Latest news with #opioidoverdose
CBS News
3 days ago
- Health
- CBS News
Michigan opioid overdose deaths expected to drop for third straight year
Opioid overdose deaths in Michigan are projected to drop in 2024, marking the third consecutive year of decline, according to the state's attorney general's office. Data from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services shows a 34% reduction in overdose deaths between 2023 and 2024, which is around 1,000 fewer deaths, state officials said. The death rate from 2022 to 2023 decreased by 5.7% from 2,998 to 2,826. The state credits the three-year decline to investments in prevention, treatment, recovery and harm-reduction efforts, funded in part by national opioid settlements. "Since 2019, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has helped secure more than $1.6 billion in settlements for Michigan governments from companies such as McKinsey & Co, Distributors Cardinal Health, McKesson, Inc., and AmerisourceBergen, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Teva Pharmaceutical, Allergan Pharmaceutical, CVS, Walmart and Walgreens," the attorney general's office said in a news release on Thursday. In August 2024, the state projected it would see more than $1 billion from opioid settlement payments over the next 20 years or so. The attorney's office says the majority of settlement funds are distributed equally between local governments and Michigan's Opioid Healing and Recovery Fund, which was created by lawmakers in 2022 to hold funds from opioid settlements. Michigan's Opioids Task Force has distributed more than 1.3 million naloxone kits as a result of the funding, with nearly 34,000 of those kits used to reverse overdoses, the state says. In April, local organizations in Livingston County were developing proposals on how to spend around $9 million in opioid settlement funds. Learn more about the organizations working on plans in the video player above. Note: The above video first aired on April 7, 2025.
BBC News
6 days ago
- Health
- BBC News
Ian Paterson: Coroner rejects surgeon's opioid claim
A coroner has rejected a suggestion by jailed breast surgeon Ian Paterson that one of his patients died of an opioid disgraced doctor told an inquest into the death of Elaine Morris on Tuesday that he was concerned her official cause of death - carcinomatosis and breast carcinoma - was told the inquest "I'm concerned she died of opiate overdose", but two oncologists acting as experts to the inquests disagreed with Paterson's hearing their evidence on Wednesday, judge Richard Foster said he could "safely reject opioid toxicity" as the cause of death of the 45-year-old from Shirley, West Midlands. Paterson, who treated thousands of women at hospitals in the West Midlands, had told the inquest on Tuesday that Ms Morris's reported drowsiness in her medical notes suggested she was being overdosed on inquest heard that Ms Morris was being administered two opioids for pain relief: morphine sulphate tablets (MST) and Oramorph. Her medical notes showed her being introduced to MST with 10mg sachets, being increased to 30mg and then reduced to 20mg due to "sleepiness".The oncologists, Prof David Dodwell and Prof Pat Price, agreed that these were "entry level doses", with some patients being given up to 100mg or 150mg of led them to believe she not had died of opioid toxicity, which the coroner then rejected as a potential cause of death. Risks of radiotherapy Elaine Morris's inquest is one of 63 into the deaths of Ian Paterson's former patients, to determine whether they died unnatural deaths. This includes determining whether Paterson left any breast tissue behind during surgery which may have disgraced surgeon was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2017, after being convicted of wounding patients with botched and unnecessary operations, but will be eligible for release in Morris died in 2002, aged 45, having been diagnosed with breast cancer aged inquest heard that she had suffered from severe epilepsy and cerebral palsy, as well as learning difficulties. Oncologist Dr Talaat Latief had deemed radiotherapy unsafe for her, due to her inability to lie still and be in a room on her own, and claimed she would be unable to withstand the side-effects of Price and Prof Dodwell both agreed that radiotherapy was a "non-starter" for Ms Morris, with Prof Price saying chemotherapy would have been "a high risk for a small benefit" for Prof Dodwell expressed concern that Paterson performed surgery on Ms Morris when radiotherapy was never going to be an option for her."He's an experienced breast surgeon, he knows full well radiotherapy would be required," he told the performed three surgeries on Ms Morris while she was a private patient with Spire Healthcare: a wide local excision on her right breast in September 1999, a diagnostic excision biopsy in January 2000, before performing a complete mastectomy in November 2000. The inquest had also raised the question as to whether Paterson performing a mastectomy prior to November 2000 could have improved Ms Morris's a written report, Prof Price said: "In