As 2020 came to an end, the American Medical Association (AMA) collaborated with Manatt Health to release its updated National Roadmap on State-Level Efforts to End the Nation’s Drug Overdose Epidemic. The roadmap offers best practices and needed next steps to improve access to patient care and prevent deaths from overdoses. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has further heightened the challenges with opioid addiction and overdose. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over 81,000 overdose deaths occurred in the US in the period between May 2019 and May 2020 –  the highest number ever recorded in a 12 month timeframe. Read More

Throughout this more than challenging and traumatic year, the work of CSIP and its partners to protect families and communities from the dangers of illegally obtained or inappropriately used opioids and other medications has never been more important. In particular, the social, emotional, and economic impacts of the pandemic have made those at risk of, or suffering from addiction diseases, all the more in danger. In our blog on Economic Distress and Opioids we shared how deaths from suicide, drugs, and alcohol or “deaths of despair” have been on the rise.

We also shared the importance of the American public reporting medications promising treatment of the “Novel Coronavirus Disease 2019” (COVID-19) by calling the National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) hotline (1-866-720-5721) or by e-mailing the NCDF at [email protected]. Our VerifyBeforeYouBuy.org also served as a resource for those seeking to verify medications online amidst the global coronavirus pandemic.

As the year comes to a close, we pause to reflect on other stories we have shared in our CSIP blog. Here are a few highlights/trends that stood out:

“Technology Companies Come Together to Support Addiction Recovery During COVID-19”
This past April, CSIP and a coalition of tech leaders Google, Facebook and Twitter announced their effort to join forces on a new online platform TechTogether.co. The site is a collection of resources to help those experiencing substance use disorder or battling addiction and the associated stigma. During this time of CDC-recommended “social distancing”  for COVID-19, the need for online resources is even more imperative. An increasing number of recovery support meetings and in-person recovery resources have been suspended due to shelter-in-place orders. Each technology partner provides a unique offering on TechTogether.co, creating a wealth of resources and tools for those seeking support online.
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According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 7% of women self-reported using prescription opioids during pregnancy and more alarmingly, one in five of those women said they got the opioids from a source other than their doctor or were taking them for a reason other than pain management. With rising rates of infants born with neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome (NOWS), the impacts on both women and their babies is concerning. Read More