October 22, 2019

MASAM's president, Dr. Peter Friedmann, offered testimony on his behalf and MASAM's before the Joint Committee on the Judiciary in support of House and Senate bills H.1343 & S.937 "An Act Relative to Treatment, Not Imprisonment". A copy of Dr. Friedmann's testimony is available here.

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MASAM has been active in supporting inclusion of language in various state bills that would mandate evidence-based treatment of OUD for adults incarcerated in the Commonwealth.  We include a letter from the Association for Behavioral Healthcare that nicely summarizes the issues.  In which bill we ultimately succeed in promoting humane and effective care is not predictable currently.

Letter to HCF Chairs re MAT in CARE Act 5.15.18 (click here) 

ASAM Weekly news

Below you'll find ASAM's Weekly news lead stories (2020)

2020

May 19, 2020

75,000 Americans at Risk of Dying from Overdose or Suicide Due to Coronavirus Despair, Group Warns

As many as 75,000 Americans could die because of drug or alcohol misuse and suicide as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, according to an analysis conducted by the national public health group Well Being Trust.

CNN>>>

May 12, 2020

The Coronavirus Pandemic is Pushing America into a Mental Health Crisis

Just as the initial outbreak of the novel coronavirus caught hospitals unprepared, the United States’ mental-health system — vastly underfunded, fragmented, and difficult to access before the pandemic — is even less prepared to handle this coming surge.

The Washington Post>>>

May 5, 2020

Economic Recovery From Pandemic Requires Investment in Recovery of a Different Kind

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, congress has passed legislation, and the administration and state governments have changed regulations at record speed to infuse our economy with money and to support many parts of our health care system. We need a similar sense of urgency when it comes to responding to the mental health and addiction ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic and to ensuring that we have a healthy workforce after this pandemic passes.

Morning Consult>>>

April 28, 2020

Treating Substance Use Disorders in the Era of COVID-19

The novel coronavirus, COVID-19, has been wreaking havoc on a global scale. Every aspect of society has been impacted by what is projected to be the largest mass casualty event in American history and there are several things we should be doing to help those with addiction. A recent opinion piece published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, outlined the urgent need for streamlined access to treatment.

Psychology Today>>>

Annals of Internal Medicine>>>

April 21, 2020

Virus Forebodes a Mental Health Crisis

Mounting economic pressures and health concerns coupled with social isolation during the COVID-19 public health emergency have led to a rise in individuals seeking mental health care and increased use of drugs and alcohol. Experts and advocacy groups are calling for more funding in preparation of the increased needs of mental health and addiction treatments.

Roll Call>>>

April 14, 2020

Virus Pandemic, Opioid Epidemic Collide Around Social Distancing

The physical distancing needed to mitigate the worst pandemic in more than a century could exacerbate the opioid epidemic and other public health emergencies that continue to loom in the face of Covid-19. Before this pandemic, the nation was already grappling with an opioid crisis, rising rates of methamphetamine use, and a surge in teenage vaping. Those haven’t gone away.

Bloomberg Law>>>



April 7, 2020

Coronavirus Could Worsen Ohio’s Opioid Crisis

Before COVID-19 started spreading across the U.S, Ohio was handling a separate health emergency: opioid addiction. Opioid-treatment programs are considered essential public facilities and will be allowed to stay open during the statewide stay-at-home order, but experts are worried the coronavirus outbreak could exacerbate the opioid epidemic, possibly leading to more overdoses.

National Journal>>>

March 31, 2020

We Can’t Leave Those with Mental Illness, Addiction Disorders Behind

By now, most people are aware of a novel coronavirus, COVID-19, that is wreaking public health havoc on a global scale. Many individuals with SUD have chronic illnesses which are risk factors for developing a COVID-19 infection as well as other challenges such as decreased access to health care, unstable housing and increased risk of arrest and incarceration. There are things we can do to help individuals in recovery during this crisis.

The Hill>>>

March 17, 2020

Alcoholics Anonymous and Other 12‐Step Programs For Alcohol Use Disorder

This review summarized research comparing the Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and similar Twelve‐Step Facilitation (TSF) programs (AA/TSF) to other treatments to see if they help people with drinking problems to stay sober or reduce alcohol consumption and drinking‐related consequences. Manualized AA/TSF interventions usually produced higher rates of continuous abstinence than the other established treatments investigated and non‐manualized AA/TSF performed as well as other established treatments. AA/TSF will probably produce substantial healthcare cost savings while simultaneously improving alcohol abstinence.