my opinion earlier mastectomy would not have altered the natural history of the disease and did not contribute to Ms Morris's demise, which was due to her having poor biology breast cancer and not being able to receive chemotherapy or radiotherapy due to her comorbidities."However, at the inquest, both professors said they would defer to surgical experts on questions regarding the conclusion of her written report, Prof Price said: "In terms of causation, in this individual case the death appears to have been due to the extremely aggressive biology of Ms Morris' tumour and her inability to receive chemotherapy and radiotherapy due to her comorbidities and inability to achieve control of her local disease."She added: "In my opinion, I can find no evidence that the treatment Ms Morris received from Mr Paterson or any other clinician more than minimally, negligibly or trivially contributed to her death." Prof Price, who is instructed by Spire Healthcare in 11 cases involving Paterson at the company's private hospitals, had also been asked by the solicitors to the inquest to conduct a review of reports made by the medical experts on the inquests' multi-disciplinary team (MDT). It came after Paterson raised concerns at the end of last year that one of the experts had shown bias and that their evidence should be excluded, in all of the cases not involving Spire cited an email from one of the MDT experts, professor and consultant breast surgeon Mike Dixon, in which he wrote to another member: "We need to find some way though of exposing Paterson as a liar and an incompetent surgeon."While the email was "unfortunate, inappropriate and clumsy", Judge Foster said, it was not by itself indicative of actual or unconscious this, he concluded it was best that Professor Dixon withdraw from the MDT for the purposes of the ongoing inquiries. Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
CBS News
28-05-2025
- General
- CBS News
Denver gets more naloxone vending machines
People in Denver now have more access to naloxone, the medicine that reverses an opioid overdose. The Denver Police Department and nonprofit The Naloxone Project installed three vending machines that provide the lifesaving drug for free. CBS "It's really as simple as just opening the door, grabbing a kit, and giving someone a second chance at life," said Joshua Jacoves, Program Director at The Naloxone Project. This comes as Denver reports nearly 400 deaths from drug overdose in 2024, which is down about 21% compared to the year before. In 2023, the city saw more than 500 deaths – the majority from opioids. "Working in the ER, I know that every person who arrives after dying from an overdose, opioid overdose, is a death that did not need to happen," Dr. Don Stader, Executive Director of The Naloxone Project, said at a press conference Tuesday. "That's because we have an antidote that is easy to use and that can effectively reverse the effects of fentanyl or an opioid." Now, outside DPD Headquarters, Station 6 and Station 2, anyone can grab a box containing two doses of naloxone, also known as Narcan. "We understand that there are people who have substance misuse challenges, and we are really more concerned about saving people's lives than making arrests," said DPD Chief Ron Thomas when asked about hesitancy by users to go to a police station for naloxone. Since The Naloxone Project began its partnership with DPD about 18 months ago, Jacoves said the nonprofit has provided the department thousands of naloxone kits. First providing officers with the medicine so they could use it when responding to an overdose call, then as "leave behind kits" that officers could leave with people they believed could be at risk of an overdose, and now with the three vending machines. "Our first vending machine is at the Coalition for the Homeless, and we stock that at least twice a week," Jacoves said. "We have a dedicated coordinator and a network of volunteers that make sure that at all times there are kits in these machines." CBS While the nonprofit cannot track use of the kits and how many lives they've potentially saved, Jacoves said at minimum they've given more than 200 people a second chance at life. Still, the nonprofit is often questions if naloxone in free vending machines around the city is enabling drug use. "This is such a common misconception," explained Stader, "but we've done scientific studies, but also common sense, to inform us. Comparing naloxone to something that enables drug use is the same as labeling an AED as something that enables heart attacks, or an EpiPen as something that enables someone to get allergies. Naloxone enables one thing and one thing only, naloxone enables survival." Each dose costs about $25, but its ability to save a life is priceless to Stader. "People often ask that sustainability question -- how are you going to fund this? And I think from a public health perspective, there is nothing more effective than $25 to save a life," he said. "If someone has to be reversed from an overdose 100 times, that is still cheaper than one emergency department visit for an opioid overdose."
