HealthDay (1/31, Preidt) reported, “Allowing pharmacists to provide the opioid overdose” medicine “naloxone without a prescription led to a huge increase in dispensing of the lifesaving” medication “in Ohio,” researchers concluded. After state legislators “gave that permission in 2015,” researchers found “a 2,328% increase in naloxone dispensing” since then. In addition, the study revealed that “counties with low-employment rates had 18% more naloxone dispensed per month than high-employment counties.” The findings were published online Jan. 31 in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “When Pharmacists Allowed to Give Anti-Opioid Med Without Rx, Access Soars, ” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, January 31, 2020

In an investigative piece, the New York Times (1/31, A1, Gabler) reported on medication mix-ups and other errors at chain pharmacies across the US. The article highlights several such incidents that led to hospitalization and even death, but says “the people least surprised by such mistakes are pharmacists working in some of the nation’s biggest retail chains.” The article says “the American Psychiatric Association is particularly concerned about CVS, America’s eighth-largest company, which it says routinely ignores doctors’ explicit instructions to dispense limited amounts of medication to mental health patients.” Dr. Bruce Schwartz, the president of APA, took aim at CVS’ policy of providing patients with a three-month supply of their prescription drugs, “Clearly it is financially in their best interest to dispense as many pills as they can get paid for.”

Related Links:

— “How Chaos at Chain Pharmacies Is Putting Patients at Risk, ” Ellen Gabler, The New York Times, January 31, 2020

Reuters (1/30, Rapaport) reports, “Fatal overdoses involving cocaine and other stimulants like methamphetamine have been rising in the U.S. in recent years, and many deaths involve the use of these drugs along with at least one opioid,” researchers concluded after examining “data on nonfatal overdoses from 2006 to 2016 and fatal overdoses from 2006 to 2017 involving cocaine, psychostimulants and opioids.” The study revealed that “as of 2016, 27% of cocaine overdoses and 14% of stimulant overdoses treated in U.S. emergency” departments “also involved an opioid,” whereas “in 2017, almost 75% of overdose deaths involving cocaine and half involving stimulants also involved at least one opioid.” The findings were published online Jan. 7 in the journal Addiction.

Related Links:

— “Stimulant overdoses rising in the U.S, “Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, January 30, 2020

MedPage Today (1/30, D’Ambrosio) reports, “Emergency department (ED) visits for suicidal ideation and/or self-directed harm increased by 25.5% in 2018 over the prior year,” CDC data indicate, with “the most significant increases…among young men and women.” The data revealed that “ED visits for suicidal ideation, self-harm, or both increased by 33.7% among girls ages 10-19, and by 62.3% among boys in this age group.” In addition, investigators “noted a seasonal pattern of ED visits for both boys and girls in this age group, with the lowest proportion of visits occurring during summer months.” The findingswere published online in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Related Links:

— “ED Visits for Suicidal Ideation and Self-Harm on the Rise, “Amanda D’Ambrosio, MedPage Today, January 30, 2020

USA Today (1/30, Dastagir) reports on the increasing number of Americans committing suicide. Figures (pdf) released Jan. 30 from the CDC “show 48,344 people died by suicide in 2018, up from 47,173 the year before.” What’s more, “since 1999, the suicide rate has climbed 35%.” Currently, “suicide is the nation’s 10th-leading cause of death, with 14.2 deaths per 100,000 people.” What’s more, even though “thousands of people die by suicide each year, millions think about it.” For example, “in 2017, 10.6 million American adults seriously thought about suicide, 3.2 million made a plan, and 1.4 million attempted it, according to the CDC.”

Related Links:

— “More and more Americans are dying by suicide. What are we missing?, “Alia E. Dastagir, USA Today, January 30, 2020