August 13, 2020

The Covid-19 Pandemic is Affecting the Opioid Epidemic

Before the emergence of Covid-19, overdose deaths took an average of 130 American lives per day. Some estimate that the number has doubled over the past few months, as resources for people with substance use disorders have been diverted to deal with the immediate crisis of the pandemic. The lack of access to treatment has left many people vulnerable while isolation and socioeconomic stressors are at an all-time high. 

More Reasons To Relapse

Job loss, depression, and loneliness increase the likelihood that a person with a substance use disorder may be driven to relapse. People who are cut off from their support network by quarantine and stay-at-home orders are not getting the medical care they need. According to White House analysis, overdose deaths were up by 11.4% from January to April of this year when compared with the same period in 2019 when death rates were already at historically high levels. The outlook has only worsened since then, as the coronavirus continues to spread.

An Overwhelmed Medical Community

Some fear that hospitals are too busy dealing with Covid-19 patients to enroll overdose survivors into addiction treatment programs. Without a comprehensive follow-up plan, opioid abuse patients face a greater risk of relapse and overdose. This is especially true when you factor in the loss of continuity of treatment, and other potential struggles:

  • unpaid medical bills,
  • loss of insurance,
  • loss of employment,
  • a lack of support. 

Where do we go from here?

In a recent podcast, AMA President Patrice Harris acknowledged the pandemic has exacerbated the opioid epidemic and emphasized the need to eliminate treatment barriers. Recent regulatory changes have made it easier for healthcare providers to expand virtual care options like telehealth services. These new measures also offer more accessibility to the medications that patients need. We must ensure that all populations have equitable access to these treatment pathways, especially the marginalized populations who have been disproportionately affected by Covid-19. 

The medical community can do its part by educating more doctors around pain management, addiction treatment, and legitimizing addiction medicine. Providing addiction resources is more important than ever, especially during Covid-19. With proper planning and execution, this new infrastructure will continue to expand access to treatment, even when the pandemic is over. Making these proactive policy changes permanent will significantly aid those suffering from opioid addiction and substance use disorder.

Alleva offers telehealth solutions and supports behavioral health providers. Discover how Alleva can help you by scheduling a free demo today.  

May 31, 2017

Technology that puts Recovery in the Palm of Your Hand

Software Recovery Apps

Addicts were once thought of as being, in the words of Red Hot Chili Peppers' lead vocalist Anthony Kiedis, "Under the Bridge." However, the recent opioid epidemic and the search for recovery has changed all of that.

Jamison Monroe Jr., founder of the Newport Academy rehab center, said that the recent epidemic has changed this stereotype.  She asserted that addiction no longer "discriminate[s] based on demographics, […]income brackets or zip code[s]."

To help combat this new epidemic, some people have turned to technology-- specifically the kind that you hold in your hand. Recovering addict Sam Frons, creator of Addicaid, believes the support system of her app may be a game changer. Addicaid puts individuals into groups based on their shared tendencies, rather than their addictions. It also creates a personalized recovery program formulated by the information users give during their initial intake, accounting for their personality and triggers.

The app combines machine learning, adaptive artificial intelligence, and clinical research to predict situations where users might be at risk of relapse, and then it intervenes. The support system enables users with shared tendencies to reach out during those "trigger moments."

If you'd like to learn more about our addiction recovery software, you can click here to get a free demo or fill out the form below. 

May 15, 2017

An Overview Of Current Naloxone Policies

Naloxone is the product of incredible medical breakthroughs. It functions to reverse the effects of opioid overdose, a remarkable feat and a much needed one in light of the spreading opioid epidemic. When an individual has overdosed on heroin, fentanyl or painkillers, Naloxone can be administered to them intramuscularly or nasally. It works to block the opioid receptors in the central nervous system.

The mechanism of action is not completely understood at the chemical level, but we do know that it saves lives. In fact, over 30,000 overdoses were reversed through use of Naloxone between 2010 and 2014.

In many states, Naloxone is available for purchase directly from the pharmacist, without a prescription needed. Additionally, many states require that paramedics and law enforcement personnel carry the drug with them.  While these policies are good and have made a dent in the opioid crisis, additional policy changes could improve the status further.