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
How Broward law enforcement wants to get Narcan to some most at risk of overdose
It would take a matter of seconds for people among those most at risk for drug overdose to get a life-saving product in their hands. Five vending machines stocked with naloxone, a medication that rapidly reverses an opioid overdose and is commonly known by the brand name Narcan, have been installed in public areas of the Broward Sheriff's Office's four jails and the Department of Detention and Community Programs office in Lauderdale Lakes. They are intended for inmates leaving custody and people under community supervision to access in a way that alleviates fear of judgment, oftentimes a barrier to seeking resources for people struggling with addiction. 'We understand the stigma associated with it,' David Scharf, BSO's Executive Director of Community Programs, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel. 'So we wanted people to be able to discreetly have access to it and takes maybe 12 seconds to press a button and pick up a couple of boxes and walk out the door.' The free naloxone vending machines have been inside the jails' public lobby areas and the Lauderdale Lakes office for about two months, and messaging on the sides of the machines show how to use the sprays. The project, which cost a total of about $80,000, was funded by a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services grant and took about a year to roll out, Scharf said. Similar vending machines have been installed in other areas of the country in recent years. Often they included Narcan, in addition to drug-testing kits and strips or reproductive health supplies. One machine installed in a neighborhood of a small city in Massachusetts supplies syringes, drug test strips and pipes for smoking, items that are among those considered harm-reduction supplies by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Lauderhill Fire Rescue late last year installed more than 30 naloxone dispensers at different locations in the city. While other machines elsewhere in the U.S. are located outside of county health buildings or in places where the general population can access them at any time, Scharf said the Sheriff's Office's five machines were installed in the jails and Lauderdale Lakes office with the intent that those released from the criminal justice system, specifically, will take them. People released from jails and prisons are among those most at risk of a drug overdose death, and data from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement shows that thousands of people are arrested in Broward County annually for drug-related offenses. Scharf said that an internal study, reviewing deaths in Broward County from 2023, showed that a 'significant number' of people who died from an overdose had spent time in the Broward jail system before their death. Deputies, employees of a substance abuse program in the jails and other personnel are informing people in custody about the machines so they know naloxone is available when they leave, he said. People recently released from custody are more at risk of an overdose, in part, because their tolerance to a drug may have decreased while not using for a period of time, Scharf said. Naloxone can be used to reverse the effects of an overdose from heroin, fentanyl, oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine, morphine and other opioids. While overdose deaths have declined in Florida in recent years, fentanyl is still the deadliest drug. More than 2,500 people statewide died from fentanyl in the first half of 2023, the latest data from the Florida Medical Examiners Commission shows, about 200 less deaths than the same time period in its 2022 report. More than 580 of those who died were in South Florida, with Palm Beach County reporting the third-highest number of fentanyl deaths statewide and Broward County the fourth highest. Broward County previously recorded the highest number of fentanyl-related deaths in the state. Sharf said law enforcement and fire rescue have in recent years often see multiple overdoses on multiple shifts in a day. In 2024, deputies deployed Narcan and saw 'hundreds of revivals,' he said. More than 2,600 doses of naloxone were administered in Broward County alone in 2023, but the vast majority of the time emergency medical services personnel are the ones administering it rather than someone prior to their arrival, the latest data available from the Florida Department of Health shows. Since the vending machines have been installed, Sharf said they are 'constantly replenishing' the naloxone, but it is difficult to discern how often and when someone other than fire rescue and law enforcement are taking the sprays. A study from Rutgers University-New Brunswick in late 2024 found that the total number of naloxone boxes distributed in six Michigan county jails using similar vending machines increased by over 60% within six months after they were installed. The following locations are among those in Broward County that offer naloxone, according to a database maintained by I Save Florida: Broward Addiction Recovery Center, 325 SW 28th St., Fort Lauderdale; Fort Lauderdale Health Center Pharmacy, 2421 SW Sixth Ave., Fort Lauderdale; Paul Hughes Health Center Pharmacy, 205 NW Sixth Ave., Pompano Beach; Edgar Mills Health Center Family Planning, 900 NW 31st Ave., Fort Lauderdale; Destination Hope, 8301 West McNab Road, Tamarac; Fellowship Foundation RCO, 5400 W. Atlantic Blvd., Margate; House of Hope, 908 SW First St., Fort Lauderdale; Project Opioid South Florida, 110 East Broward Blvd. Suite 1990, Fort Lauderdale; The Robin Foundation, 4098 SW 141st Ave., Davie; Victory Recovery Center, 7618 Margate Blvd., Fort Lauderdale.
