Tag: Drug overdose

2020’s Top Ten Posts #8 – Drug Deaths: Scotland’s Shame

~ Dr David McCartney

Graphic from European Drug Report 2020: Trends and Developments It's not often graphs elicit an emotional response, but this one did for me. It's from the EMCDDA's recent report on drugs in Europe. The map shows that the UK has high levels of drug-induced mortality compared to most of Europe. But look at the dotted … Continue reading 2020’s Top Ten Posts #8 – Drug Deaths: Scotland’s Shame

Drug Overdose Deaths Are Increasing Pretty Much Everywhere

~ Jason Schwartz

These images speak for themselves. Here are a couple of important sentences: Between 1999 and 2009, drug poisoning deaths grew by 394 percent in rural areas and 279 percent for large metropolitan areas, according to the CDC’s county-level look at the data. According to the CDC, roughly 60 percent of all OD deaths in 2010 … Continue reading Drug Overdose Deaths Are Increasing Pretty Much Everywhere

Solving the prescription opioid problem

~ Jason Schwartz ~ 2 Comments

I've posted several times recently on the problem of opioid over-prescription and overdose. Some might assume that I want some regulatory or statutory intervention to address the issue. Truth is, I've got more questions than answers and I would not support a response that forces us to choose between treating pain and preventing addiction and … Continue reading Solving the prescription opioid problem

Prescription drug overdose statistics visually

~ Jason Schwartz

Popular Science has a chart with US overdose deaths by drug: ...the rate of reported overdoses the U.S. more than doubled between 1999 and 2010. About half of those additional deaths are in the pharmaceuticals category, which the CDC has written about before. Nearly three-quarters of the pharmaceuticals deaths are opioid analgesics—prescription painkillers like OxyContin and … Continue reading Prescription drug overdose statistics visually

Dead addicts don’t recover, but…

~ Jason Schwartz

This has gotten a lot of press. There's naloxone distribution doubt this will reduce overdose deaths. However, some pretty important questions remain: What happens after the overdose? What services/interventions might have prevented the overdose in the first place? The article references placing defibrillators in public places. What happens after someone is saved by one of those defibrillators? … Continue reading Dead addicts don’t recover, but…

Number one cause of death among the homeless

~ Jason Schwartz

  Wow.   Overdoses of drugs, particularly prescription painkillers and heroin, have overtaken AIDS to become the leading cause of death of homeless adults, according to a study of homeless residents of Boston released on Monday. The finding came from a five-year study of homeless adults who received treatment from the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, though its … Continue reading Number one cause of death among the homeless

Establishing residence in hell

~ Jason Schwartz ~ 8 Comments

Saving lives is good an important, but something about this feels like building an addition on a house in hell. Naloxone is a medication administered usually by injection which rapidly reverses the effects of opiate-type drugs such as heroin, including the respiratory depression which can cause what are normally referred to as 'overdose' deaths. ... The … Continue reading Establishing residence in hell