Some of the obstacles include the lack of “good Samaritan” laws and the high price of the drug. High prices are limiting for obvious reasons, especially in the case of those supporting an active addiction.

The disease of addiction is going to drive an individual to get the next fix, not to go stock up on Naloxone incase things go south. Good Samaritan laws provide legal immunity to individuals who respond in emergency situations. In the case of overdoses, this would mean that the individual who called the ambulance could not be charged with possession themselves, even if they were also using.

The person who called would be able to ensure the administration of Naloxone and help save a life without fear of being arrested in the very same moment. These laws prioritize saving lives over punishing crimes. States like Texas, Montana, South Carolina, and Arizona currently have no Good Samaritan policies in place for the event of drug related emergencies.

Naloxone is responsible for saving countless lives. In recent years, policies have improved dramatically, making Naloxone more accessible. But there are still lives to be saved as we learn how to optimize the use of this life-saving drug.

May 10, 2017

A War Vs. A Cure: How the War on Drugs Got it Wrong

In 1971, President Nixon declared a war on drugs. Estimates on the cost of this war range from $1-2.5 trillion in the last 46 years. Despite this, drug use disorders have lured people into jail cells and caskets at an ever increasing rate. After nearly five decades, it is difficult to ignore the fact that the “war on drugs” has been a complete failure. 

Additionally, the war on drugs has made it impossible for the United States to fund needle-exchange programs on a federal level. As early as 1998, the Department of Health and Human Services conclusively stated that needle-sharing programs are associated with decreased incidence of HIV and hepatitis C that is attributable to IV drug use.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization and the National Institutes of Health likewise endorsed this intervention in the 1990s, followed by the American Medical Association in 2000. We lag miserably behind countries like Canada, Brazil, and the UK in this regard, meanwhile, our rates of HIV and Hepatitis C continue to climb.

The drug enforcement approach to substance abuse has exacerbated the issue in several ways. Addiction in jail is like bacteria in Petri dishes- the conditions are ideal for the proliferation of the disease.

The Journal of Addiction Science and Clinical Practice Criminalized reported in 2012 that "in prisoners released in Washington State, overdose mortality rates were 12-fold higher than what would be expected in similar demographic groups in the general population.” Similar statistics can be sited across the board. Addicts finish their sentences with more connections in the drug world, dismal opportunities for employment, and a label and often don’t know where else to turn.

 Research shows that shame is one of the primary psychosocial contributors to addiction. It’s sobering to think of the shame distributed by the war on drugs. Policies intended to eradicate drug use in the United States have instead created a war on addicts. The stigma of addiction is beginning to dissolve, but it’s going to take more than billboards to reverse five decades of government endorsed alienation. 

With all of these issues glaringly obvious, the American Public Health Association (APHA) has called for a new approach to the substance use epidemic: a health approach. Some key elements of this approach include:

  1. Critical reviews of drug policies by experts in social work, public health, medicine, drug treatment, law enforcement and even former and current drug users. APHA urges that policies by altered in such a way that drug treatment and harm reduction programs can be expanded. 
  2. Increased federal funding for effective treatment modalities that are currently in place. 
  3. Deprioritizing funding of drug enforcement entities that are non-health related, such that individuals are cared for by health interventions rather than criminal justice. 
  4. Encouraging resources of the Affordable Care act to be redirected to include addiction rehabilitation. 
  5. Eliminating federal and state criminal penalties for personal drug use and possession, barring circumstances that endanger the lives of others. 

These changes in policy would cause a dramatic shift in our response to drug use and abuse on a governmental, cultural, and even on an interpersonal level. 

Often, policies and statistics can make us forget the narratives that make up the story of the addiction epidemic. Beneath the surface of the court rulings and census reports are lives ruined and lives lost. There are tears, failure, relapse, funerals, and broken families. By encouraging changes in policy, we can turn a war on addicts into a war on addiction.

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Copyright 2019 - Alleva Corp. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright 2019 - Alleva Corp. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright 2019 - Alleva Corp. All Rights Reserved.