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Health | After the pandemic hit, drug overdose deaths in California are declining rapidly

chandankumarsoft — Mon, 16 Dec 2024 08:06:19 +0000

For nine straight months, the variety of overdose deaths in California has fallen rapidly, a remarkable reversal after the explosion in drug deaths throughout the pandemic.

Experts speculate that the decline, which mirrors the nationwide trend, might be as a result of a mixture of things: increased treatment and intervention efforts, recent crackdowns on the illegal opioid trade and less-lethal pills on the streets – or just that overdose-related Epidemic over is inevitable climax.

“The big caveat is that no one knows, because it's a stunning finding,” said Dr. Daniel Ciccarone, a drug researcher at UC San Francisco.

In the 12 months ending in July, the state saw a 17% decrease in deaths from the height in August 2023 and a 14% decrease from the identical period last 12 months, in keeping with the state's most up-to-date preliminary data Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It was the primary prolonged monthly decline since not less than 2014.

Current data for the core Bay Area region was only publicly available for Santa Clara and San Francisco counties, but each reported significant declines in overdoses in recent months.

Still, the whole variety of overdoses in California over the past 12 months — greater than 10,400 deaths — was nearly double what it was 4 years ago. The staggering figure underscores the continued challenge of stemming a drug crisis that has devastated the lives of countless Californians, from those living on the streets to suburban students and their families.

For the U.S. as an entire, the CDC reported greater than 90,000 drug-related deaths within the 12 months through July, a decline of 17%. On the West Coast, Oregon and Washington reported slight year-over-year increases, although overdose deaths in each states have declined every month for the reason that spring. All but six states saw a decrease in drug deaths.

The recent surge in overdose deaths in California began in 2019 — just as fentanyl, a highly potent synthetic opioid, arrived on the West Coast. The following 12 months, because the pandemic isolated more people of their homes, forced massive job losses and blocked access to treatment, more people became addicted and deaths rose even further.

Researchers said it’s going to likely take several years to grasp what's behind the recent reversal, if it continues. One explanation, nonetheless, is that after so many hundreds have died from fentanyl overdoses, there may now be fewer people alive who’re predisposed to using the drug.

“It could be that we are finally reaching a tipping point where the susceptible population is getting smaller,” Ciccarone said.

Dr. Anna Lembke, a professor of behavioral sciences at Stanford University, was skeptical of the concept the crisis was step by step burning out due to variety of users who died.

“We cannot assume that a vulnerable group is no longer with us,” she said.

Instead, she cited ongoing efforts at public education campaigns in regards to the risks of fentanyl, which is typically added to party drugs like ecstasy or cocaine, as a possible explanation. She also pointed to the billions of dollars spent to extend access to addiction medications equivalent to methadone and naloxone, an over-the-counter nasal spray that may reverse opioid overdoses.

Fentanyl test strips shall be available starting Friday, March 15, 2024 on the Rogers House in Stanford, California. Each test kit includes three fentanyl test strips, instructions, a pipette, a microscope and a mixing cap. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)

Across the state, advocates and public health officials have been working to distribute naloxone all over the place from college campuses and music festivals to prisons and homeless camps. The efforts are a part of a broader “harm reduction” strategy that may sometimes include needle exchanges or secure consumption sites, although such programs are rare within the United States

Harm reduction was developed within the Nineties in response to the AIDS epidemic and has change into increasingly controversial lately, with opponents claiming it enables drug use and deepens the crisis.

April Rovero, founding father of the National Coalition Against Prescription Drug Abuse, a San Ramon-based nonprofit that helps distribute naloxone and fentanyl testing kits throughout the East Bay, defended the practice of ensuring that individuals who take opioids eat, accomplish that safely.

“As long as they are alive, there is hope,” said Rovero, who lost her son to a prescription overdose in 2009. “The way I look at it is: you’re someone’s favorite.”

