The Wall Street Journal (9/20, Ulick, McKay, Subscription Publication) reports that according to a study published Thursday in the journal Science, opioids aren’t the only driver of rising drug overdose deaths because when the use of one drug declines, the use of another rises. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health found a 40-year exponential-growth curve over drug-related deaths involving methamphetamines, cocaine, and other drugs in shifting patterns among different age groups around the US.

NBC News (9/20) mentions that the Department of Health and Human Services “released $1 billion this week to various agencies to use in fighting the epidemic, with funds earmarked for medications to help people stop using opioids and behavioral programs to help prevent relapses.” Dr. Donald Burke, dean of Pitt’s school of public health, predicts that even as the US curb opioid abuse, societal and cultural factors will keep substance abuse going. Burke said, “This is a reason that U.S. society needs to pay attention to the loss of the sense of purpose, the widening economic disparities, the loss of community.”

Related Links:

— “Cocaine, Meth, Opioids All Fuel Rise in Drug-Overdose Deaths, “Josh Ulick and Betsy McKay, The Wall Street Journal, September 20, 2018.

Kaiser Health News (9/20, Bailey) reports that for the families of many older dementia patients, Hurricane Florence was a catalyst for assessing care options for their loved ones. For the nearly 5 million American seniors with dementia, “natural disasters can be particularly terrifying.” The article spotlights the experiences of some patients who weathered Florence after being evacuated, quoting the family member of one patient as saying, “My dad was just going nuts. … It was all confusion.”

Related Links:

— “The Storm Within: Protecting Loved Ones With Dementia During Florence, “Melissa Bailey, Kaiser Health News, September 20, 2018.

MedPage Today (9/20, Walsh) reports, “Arthritis is a common comorbidity among older adults with depressive symptoms, diagnosed in up to two-thirds of patients with depression,” researchers concluded after analyzing data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The data analysis “revealed that the prevalence rates of arthritis among individuals older than 50 were 55% for those with mild depressive symptoms, 62.9% among those with moderate depression, and 67.8% of those with severe depression.” The findings of the 4,792-subject study were published online Sept. 19 in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.

According to Psychiatric News (9/20), investigators “noted that arthritis and disability are known risk factors for depression in older adults,” with “the association between depression and arthritis” possibly being “linked to reduced physical activity, as well as to common biological mechanisms that result in inflammation.” Healio (9/20, Demko) also covers the study.

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

HealthDay (9/19, Mozes) says that two new government reports warn that opioid addiction is growing among America’s seniors. The reports by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality “reveal that millions of older Americans are now filling prescriptions for many different opioid medications at the same time, while hundreds of thousands are winding up in the hospital with opioid-related complications.” Dr. Arlene Bierman, director of AHRQ’s Center for Evidence and Practice, said the reports “underscore the growing and under-recognized concerns with opioid use disorder in older populations,” including those who suffer from chronic pain. Dr. Anita Everett, chief medical officer for the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, said that when common chronic pain is paired with “the generation of physicians that were taught that opioid medication, when used for pain, was not likely to become addictive,” the result is a senior citizen opioid problem.

Related Links:

— “Reports Warn of Growing Opioid Crisis Among Seniors, “Alan Mozes, HealthDay, September 19, 2018.

MedPage Today (9/19, Firth) reports, “One in three children in foster care who were treated with psychotropic medications did not receive proper state-required oversight for treatment planning or medication monitoring…a federal Office of the Inspector General (OIG) report” concluded. In particular, “34% of children in a five-state study did not receive either treatment planning or medication monitoring, and 8% received neither, the report noted.” What’s more, “the OIG called on the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), a division of the Department of Health and Human Services, to ‘develop a comprehensive strategy to improve States’ compliance with requirements related to treatment planning and medication monitoring for psychotropic medications.’”

