Health News
"In a state plagued by one of the worst prescription-drug abuse problems in the nation . . . treatment options are woefully limited, especially for hard-core addicts in need of the most intense care, Laura Ungar reports for The Courier-Journal in the opening story of its sixth package in the series called "Prescription for Tragedy."
"Only 40 of Kentucky?s 301 treatment and recovery sites offer 24-hour residential care, which experts say may be the only hope for the most severely addicted. And those 40 centers are concentrated in just 19 of the state?s 120 counties, mostly in urban areas, meaning addicts in rural counties often must travel hours for help, Ungar writes, noting that almost 80 percent of the sites "are for outpatients only, typically offering one hour of care a week."
That is the type of care received by two-thirds of Kentuckians admitted for treatment, but by 46 percent nationwide in 2009, the last year for which comparative figures are available. Fewer than 5 percent "entered residential care, compared with 17 percent nationally," Ungar writes. "Treatment shortages are most severe in Appalachian counties with the state?s highest overdose rates. Six Kentucky counties that rank among the 10 highest for overdose deaths have just one outpatient center or no center at all." (Read more)
Today's package includes a map of treatment centers in the state; in the print version, it is overlaid on a county map showing rates of death from prescription drugs, with the highest in Appalachian Kentucky. The dots in green, yellow and red on the Google-based map below indicate centers that provide care more intensive than outpatient.
- $3.5 Million In Grants Allocated Across State To Treat Heroin And Prescription Drug Addiction And Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome
As part of the heroin legislation passed this year, community mental health centers and residential treatment facilities across the state will receive more than $3.5 million in grants to help treat prescription drug and heroin abuse, and address neonatal...
- Half Again As Many Kentucky Newborns Were Hospitalized For Drug Dependency Last Year As The Year Before
Mother Samantha Adams and her newborn Leopoldo Bautista, 10 days old, spend quality time inside the Louisville Norton Healthcare child care center for children experiencing drug withdrawal. (Photo by Alton Strupp, The Courier-Journal)Increasing drug...
- Number Of Kentucky Babies Born Addicted Keeps Rising Quickly As Heroin Replaces Harder-to-get Prescription Painkillers
Despite the crackdown on prescription painkillers, more Kentucky babies are being born addicted, "fueled by a recent spike in heroin use," much of it by people who have found prescription painkillers harder to get, Laura Ungar reports for The Courier-Journal....
- Prescription Drugs Killing More Women Than Ever; Kentucky Ties For Fifth For Its High Percentage Of Deaths
The ongoing national epidemic of addiction to prescription painkillers is spreading more quickly among women, and it is killing more women than ever before. Kentucky ties Utah for the fifth highest percentage of female deaths due to prescription-drug...
- Skyrocketing Prescription Drug Abuse Is Subject For Examination By Kentucky's Two Biggest Newspapers
The uphill battle against prescription drug abuse across the state was extensively explored in Kentucky's two largest newspapers this weekend. In their series titled "Prescription for Tragedy," which continues today, The Courier-Journal's...
Health News
In starting its sixth package in series on prescription drug abuse, The Courier-Journal shows treatment programs fall short of need
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| Brittany Crouch suffers through withdrawal in Frenchburg before leaving for treatment in Lexington, as daughter Kaylee Adams, 3, cries. (C-J photo by Alton Strupp) |
"Only 40 of Kentucky?s 301 treatment and recovery sites offer 24-hour residential care, which experts say may be the only hope for the most severely addicted. And those 40 centers are concentrated in just 19 of the state?s 120 counties, mostly in urban areas, meaning addicts in rural counties often must travel hours for help, Ungar writes, noting that almost 80 percent of the sites "are for outpatients only, typically offering one hour of care a week."
That is the type of care received by two-thirds of Kentuckians admitted for treatment, but by 46 percent nationwide in 2009, the last year for which comparative figures are available. Fewer than 5 percent "entered residential care, compared with 17 percent nationally," Ungar writes. "Treatment shortages are most severe in Appalachian counties with the state?s highest overdose rates. Six Kentucky counties that rank among the 10 highest for overdose deaths have just one outpatient center or no center at all." (Read more)
Today's package includes a map of treatment centers in the state; in the print version, it is overlaid on a county map showing rates of death from prescription drugs, with the highest in Appalachian Kentucky. The dots in green, yellow and red on the Google-based map below indicate centers that provide care more intensive than outpatient.
- $3.5 Million In Grants Allocated Across State To Treat Heroin And Prescription Drug Addiction And Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome
As part of the heroin legislation passed this year, community mental health centers and residential treatment facilities across the state will receive more than $3.5 million in grants to help treat prescription drug and heroin abuse, and address neonatal...
- Half Again As Many Kentucky Newborns Were Hospitalized For Drug Dependency Last Year As The Year Before
Mother Samantha Adams and her newborn Leopoldo Bautista, 10 days old, spend quality time inside the Louisville Norton Healthcare child care center for children experiencing drug withdrawal. (Photo by Alton Strupp, The Courier-Journal)Increasing drug...
- Number Of Kentucky Babies Born Addicted Keeps Rising Quickly As Heroin Replaces Harder-to-get Prescription Painkillers
Despite the crackdown on prescription painkillers, more Kentucky babies are being born addicted, "fueled by a recent spike in heroin use," much of it by people who have found prescription painkillers harder to get, Laura Ungar reports for The Courier-Journal....
- Prescription Drugs Killing More Women Than Ever; Kentucky Ties For Fifth For Its High Percentage Of Deaths
The ongoing national epidemic of addiction to prescription painkillers is spreading more quickly among women, and it is killing more women than ever before. Kentucky ties Utah for the fifth highest percentage of female deaths due to prescription-drug...
- Skyrocketing Prescription Drug Abuse Is Subject For Examination By Kentucky's Two Biggest Newspapers
The uphill battle against prescription drug abuse across the state was extensively explored in Kentucky's two largest newspapers this weekend. In their series titled "Prescription for Tragedy," which continues today, The Courier-Journal's...