Another possible explanation is that illicit fentanyl pills step by step change into less effective. According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, five out of 10 pills the agency tested in 2024 contained a potentially lethal dose of fentanyl, compared with seven out of 10 last 12 months.

“Because of the pressure we're putting on them, the cartels have reduced the amount of fentanyl they put in the pills,” he said The DEA said in a press release last month Announcement of test results.

In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom and native officials, including San Francisco Mayor London Breed, have also done so Measures initiated against illegal drug trafficking. But experts cautioned that, as with scaling up treatment and intervention, it continues to be too early to say with certainty whether these efforts are chargeable for reducing overdoses.

In Santa Clara County, the decline in drug-related deaths appears to be greater than the national decline. There were 329 drug-related deaths within the county within the 12 months ending October, a 26% decrease from the identical period in 2023, the newest study said District data.

Nevertheless, said Dr. Cheryl Ho, the county's chief behavioral health medical director, said local officials were increasingly concerned about overdoses from a combination of fentanyl and methamphetamines. She fears that meth and other non-opioid drugs could soon result in a wave of deaths.

Ho highlighted xylazine, a veterinary sedative also known on the road as “tranq” that has change into widely available in some East Coast cities lately. It was first discovered in Santa Clara County in 2023.

“I don't think it's a matter of 'if', but 'when' the next wave comes,” she said.

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Health | Poppy seed brewing triggers a morphine overdose and attracts the eye of lawmakers

chandankumarsoft — Wed, 23 Oct 2024 04:46:23 +0000

It seems like a joke: poppy seeds laced with opioids.

In fact, it was a story arc Sitcom Seinfeld. But for some it was a tragedy.

People have died after drinking tea created from unwashed poppy seeds.

And after eating lemon poppy seed bread or an every little thing bagel, moms were reportedly separated from their newborns since the women failed drug tests.

Poppy seeds come from the plant produces opium and from which narcotics comparable to morphine and codeine are obtained. During harvest and processing, the seeds may turn into coated with the opium liquid.

Members of the House of Representatives and Senate have Legislative proposals “To prohibit the distribution and sale of contaminated poppy seeds in order to prevent harm, addiction and further deaths caused by poppy seeds contaminated with morphine.” The bill was one in all several on the agenda September 10 Hearing within the House of Representatives.

The day before the hearing The Marshall Project And Discover reported on a girl who ate a salad with poppy seed dressing before giving birth, tested positive for opiates within the hospital, was reported to child protective services, and saw her baby taken into protective custody. It was nearly two weeks before she was allowed to bring her baby home, the story goes.

“It's not an urban legend: Consuming poppy seeds can cause guests to test positive for codeine on a urinalysis,” the Defense Department said warned the military personnel in 2023.

The US Anti-Doping Agency issued one a protracted time ago similar warning to athletes.

The Center for Science within the Public Interest, a watchdog group, applied to the FDA in 2021 to limit the opiate content of poppy seeds. In May, after greater than three years of no response, it got here sued the agency Force motion.

“So far, the FDA has been negligent in protecting consumers,” said Steve Hacala, whose son died after consuming poppy seed tea and who has partnered with CSPI.

The lawsuit was placed on hold in July after the FDA said it might reply to the group's petition by the tip of February 2025.

The FDA didn’t reply to questions on this text. The agency generally doesn’t comment on litigation, said spokeswoman Courtney Rhodes.

A Study 2021 The study, co-authored by CSPI staff, found greater than 100 reports to poison control centers between 2000 and 2018 that resulted from intentional misuse or misuse of poppy seeds, said CSPI scientist Eva Greenthal, one in all the study's authors.

Only rarely will baked goods or other foods containing washed poppy seeds trigger positive drug tests, said doctors who’ve studied the issue.

It is “extremely doubtful” that the “relatively insignificant” amount of morphine in a bagel or similar would cause harm to anyone, said Irving Haber, a health care provider who has done so written about poppiesmakes a speciality of pain medicine and has signed the CSPI petition to the FDA.

