than heroin, has routinely made headlines in recent years—especially in the high-profile deaths of rockers Tom Petty and Prince. “US authorities say illicit fentanyl made in China has flooded in while there is increased availability of meth and a rebound in cocaine,” the AP story reported. “All have been contributing to the national rises in overdose deaths and are increasingly being seen in lethal mixes.” What’s worse, the piece added, is that many drug users are likely unaware that they’re taking fentanyl in the first place. In 2016 alone, Ohio had the second-highest number of drug overdose-related deaths in the US, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Out of 63,600 overdose deaths nationwide, Ohio ranked just below West Virginia with 4,329 deaths. Numbers for 2017 are forthcoming, but the forecast appears predictably grim, thanks to fentanyl: “Preliminary CDC estimates showed a 36% rise in Ohio deaths in the 12-month period ending August 2017,” the AP reported.
Dwayne Johnson Opens up About Depression
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson opened up Monday about his history with depression. People reported that the 45-year-old action hero shared some hard-hitting thoughts on Instagram about mental health, while doing press for his upcoming movie Rampage. When Johnson was 15, he watched his mother attempt suicide by walking out onto a busy interstate, though he managed to help rescue her. “Struggle and pain is real. I was devastated and depressed,” he said. “I reached a point where I didn’t want to do a thing or go anywhere. I was crying constantly.” He added on Twitter that it “took [him]a long time to realize it but the key is to not be afraid to open up. Especially us dudes have a tendency to keep it in. You’re not alone.”
American Employers Spent Billions to Treat Opioid Addiction in 2016
Large employers spent $2.6 billion in 2016 to treat opioid addiction, according to The Associated Press. The number is a staggering “eightfold increase since 2014,” the story said, revealing just how widespread the opioid crisis has become in just two years’ time. The report, issued by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation, indicated that “employers have been limiting insurance coverage of opioids because of concerns about addiction.” Furthermore, spending on opioid prescriptions dropped a sharp 27% from its peak in 2009. The story added that Kaiser Family Foundation researchers analyzed self-insured firms with more than 1,000 employees, “meaning they assume the financial risk” of problems like opioid addiction.
Colin Farrell Proactively Checks Himself into Rehab
With 12 years of sobriety under his belt, actor Colin Farrell has apparently checked himself back into rehab. The 41-year-old Fantastic Beasts and Minority Report star isn’t drinking, People reports, but has entered rehab as a “preventative measure.” The Irish-born Farrell has long been open about his battle with drugs and alcohol, acknowledging in several interviews that he’s been drunk or high since he was 14. During a 2008 interview with the UK’s Jonathan Ross, Farrell said about finding long-term sobriety: “For me, [there was]no choice to be honest with you. I was pretty sick.” He also admitted that initially getting sober was “really hard” and “a nightmare.” (He’d been flown straight from the set of 2005’s Miami Vice to rehab.) And yet, Farrell appears to still be holding onto to well over a decade of solid sobriety. “He isn’t drinking again,” a source close to the actor told People. “He worked back-to-back projects and just needed a break. He’s been sober 12 years and wanted to do this to make sure he stays that way. He’s taking some me-time and doing a tune-up and a reset,” the source said. “Colin has worked so hard to stay sober that the only way he thought he could get it under control was to go back and get some professional help. He has a lot of responsibilities and he thought it best to go away for a while and get help.”
1000% Increase in Pennsylvania Newborn Withdrawal
According to a new research report, there was an increase in Pennsylvania newborn withdrawal between the fiscal years of 2000-2001 and 2016-2017. The spike? Well over 1000%. The staggering report does far more than underscore an overwhelming drug problem eating away at the US. Instead, it reveals that newborn withdrawal (otherwise known as Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS)), is skyrocketing in Pennsylvania, thanks to the number of newborns exposed to addictive substances while in utero. In the 2016-2017 fiscal year, the report revealed that 15 out of every 1,000 newborns in Pennsylvania required substance abuse recovery treatment. That’s a 1,096% increase over the 2000-2001 fiscal year, when 1.2 out of every 1,000 newborns had NAS. The report also added that the “highest rates of NAS occurred with white, non-Hispanic infants.”
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