Cochrane Library>>>

March 10, 2020

The Death Toll of the Opioid Epidemic is Higher than Originally Thought, Researchers Say

A substantial share of fatal drug overdoses is missing information on specific drug involvement, leading to under‐reporting of opioid‐related death rates and a misrepresentation of the extent of the opioid epidemic. A new study in the journal Addiction compared different methodological approaches to predicting rates of opioid involvement in unclassified drug overdoses, which account for approximately one-fifth of all drug overdose deaths. Based on the predictive models used in this study, 71.8% of unclassified drug overdoses in 1999–2016 involved opioids, translating into 99,160 additional opioid‐related deaths, or approximately 28% more than reported.

The Washington Post>>>

March 3, 2020

Trends in Alcohol-Induced Deaths in the United States, 2000-2016

In this serial cross-sectional study using US mortality data from 2000 to 2016, large increases in alcohol-induced mortality among both men and women were observed. Despite initial decreases among some groups, significant increases in mortality were observed among all racial/ethnic groups in the years 2013 to 2016. The prevalence of alcohol use and recent acceleration in deaths presents a broad public health challenge worthy of urgent attention.

JAMA Network Open>>>

February 25, 2020

Meth Is Flooding the Streets – and It's Uglier Than Ever

The 23 drug task forces funded through the Ohio High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area agency saw a 1,600% jump in meth seized from 2015 to 2019. This is becoming a problem for systems that have only recently adjusted to the opioid epidemic as any methamphetamine users transitioned from opioids but there are currently fewer treatment options available.

USA Today>>>

February 18, 2020

Police Offering Drug Recovery Help: “We Can't Arrest Our Way Out of This Problem”

For many individuals with addiction, a call to the police — for a nonfatal overdose or a drug-related crime such as theft — may be the first time they get on the radar of any authority, which could be an opportunity to help. Some towns in Massachusetts have developed a partnership between police and public health — known as the Drug Addiction Recovery Team (DART) which uses encounters with law enforcement as the first step to offering services

NPR>>>

February 11, 2020

Mental Health and Addiction Providers for Medicaid Patients Go Unpaid in Maryland

Doctors and others who provide mental health and addiction services in Maryland under the Medicaid program have had millions of dollars in bills go unpaid this year because a new state payment system is malfunctioning, which some providers say could jeopardize care during the ongoing drug overdose crisis.

The Baltimore Sun >>>

February 4, 2020

Surgeon General Releases First Report Focused on Smoking Cessation in 30 Years

Three decades after the first Surgeon General's report on smoking cessation, the Surgeon General is releasing a new report that reviews and updates evidence on the importance of quitting smoking. The report outlines the latest research on treatments including counseling and medications approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and discusses emerging strategies to further promote smoking cessation.

US Department of Health & Human Services >>>

January 28, 2020

Treating Addiction as a Terminal Disease

Ms. A already had a long history of opioid use and failed attempts at treatment when she ended up in the hospital with sepsis and her first episode of endocarditis. Initially, she was not a candidate for surgery but things slowly improved - until she refused treatment. In this perspective, the author discusses the bioethical concerns of capacity, addiction, terminal illness, and the inevitable result of treating addiction as a disease in a system that is not equipped to do so successfully

New England Journal of Medicine >>>

January 21, 2020

Substance Use Disorders in Older Adults: A Growing Threat

In 2020, substance use disorders among adults over age 50 will increase to 5.7 million, up from 2.8 million in 2006. A major hurdle across the care spectrum is that substance use disorder in older adults remains a hidden problem because of lack of screening in primary care and few guidelines for assessing older adults at risk

Hopkins Medicine News >>>

January 14, 2020

Talk About the Severe Shortage of Addiction-treatment Doctors | Opinion

(Op-ed by ASAM’s Dr. Scott Teitelbaum)

Florida is a national leader when it comes to beautiful beaches, citrus production and ... drug overdose deaths. The Sunshine State, like the United States as a whole, during of a crisis. In 2018 alone, provisional data indicate there were 4,936 overdose deaths in Florida from drugs including heroin, fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine.

TCPalm>>>

January 8, 2020

Cannabis-related psychosis, Let's addiction, ER visits: For young users, marijuana can be a dangerous game

Marijuana, legal for medical uses in well over half the states in the country and as a recreational substance in even more states, is generating increasing concern as a drug capable of serious impairment and harm, particularly among its youngest users. The potency of today’s cannabis products can range up to 90% and the impact on developing brains is of great concern for medical experts.

The Philadelphia Inquirer >>>

2019

ASAM Weekly news 2019 (lead stories)

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