On the opposite hand, tea created from large quantities of unwashed poppy seeds could lead on to addiction and overdose, doctors said. The risk increases if the person drinking the brew also uses other opioids, comparable to prescription painkillers.

Benjamin Lai, a health care provider who runs an opioid program on the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, said he treated a patient who developed a long-term opioid addiction from consuming poppy seed tea. The patient, a person in his 30s, found it in a health food store and felt it might help him chill out and get well from understanding on the gym. After just a few months, he tried to quit and commenced experiencing withdrawal symptoms, Lai said.

Another patient, an elderly woman, developed withdrawal symptoms under similar circumstances but responded well to treatment, Lai said.

Some web sites tout poppy seed tea as having health advantages. And some sellers “may use specific terms such as 'raw,' 'unprocessed,' or 'unwashed' to signal that their products contain higher concentrations of opiates than properly processed seeds,” the CSPI lawsuit says.

Steve Hacala's son, Stephen Hacala, a music teacher, suffered from anxiety and insomnia, for which poppy seed tea is touted as a natural treatment, the lawsuit says. In 2016, at age 24, he ordered a bag of poppy seeds online, rinsed it with water and drank the conditioner. He died of morphine poisoning.

The only source of morphine present in Stephen's home where he died was commercially available poppy seeds, an Arkansas State Crime Lab forensic pathologist said in a letter to the daddy. The coroner wrote that Poppy was “very likely” answerable for Stephen’s death.

Steve Hacala estimated that the quantity of poppy seeds present in a 1-liter plastic water bottle at his son's home could have produced greater than 10 times a fatal dose.

Steve Hacala and his wife Betty have funded CSPI's efforts to bring attention to the issue. (KFF Health News Editor David Rousseau is on the CSPI Board.)

The lawsuit also cited moms who, like those in The Marshall Project and Reveal's investigation, violated rules protecting newborns. For example, although Jamie Silakowski didn’t use opioids during her pregnancy, she was initially prevented from leaving the hospital along with her baby, the lawsuit says.

Child protective services employees visited her home unannounced, interviewed her other children and questioned teachers at her school, she said in an interview.

During her maternity leave, she needed to undergo a drug test, Silakowski said. “Peeing in front of someone like I was a criminal – that was just shameful.”

Even members of the family questioned her and there was nothing she could do to clear the doubts, she said. “Relationships have been torn apart,” she said.

Tim Hortons' parent company, Restaurant Brands International, which also owns Burger King and Popeyes, didn’t reply to questions from KFF Health News.

In July, The Washington Post reported that Trader Joe's was stocking every little thing but bagel seasoning banned and confiscated in South Korea since it comprises poppy seeds. Trader Joe's didn’t reply to inquiries about this text. The spice is obtainable on the market on the corporate's website.

The USA Drug Enforcement Administration says unwashed poppy seeds will be fatal when used alone or together with other medications. While poppy seeds are exempt from drug control under the Controlled Substances Act, opium contamination within the seeds isn’t, the agency said. The Justice Department has taken criminal motion over the sale of unwashed poppy seeds.

Meanwhile, laws to manage poppy contamination has not gained much traction.

The Senate bill introduced by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) has two co-sponsors.

The House bill, introduced by Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.), has none. Although it was on the agenda, it was not raised on the recent hearing.

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Old newspaper boxes are utilized in the USA to distribute the overdose drug Narcan.

chandankumarsoft — Thu, 26 Sep 2024 16:30:49 +0000

By LEAH WILLINGHAM

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — For many years, Jeff Card's family business was known for making the once-ubiquitous tin cans during which people could buy newspapers on the road.

If you reach into one in every of its containers today, you may find something completely different and free: naloxone, the drug used to treat an opioid overdose.

Since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved over-the-counter sales of the drug over a yr ago, increasingly more naloxone distribution containers have been popping up across the country. Naloxone, a nasal spray commonly generally known as Narcan, is used as an emergency treatment to treat drug overdoses.

