Health News
- Drug Overdose Deaths Rose 7.6 Percent In Kentucky Last Year
Kentucky had a 7.6 percent increase in overdose deaths in 2014, while the number of deaths attributed to heroin stayed the same, according to the state's 2014 Overdose Fatality Report. The report, issued by the Office of Drug Control Policy, said...
- Cdc Report Finds Heroin Use Increased By 63 Percent Since 2002, With Greatest Increases Seen Among Women And Whites
Heroin use increased 63 percent and heroin-related overdose deaths nearly quadrupled since 2002, according to a report from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As heroin use has increased, so have heroin-related overdose deaths....
- Congress Is Taking On Opoid Abuse And The Nationwide Increase In Drug Overdoses
Federal officials have become increasingly concerned about the rapid increase in drug overdoses across the country. The House Energy and Commerce Committee, in a series of hearings on the topic, is looking at how states are dealing with this problem....
- Uk Professor Develops Nasal Spray To Deliver Standard Antidote To Painkiller Overdose; Fast-tracked, In Final Clinical Trials
A new lifesaving product to treat painkiller overdoses is in its final round of clinical trials at the University of Kentucky and is being fast-tracked by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The product is a nasal-spray application of the...
- Northern Kentucky Group Forms In Response To What Some Consider 'epidemic' Of Heroin Use In Their Area
Ashel Kruetzkamp with a vial of Naloxone HCl, used to treat those who overdose on heroin. (Photo by Patrick Reddy)Heroin use is reaching such high levels in Northern Kentucky that experts are calling it "a plague." The problem is so dire that local agencies...
Health News
Free overdose-reversal kits are given to Kentucky hospitals with the highest recent rates of heroin-overdose deaths
Kentucky hospitals with the highest rates of heroin overdose deaths are receiving funding for heroin/opiate overdose reversal kits, which will be provided free of charge to every treated and discharged overdose victim at the pilot project hospitals, according to a state press release.
The funding for these kits is through the Substance Abuse Treatment Advisory Committee, which oversees the distribution of a $32 million pharmaceutical settlement fund that is used to expand treatment in Kentucky. The committee has allocated $105,000 to purchase these kits for the pilot hospitals: the University of Louisville Hospital, the University of Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington, and the St. Elizabeth Healthcare in Northern Kentucky.
In 2013, 230 Kentuckians died from heroin overdoses. Final numbers for heroin overdoses in 2014 are not yet available, but the Office of Drug Control Policy estimates heroin was involved in 30 percent of all drug-overdose deaths, according to the release.
Attorney General Jack Conway chairs the committee and First Lady Jane Beshear serves on it. They announced recently that about 500 of these kits will be made available to the St. Elizabeth system, which treated 545 people in 2013 and 745 people in 2014 for heroin overdoses.
?There is evidence the collaborative efforts in our community are having an effect,? St. Elizabeth interim president and CEO Garren Colvin said in the release. ?A report earlier this month indicated that heroin-related overdose deaths are down in Northern Kentucky. ... To continue to battle heroin issues in our community and throughout Kentucky, it is going to take education and collaboration at the local and state levels.?
Naloxone, which is also known as Narcan, is the drug in the free Naloxone Rescue kits and "has no potential for abuse and immediately reverses the effects of heroin overdose by physiologically blocking the effects of opiates," says the release.
One of the challenges for access to these kits is that they are not covered by Medicaid or many private insurance companies and are too expensive for most people to purchase. Health experts anticipate that when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves the nasal mist form of the drug, most insurance companies and Medicaid will cover it.
?As Kentuckians expand access to mental health treatment, including addiction recovery, it?s more important than ever to have community access to tools like Narcan,? Jane Beshear said in the release. ?Often, an overdose experience is what finally drives people suffering from addiction to seek help.?
The funding for these kits is through the Substance Abuse Treatment Advisory Committee, which oversees the distribution of a $32 million pharmaceutical settlement fund that is used to expand treatment in Kentucky. The committee has allocated $105,000 to purchase these kits for the pilot hospitals: the University of Louisville Hospital, the University of Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington, and the St. Elizabeth Healthcare in Northern Kentucky.
Attorney General Jack Conway chairs the committee and First Lady Jane Beshear serves on it. They announced recently that about 500 of these kits will be made available to the St. Elizabeth system, which treated 545 people in 2013 and 745 people in 2014 for heroin overdoses.
?There is evidence the collaborative efforts in our community are having an effect,? St. Elizabeth interim president and CEO Garren Colvin said in the release. ?A report earlier this month indicated that heroin-related overdose deaths are down in Northern Kentucky. ... To continue to battle heroin issues in our community and throughout Kentucky, it is going to take education and collaboration at the local and state levels.?
Naloxone, which is also known as Narcan, is the drug in the free Naloxone Rescue kits and "has no potential for abuse and immediately reverses the effects of heroin overdose by physiologically blocking the effects of opiates," says the release.
One of the challenges for access to these kits is that they are not covered by Medicaid or many private insurance companies and are too expensive for most people to purchase. Health experts anticipate that when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves the nasal mist form of the drug, most insurance companies and Medicaid will cover it.
?As Kentuckians expand access to mental health treatment, including addiction recovery, it?s more important than ever to have community access to tools like Narcan,? Jane Beshear said in the release. ?Often, an overdose experience is what finally drives people suffering from addiction to seek help.?
- Drug Overdose Deaths Rose 7.6 Percent In Kentucky Last Year
Kentucky had a 7.6 percent increase in overdose deaths in 2014, while the number of deaths attributed to heroin stayed the same, according to the state's 2014 Overdose Fatality Report. The report, issued by the Office of Drug Control Policy, said...
- Cdc Report Finds Heroin Use Increased By 63 Percent Since 2002, With Greatest Increases Seen Among Women And Whites
Heroin use increased 63 percent and heroin-related overdose deaths nearly quadrupled since 2002, according to a report from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As heroin use has increased, so have heroin-related overdose deaths....
- Congress Is Taking On Opoid Abuse And The Nationwide Increase In Drug Overdoses
Federal officials have become increasingly concerned about the rapid increase in drug overdoses across the country. The House Energy and Commerce Committee, in a series of hearings on the topic, is looking at how states are dealing with this problem....
- Uk Professor Develops Nasal Spray To Deliver Standard Antidote To Painkiller Overdose; Fast-tracked, In Final Clinical Trials
A new lifesaving product to treat painkiller overdoses is in its final round of clinical trials at the University of Kentucky and is being fast-tracked by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The product is a nasal-spray application of the...
- Northern Kentucky Group Forms In Response To What Some Consider 'epidemic' Of Heroin Use In Their Area
Ashel Kruetzkamp with a vial of Naloxone HCl, used to treat those who overdose on heroin. (Photo by Patrick Reddy)Heroin use is reaching such high levels in Northern Kentucky that experts are calling it "a plague." The problem is so dire that local agencies...