recent headlines It brings a glimmer of hope to our nation's relentless overdose crisis.
Overdose deaths in the United States, which have more than doubled over the past decade, will see a decisive decline in 2023. 10% reduction per year Overdose deaths are particularly pronounced in the Northeast and Midwest, where Hurricane Fentanyl first made landfall in the mid-2010s. But overdose deaths continue to rise in certain population groups, such as Western states and people over 65.
It's almost impossible to gauge the scale of America's overdose crisis. it took people's lives 1.3 million Americans since 1999 have lost more than our country has lost. all foreign wars and, number of deaths Impact of the new coronavirus pandemic.
As a nation, we are all too familiar with stories of loss. Two people were killed in Missoula, Montana. two sisters who died in Memphis, Tenn.; 10 people died in Cincinnati, Ohio. One person died in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
The fact that overdose deaths rose dramatically during the first Trump administration and remains above 100,000 per year under the Biden-Harris administration means that both presidential campaigns have largely ignored the topic. It might explain why you've been avoiding it.
As seen in late September when Vice President Harris visited a town in southern Arizona and said that stopping fentanyl from crossing the border was “an important issue,” they Framing the fentanyl problem around our nation's southern border.top priority”
Crackdowns on international drug traffickers are an important part of the solution, but focusing only on borders is bad drug policy. To further reduce overdose deaths, we need policies that help people who are already addicted.
Solutions start with treatment. Decades of research has shown that patients can reduce their risk of overdose by: more than half When you start treatment with methadone or buprenorphine. However, recent federal data suggests Just over half of U.S. adults needing treatment for opioid use disorder had received treatment in the previous year, and only a quarter had received medication.
This is actually lack of treatment. Although the number of patients taking the drug has steadily increased in recent years, opportunities continue to disappear for people at risk.
The Biden administration is moving forward with major policies to expand drug treatment, some of which build on efforts begun under the Trump administration. This includes: exclude the requirement that physicians obtain a special license to prescribe buprenorphine; Regulatory simplification Allowing patients to start methadone at specialized clinics; Medicaid funding For people leaving jails and prisons where the risk of overdose is highest.
Biden administration also announced guidance The Americans with Disabilities Act makes clear that it protects patients' rights to continue receiving medication in facilities such as long-term care facilities and prisons. they prosecuted won case.
These successes are worth building on. The next president should address the health care system's reluctance to make medication the standard of care. Federal health programs such as Medicaid and Medicare can use the power of reimbursement to require hospitals and health systems to begin treating opioid addiction and strengthen standards for quality of care.
The starting point is the worst. An overdose crisis exists among older Americans, but after Medicare patients survive an opioid overdose, 5 percent The next year you will receive medicine.
Although naloxone has become more mainstream over the past decade, other harm reduction approaches have been proven to be effective. Europe and Canada This includes access to sterile syringes, test strips, and drug testing programs that help people know if their medicines contain new adulterants, such as the animal tranquilizer xylazine.
Overdose Prevention CenterAllowing people to use previously purchased drugs under medical supervision could prevent thousands of deaths among people who use them alone. One existing model in New York City, USA, is already Reversed hundreds of overdosesHowever, extending this model to other communities poses some legal challenges.
Political courage will be needed to push for a more comprehensive national overdose policy. Because it is much easier to strengthen law enforcement than medicine. But the federal government already has the ability and tools to significantly reduce overdose deaths, if we can overcome resistance to change, bias, and disorder.
Securing borders alone is not enough to stop the crisis. For solutions, we need to look within our borders.
Dr. Brendan Saloner (bsaloner@jhu.edu) He is the Bloomberg Associate Professor of American Health Studies in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Bloomberg School of Public Health.