Tasha Withrow, an individual in recovery and co-founder of the harm reduction organization Project Mayday, refills a brand new naloxone distribution box in a residential neighborhood in Hurricane, West Virginia, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Leah Willingham)

Such boxes – that are positioned in neighborhoods, outside hospitals, health departments and supermarkets – are a way for advocates for individuals with substance use disorders to make Narcan, which costs about $50 over-the-counter, available to those that need it most. Similar to small free libraries that hand out books to anyone who wants one, the metal boxes, once used as newspaper bins, are unlocked and don’t charge a fee. People can take as much as they feel they need.

Proponents say the containers help normalize using the drug – and are evidence that the stigma surrounding its use is steadily decreasing.

On the occasion of “Save a Life Day” on Thursday, 60 Narcan containers were distributed in 35 states – one naloxone Distribution and knowledge event was launched in 2020 by a West Virginia nonprofit. The containers were purchased from Card's Texas-based Mechanism Exchange & Repair, which still serves newspaper customers but has expanded its production to other products in light of the decline of the newspaper industry.

“It's both fortunate and unfortunate,” said Card, who began manufacturing the Narcan containers greater than two years ago. “Fortunate for us that we have something we can build, but unfortunate that this is what we have to build, given how bad the drug problem is in America.”

A brand new naloxone distribution box is positioned in a residential neighborhood in Hurricane, West Virginia, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Leah Willingham)

Opioid deaths were at record levels even before the coronavirus pandemic, but skyrocketed when it struck in early 2020. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated there have been about 85,000 opioid-related deaths within the 12 months ending April 2023. But the number has since declined. The CDC's estimate for the 12 months ending April 2024 was 75,000 – still higher than at any point before the pandemic.

The Reasons for the decline should not fully understood. But it coincides with Narcan, a drug that hard to get in some communities, available without prescriptionand with the intensification of Use of funds from court settlements between governments and drug manufacturers, wholesalers and pharmacies.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Narcan to treat overdoses back in 1971, but its use was limited to paramedics and hospitals for many years. Narcan nasal spray was first approved by the FDA as a prescription drug in 2015, was approved for over-the-counter sale in March, and was available in major pharmacies last September.

“That removed the barriers. And that's when we realized, 'OK, now we need to improve access. How can we get naloxone into communities?'” said Caroline Wilson, a social employee and patient in recovery from West Virginia who coordinated this yr's Save a Life Day.

Last yr, all 13 Appalachian states participated within the day, initiated by the West Virginia-based nonprofit Solutions Oriented Addiction Response. Community organizations in a whole bunch of counties distributed Narcan and fentanyl test strips in parking lots, outside churches and clinics and trained people on the best way to use them. They also work to coach the general public about myths surrounding the drug, including that it shouldn’t be secure to maintain it in easily accessible places. Narcan has no effect on individuals who use it without opioids of their bodies.

This yr, the trouble expanded to 35 states and the slogan was “Naloxone Everywhere.” The group sent out 2,000 emergency kits containing a dose of Narcan to be placed in places like supermarket bathrooms or parks. The 60 tin newspaper boxes – which sell for about $350 each – were purchased with grants.

Aonya Kendrick Barnett's harm reduction organization Safe Streets Wichita arrange one in every of the primary Narcan containers in Kansas in February — she calls them “Nalox boxes.” The boxes, which are actually sold by various corporations, may look different. Some appear to be newspaper boxes, others like vending machines.

Since a Narcan container was installed on the machine – to access the medication, all you will have to do is enter a zipper code on the keypad – around 2,600 packages are distributed every month.

“To say, 'Hey, we have a 24-hour vending machine, come here and get what you need — without making any accusations,' is so brave in this Bible Belt state and helps me break down the stigma,” she said.

Kendrick Barnett said there is no such thing as a room for prejudice in relation to what she calls life-saving health care: “People are going to take medication. It's not our job to judge or condone that. It's our job to make sure they get the necessary health care they need to survive.”