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

The Hill (9/19, Hellmann) reports that on Wednesday, HHS announced “it has awarded more than $1 billion in grants to states, communities and organizations fighting the opioid crisis.” Most of that money – “$930 million – is intended to support states’ efforts to provide treatment and prevention services to combat opioid abuse.” The Hill says an additional “$352 million was awarded to 1,232 community health centers to increase access to services for substance use disorder and mental health needs.”

Related Links:

— “Trump admin awards over $1 billion in grants to fight opioid epidemic, “Jessie Hellmann, The Hill, September 19, 2018.

Psychiatric News (9/17) reports that last week, American Psychiatric Association President Altha Stewart, MD, spoke “at a session on mental health at the 48th legislative conference of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF), an organization aimed at advancing the global black community by developing leaders, informing policy, and educating the public.” Currently, “there are only about 2,000 black psychiatrists nationwide, Stewart pointed out.” She stated, “There are not enough black psychiatrists in America to serve all the black people who need mental health care.” Dr. Stewart also “called for all psychiatrists to become more culturally competent, and for all to encourage young blacks with an interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) to enter the mental health field.” She emphasized, “Medicine needs their voice. We need their presence.”

Related Links:

— “Mental Health Needs of Blacks Are Not Being Met, Says APA President , Psychiatric News, September 17, 2018.

Several outlets reported on the Senate’s passage of legislation to address the opioid epidemic. Colby Itkowitz writes in the Washington Post (9/17) that the Senate “overwhelmingly” passed a package of bills aimed at the nation’s opioid epidemic Monday by a 99 to 1 vote. The package includes 70 bills covering $8.4 billion in funding for programs across multiple agencies. The legislation requires the US Postal Service to screen packages from overseas, typically China, for synthetic opioids and provides greater access to treatment.

The Wall Street Journal (9/17, Andrews, Subscription Publication) reports Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) was the only senator to vote against the legislation. The package provides funding to the National Institutes of Health to research a nonaddictive painkiller. Another provision clarifies that the FDA has the authority to require prescriptions for opioids to be packaged in set amounts, such as three or seven days.

The AP (9/17, Fram) reports the package creates “new federal grants for treatment centers, training emergency workers and research on prevention methods.” The House passed its own package earlier this summer.

Related Links:

— “Senate passes sweeping opioids package, “Colby Itkowitz, The Washington Post, September 17, 2018.

The AP (9/17, Alonso-Zaldivar) reports “thousands of children in foster care may be getting powerful psychiatric drugs prescribed to them without basic safeguards,” according a report due Monday from the Department of Health and Human Services inspector general’s office that “found that about 1 in 3 foster kids from a sample of states were prescribed psychiatric drugs without treatment plans or follow-up, which are considered standard for sound medical care.” Ann Maxwell, an assistant inspector general with HHS’ inspector general’s office, said, “We are worried about the gap in compliance because it has an immediate, real-world impact on children’s lives.”

Related Links:

— “Watchdog slams safeguards for foster kids on psych drugs, “Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, AP, September 17, 2018.

USA Today (9/14) reported that according to the 2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration on Friday, “far fewer people in the United States started using heroin last year, but the decline among young new 18- to 25-year-old heroin users was almost imperceptible” while methamphetamine and marijuana use rose for that group. “In 2015, SAMHSA estimated 8.5 percent of people in that age range misused prescription opioids; that dropped to just over 7 percent in 2017.”

The AP (9/14, Johnson) reported the number of new users of heroin decreased from 170,000 in 2016 to 81,000 in 2017, “a one-year drop that would need to be sustained for years to reduce the number of fatal overdoses, experts said.”

Kaiser Health News (9/14) reported the survey “found that from 2015 to 2017 the percentage of pregnant women who reported marijuana use more than doubled, to 7.1 percent,” often believing it is safer than the FDA-approved drugs for combat nausea and pain, though mounting evidence suggests marijuana can cause preterm birth and long-term neurological problems in babies.

Related Links:

— “Number of new heroin users drops dramatically, but meth, marijuana use up, survey says, “Jayne O’Donnell and Terry DeMio, USA Today, September 14, 2018.