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Results are in from the 2nd Prescription Drug Take Back Initiative held on April 30th and they are impressive, with substantially more medications returned to more return locations than last year's event. Over 188 tons of unused medications were returned to over 5,000 return locations across the US.
The event was sponsored by state and federal agencies and spearheaded by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Take Back events enable people to safely discard unused medications including prescription drugs that could otherwise fall into the wrong hands and be abused. Prescription drug abuse, particularly abuse of drugs with psychoactive properties such as pain medications (e.g., oxycontin) and stimulants, has become a major public health problem in the US. Although no statistics yet are available on the types and proportions of drugs returned during the Take Back Initiatives, a study of spontaneously returned medications to pharmacies and surgeries in England suggests that drugs acting on the brain (including pain medications) make up around 24% of the total of returned drugs.
Deaths from impaired driving in B.C. have been cut in half since new drinking-driving regulations took effect last fall, says provincial Attorney General Barry Penner.
The new regulations, which came into effect Sept. 20, 2010, lowered the legal blood alcohol limit to 0.05. Those caught over that level for the first time face an immediate three-day driving ban, $450 in penalties and fees, and three-days of vehicle impoundment.
Drivers found to have a blood alcohol level of 0.08 or higher (the legal limit in Washington), or who refuse to give a breath sample, get a three-month driving ban, have their vehicles impounded for 30 days and have to pay to have an ignition interlock system installed in their vehicles for one year after they resume driving.
Fines and fees for 0.08-related offences total nearly $4,000. More ...
The University of Washington Medical Center announced the creation of COPE -- a new online training tool that will help doctors and other prescribing providers comply with new U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requirements concerning opioids, commonly known as painkiller medications.
Prescription opioid abuse is the fastest growing form of drug abuse in the U.S. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), unintentional drug overdose is a leading cause of injury death in 17 states. In King County in 2009, prescription-type opiate-involved deaths accounted for 160 out of 253 drug overdoses.
The FDA’s Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) for chronic opioid prescribers, announced in late April, is aimed at educating providers on how to reduce risks associated with opioid treatment of chronic non-cancer pain. All opioid manufacturers must be fully compliant with REMS within 120 days.
Developed over a period of six years, COPE (Collaborative Opioid Prescribing Education), the UW’s interactive, educational training tool, is designed to help prescribers and patients improve communication when making decisions about chronic opioid therapy. Doctor-patient trust is necessary in decision-making; otherwise, patients may be less likely to follow medication instructions, or they may take extra doses or combine them inappropriately with other medications or alcohol. They may even seek out multiple prescribers or try to obtain medications from outside the medical system. These practices increase the risk of both accidental overdose and abuse.
“COPE is unique because it goes beyond typical factual content about opioid pharmacology and effectiveness of opioids for pain to provide training about goal setting and communication skills ,” said Mark Sullivan, MD, PhD, UW professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, the developer of COPE.
“COPE offers videotaped clinical scenarios that provide learning opportunities and can help build trust between doctors and patients so that they are able to have the kind of crucial conversations needed to address chronic pain.”
Washington is the first state to issue an opioid dosing guideline that may become a model for other states. The state passed a bill that will require mandatory education and use of a prescription monitoring program and a clinical tracking tool to be implemented in the state as of July 1.
Did you know that a smoker's chances of quitting tobacco successfully more than double with a smoking cessation program than if they try to quit on their own? Washington State employees, including University of Washington staff, faculty, and retirees have access to a FREE personalized quit plan and counseling through their medical plan. UW students also have options for free help in smoking cessation.
Remember, UW policy prohibits smoking in all UW facilities and vehicles and any outside area other than limited designated smoking sites.
Learn more about smoking cessation programs from the UWellness Center.
Last June, the 911 Good Samaritan Law was passed in Washington State, providing legal immunity to people who call for medical assistance for drug users who overdose.
This month, the Illinois Assembly is considering a similar bill for their state. Critics of the bill say it would benefit people who abuse and deal drugs, but supporters say it will save lives. The bill has passed in the state senate, with amendments limiting immunity to persons possessing less than a specified amount of drugs (for example, less than three grams of a substance containing heroin) who are not already under investigation for drug trafficking.
Similar bills have also been adopted in both Washington State and New Mexico, and are also being considered in Florida. Speaking about the law, Retired Chicago Police Captain John Roberts said, "The best thing we can do is save the person's life and sort everything out later, as it comes."
Read more about the Illinois bill: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-il-overdoseimmunity,0,2478017.story
Learn more about Washington State's bill: http://stopoverdose.org
A program for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that integrates smoking cessation into mental health care, found to be effective in a study published last year, is now being expanded to six VA medical centers around the country.
The study, conducted by VA Puget Sound Health Care System and University of Washington researchers Miles McFall, PhD and Andrew Saxon, MD, as well as other colleagues from across the country, found that though many mental health providers are concerned that quitting smoking may destabilize their patients, smoking cessation did NOT increase PTSD symptoms in the 943 smokers participating in the project.
Participants were randomly assigned to either receive smoking cessation services as part of their mental health treatment (integrated care) or were referred to a VA smoking cessation clinic. While quit rates for both groups were low, the veterans in the integrated care group were almost twice as likely to quit as those receiving stand-alone smoking cessation treatment (8.9% versus 4.5%), and symptoms of PTSD improved for both groups similarly.
Now the VA is funding a learning collaborative at six VA sites with PTSD programs in order to implement the findings of the study. Dr. Saxon and colleagues are training providers to deliver integrated smoking cessation care to their PTSD patients.
Find out more about the project at The Partnership at Drugfree.org and read the original research paper for free at the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Join the ATTC Network’s “Third Thursday iTrainings” each month to learn about various topics effecting the field of addictions treatment and recovery services. Each month, a different Regional Center will present information and resources on topics ranging from health care reform to implementing specific evidence-based practices.
This Month’s iTraining is on “Introduction to Screening, Brief Interventions, & Referral to Treatment (SBIRT),” hosted by the Northwest Frontier ATTC on May 19, 2011, 2:00 – 3:30 pm (EDT). This webinar will discuss the research and rationale for widespread implementation of SBIRT; review common screening instruments; describe and demonstrate a brief intervention model, and explore protocols for referral to treatment. Lessons learned from an SBIRT residency teaching program and implementation project at Oregon Health and Science University will be shared. The session will also include a discussion of the potential role of substance abuse providers in SBIRT protocols.
ATTC iTraining on SBIRT May 19, 2011 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. (EST)