The Save a Life Day box her organization received might be placed outside her recent clinic, which is scheduled to open in October.

Larry Tuite, a 74-year-old stained glass artist from Eerie, Pennsylvania, said he became alarmed as overdoses increased in his town. He began leaving Narcan packets on the windowsills of convenience stores on the town that sell products akin to pipes and rolling papers. He was shocked at how quickly they disappeared.

“No matter how many I give out, I use them up very quickly,” says Tuite, who has stacked the drug boxes against the partitions of his one-room apartment.

The Save a Life Day container he was allowed to establish outside one in every of those stores has helped him distribute much more Narcan. At least a dozen people have been saved by the medication he distributed, he said.

Tasha Withrow, a recovering patient who leads a harm reduction coalition based in Putnam County, West Virginia, said Narcan was never available to her while she was taking opioids.

“People can just reach in and take what they need – that didn't exist back then,” she said as she filled a container in a residential neighborhood earlier this week. “Now to actually see that there is some access – I'm glad we've made at least a little progress in that direction.”

AP journalist Geoff Mulvihill contributed to this report.

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Study: Novo Nordisk's diabetes drug Ozempic can reduce the chance of opioid overdose

chandankumarsoft — Wed, 25 Sep 2024 17:54:20 +0000

Novo NordiskDr. Johnston’s successful diabetes drug Ozempic can reduce the chance of opioid overdose in certain patients, demonstrating its potential in its place treatment for opioid use disorders, in line with a latest study published on Wednesday.

Ozempic's lively ingredient, semaglutide, is related to a “significantly lower” risk of opioid overdose than other diabetes medications in people diagnosed with each type 2 diabetes and opioid use disorder, in line with the article published in JAMA Network Open.

The results suggest that Ozempic could also be a possible tool to combat the continued US. Opioid epidemic, the declared a public health emergency in 2017. There are currently three effective medications to stop overdoses as a result of opioid use disorder, but a brand new alternative is required because some patients simply don't use them, said study lead co-author Dr. Rong XuProfessor of biomedical informatics at Case Western Reserve University.

In 2022 only a few quarter of patients with opioid use disorder received the beneficial medications for it, and plenty of discontinued treatment inside six months, in line with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics says opioids are a think about around 72% Overdose deaths within the USA

The study results also provide evidence that a very fashionable class of diabetes and obesity drugs called GLP-1 could have multiple health advantages beyond regulating blood sugar and promoting weight reduction. Novo Nordisk, its competitor Eli Lilly and independent researchers are currently intensively studying the potential of those drugs in patients with chronic conditions starting from kidney disease and sleep apnea to addictive behaviors resembling nicotine and alcohol abuse.

In the study published Wednesday, researchers at Case Western Reserve University and the National Institutes of Health analyzed the electronic records of nearly 33,000 patients who were prescribed semaglutide or other diabetes drugs between December 2017 and June 2023. The study was not funded by Novo Nordisk.

About 3,000 people were prescribed semaglutide injections, while the remainder received treatments starting from insulins to older GLP-1 diabetes drugs, including dulaglutide, the lively ingredient in Eli Lilly's drug Trulicity, and liraglutide, the lively ingredient in Novo Nordisk's Victoza.

Researchers monitored what number of cases of opioid overdoses occurred in patients inside a yr after they stopped treatment with semaglutide or other drugs. For example, there have been 42 cases of opioid overdoses in a bunch of patients receiving semaglutide, compared with 97 cases in one other group receiving insulin, the study said.

This reflects a 58 percent lower risk of opioid overdose in patients taking semaglutide, Xu said.

However, Xu identified that the study has limitations since it is predicated on data from electronic health records.

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To confirm the extent to which Ozempic and other GLP-1 preparations may also help patients with opioid use disorder, further research is required, particularly clinical trials during which patients are randomly assigned to receive semaglutide or other treatments, in line with the study authors. These randomized trials may help determine whether treatments are useful for the overall population with opioid use disorder or just for certain patients with the disorder.

“The extent to which GLP-1 medications can help treat opioid use disorder and prevent overdoses is unclear,” Dr. Nora Volkow, senior co-author of the study and director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse on the National Institutes of Health, said in an announcement to CNBC. “The preliminary results of this study suggest that GLP-1 medications may be helpful in preventing opioid overdoses.”

Xu added that researchers plan to check semaglutide in patients with opioid use disorder and obesity.

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Walgreens offers its own cheaper version of the opioid overdose drug naloxone

chandankumarsoft — Mon, 20 May 2024 08:27:10 +0000

Walgreens announced Wednesday that it is going to offer its own cheaper version of it over-the-counter Opioid overdose reversal spray naloxone. The drug is accessible online and will probably be available in all stores by the top of the month.

The drugstore retailer wants to extend availability of the life-saving drug within the U.S. because the country grapples with the fallout from the opioid epidemic and seeks to cut back alarmingly high drug death rates.

According to probably the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, between 1999 and 2021, greater than 645,000 people died from overdoses of any sort of opioid, including prescription and illicit opioids.

When administered timely, naloxone can temporarily reverse the results of an overdose of opioids, including heroin and fentanyl. The drug blocks the results of opioids on the brain, restoring normal respiration and stopping death.

Despite naloxone's effectiveness, access to the treatment “remains limited in many communities,” a Walgreens press release said.

The company said it is going to sell a two-dose package of “Walgreens Brand Naloxone” for $34.99. This is about $10 cheaper than that non-prescription brand drug Narcan, which received Food and Drug Administration approval last 12 months as the primary non-prescription version of naloxone. Previously, patients needed a prescription to access naloxone.

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“This was a concerted decision to really do everything we could to improve accessibility, not just in terms of quantity and availability, but also in terms of price,” Dr. Priya Mammen, senior medical director in Walgreens' Office of Clinical Integrity, told CNBC in an interview.

The company said the launch of its over-the-counter naloxone nasal spray is post-FDA approval current approval of the product. It is the generic Equivalent to over-the-counter Narcan that Walgreens currently offers in its stores.

Mammen hopes Walgreens may help reduce the stigma related to drug overdoses and naloxone use.

The drug “isn’t just for some people. “It is a life-saving medicine that can intervene in anyone at any age and at any time, and it is something that families, individuals and communities can strengthen by making available and can be part of the solution,” she said.

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Health | California reaches agreement on cheaper overdose drugs

chandankumarsoft — Tue, 30 Apr 2024 15:18:42 +0000

California struck a brand new deal Monday with Amneal Pharmaceuticals to extend the state's supply of the opioid overdose reversal drug naloxone at a much lower cost for schools, police departments and others trying to cut back exposure to fentanyl.

The deal would set the value for a two-dose pack of FDA-approved naloxone, often known by the brand name Narcan, at $24, a 40% decrease from the present purchase price, state officials said at a news conference Monday .

According to California Department Director Elizabeth Landsberg, this lower cost will allow the state's health departments to “stretch the dollars from the Opioid Settlement Fund even further” and buy much more life-saving medications than they may otherwise afford Health care.

A teacher takes a better have a look at Narcan nasal spray utilized in the event of a fentanyl overdose during a Narcan training for John Swett Unified School District teachers at Rodeo Hills Elementary School in Rodeo, Calif., on Friday, Dec. 9, 2022 Revival of scholars. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)

States including California have been awarded billions of dollars from settlements with several pharmacies and drug distributors that were sued for his or her roles in fueling the opioid epidemic.

This discount on government-funded naloxone doesn't necessarily translate into lower prices at the pharmacy for on a regular basis shoppers, where naloxone typically costs about $45 per two-dose package, experts say. However, this implies the state can send more naloxone to nonprofits, schools, police departments and other organizations which might be currently eligible without cost doses from the state plan.

Naloxone is a protected and easy-to-use nasal spray that might be given to people of all ages affected by an opioid overdose. In 2022, a record 7,385 Californians died from opioid overdoses. The overwhelming majority of those deaths, 6,473, were fentanyl-related.

“California is disrupting the pharmaceutical industry… securing life-saving medicines at lower and transparent prices,” said Governor Newsom. “As we continue to work to bring $30 insulin to market, the state is now poised to purchase life-saving naloxone for nearly half the current market price – maximizing taxpayer dollars and saving more lives with this miracle drug.”

In the Bay Area last yr, fentanyl penetrated deeper into the crib, killing three Bay Area infants and toddlers over a six-month period, including three-month-old San Jose baby Phoenix Castro, who was sent home from the hospital Her father became a drug addict despite a social employee's warnings that she was unsafe.

The state's latest partnership with Amneal Pharmaceuticals isn’t without controversy. The pharmacy group is a named defendant in dozens of lawsuits across the country accusing it of using deceptive marketing practices to distribute opioids, in lots of cases after downplaying their addictive potential.

Last yr, Gov. Gavin Newsom called for the state to make its own naloxone, but there are not any concrete plans yet for when and the way this shall be achieved. State officials said the three-year contract with Amneal Pharmaceuticals will fill the gap while they struggle to develop their very own production plan.

California's move to buy naloxone stands in stark contrast to efforts by some states like Idaho where the legislature has The goal was to limit who has access to overdose-reversal medications.

Chelsea Shover, an assistant professor of drugs at UCLA, said the state Naloxone distribution The effort was incredibly vital in providing people on the front lines of the opioid crisis with a life-saving medication they won’t otherwise have the opportunity to afford.

“It allows naloxone to get into the hands of people who are most likely to respond in the event of an overdose,” Shover said.

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California Politics | California is partnering with a New Jersey company to buy a generic opioid overdose medication

chandankumarsoft — Mon, 29 Apr 2024 15:15:35 +0000

SACRAMENTO — California is partnering with a New Jersey-based pharmaceutical company to purchase a generic version of Narcan, the drug that may save someone's life in an opioid overdose, under a deal announced Monday by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom .

Amneal Pharmaceuticals will sell naloxone to California for $24 per pack, about 40% cheaper than the market price. California will distribute the packs freed from charge to first responders, universities and community organizations as a part of the state's naloxone distribution project.

The deal is important since it means California should buy so much more naloxone — 3.2 million packs in a 12 months as an alternative of two million — for a similar total cost.

The deal means naloxone will eventually be available under the CalRx label. Newsom first proposed CalRx in 2019 to force drug corporations to lower their prices offers less expensive, competing versions life-saving medications. He signed a law In 2020, the ability might be transferred to the state.

California governments and businesses should purchase naloxone outside of the naloxone distribution project, the Newsom administration said, adding the state is working on a plan to make it available on the market to non-public individuals.

“California is disrupting the pharmaceutical industry with CalRx – securing life-saving medicines at lower and transparent prices,” Newsom said in an announcement from his office.

Naloxone has been available with no prescription within the United States since March 2023 The US Food and Drug Administration has approved Narcana nasal spray brand from Maryland-based pharmaceutical company Emergent BioSolutions.

Amneal Pharmaceuticals makes a generic equivalent of Narcan, which received FDA approval last week.

The naloxone packs initially purchased by California might be available under the Amneal brand. The naloxone will switch to the CalRx label once it’s approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, a process that would take several months, in keeping with the Newsom administration.

California began freely giving free naloxone kits in 2018. State officials say the Naloxone Distribution Project has distributed 4.1 million kits, reversing a reported 260,000 opioid overdoses. The money comes from taxpayers and is a component of a nationwide settlement agreement with several other pharmaceutical corporations.

Last 12 months, California lawmakers agreed to spend $30 million to work with a pharmaceutical company to make its own version of naloxone. Ultimately, they didn't have to spend that cash on this deal because Amneal Pharmaceutical was already far enough along within the FDA approval process that it didn't require upfront funding from the federal government.

Instead, California will use a portion of the revenue it receives from a national opioid settlement to buy the drugs.

Naloxone is only one drug targeted by the Newsom administration.

Last 12 months, California signed a 10-year contract partnered with nonprofit Civica to supply CalRx brand insulin, used to treat diabetes. California has put aside 100 million dollars for this project$50 million is earmarked for drug development and the remaining is earmarked for investment in a producing facility. Newsom said a 10-milliliter vial of state-brand insulin would sell for $30.

Civica has met with the FDA and “has a clear path forward,” the Newsom administration said.

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Nitazenes were present in 5 overdose deaths in Philly – here's what they’re and why they're so deadly

chandankumarsoft — Mon, 15 Apr 2024 19:31:17 +0000

What are Nitazenes?

Nitazenes are a category of synthetic opioids that contain greater than 20 unique compounds. including isotonitazene, which was first identified in 2019 and is thought on the streets as ISO. These also include protonitazene, metonitazene and etonitazene.

Nitazenes are psychoactive substances or “Designer Drugs,” which, nevertheless, will not be regulated by laws or conventions pose significant health risks to the general public. These substances have recently emerged as illegal street drugs.

Researchers have relatively little details about how the human body responds to Nitazene since the drugs have never passed through clinical trials. But lab tests show that certain Nitazenes may very well be a whole lot to 1000’s of times simpler than morphine and 10 to 40 times stronger than fentanyl.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has classified many formulations of nitazene as Schedule 1 drugs under the Controlled Substances ActThis means they haven’t any medical use and pose a high risk of abuse.

When were Nitazenes first developed?

Nitazenes were original developed within the Fifties by the pharmaceutical research laboratories of the Swiss chemical company CIBA Aktiengesellschaft. It synthesized quite a few drug-class substances intended for use as painkillers.

However, Nitazenes have never been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for medical use in humans. They were almost forgotten outside of specialised research circles until they resurfaced as street drugs in 2019. As law enforcement has cracked down on other drugs like fentanyl, illegal labs have resorted to it Historical pharmacological research To formulate analogues of Nitazenene as street drugs.

Since 2019, at the least six formulas are from the unique patent, but others are brand latest. Specialized laboratory tests is required to discover Nitazene in toxicology samples, and Fentanyl test strips cannot detect Nitazene analogues.

But since be discovered firstNitazenes were blamed for this 200 drug-related overdose deaths in Europe and the United States. Although Nitazenes are actually classified as illegal street drugs in lots of countries, this is just not the case for a lot of medical providers even aware that they exist.

Isotonitazene has appeared in pill form mixed with other drugs corresponding to oxycodone.
Dea, CC BY

What kinds of Nitazenes appear on the road?

Nitazene was first released within the Midwest in 2019 as white powdery substance much like cocaine. It appeared later on the streets of Washington, DC, as yellow, brown and white powders. As of 2022, the DEA has found other kinds of nitazenes in each cases Powder and blue tablet forms.

Nitazenes are too mixed with other street drugs like heroin and fentanyl, and with counterfeit oxycodone pills without users knowing.

The Justice Department has indicted several Companies in Chinaclaiming that they ship the raw chemicals used to make nitazene to Mexico and the United States, where they’re mixed by cartels and human traffickers after which distributed on the streets.

What are signs of a Nitazen overdose?

The toxic effects of Nitazen are much like those of other classic opioids corresponding to morphine and fentanyl and include small pupils and slowing of the respiratory and central nervous systems, which can lead to death.

Because of the potency of the Nitazenes, symptoms can develop quickly after an individual is exposed and may kill them before they will receive medical attention.

Does naloxone counteract the results of an overdose?

Naloxone, commonly often known as Narcan, is Reportedly effective in reversing overdoses resulting from Nitazene, but larger and Multiple doses could also be required.

image credit : theconversation.com