Study: Number of alcohol‐related deaths doubled between 1999 and 2017

This is going to be the year of alcohol: the year the public, awakened to substance use disorders by the tragedy of opioid‐related deaths, finally recognizes that underneath its nose alcohol‐related deaths have been increasing just as tragically.     

Online meetings for 12‐Step and other support groups

The study showing that Alcoholics Anonymous as as effective, or more effective, than psychotherapy (see “Research: AA is better pathway to abstinence than psychotherapy,” ADAW March 16, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/adaw.32655 ) was published a few days before COVID‐19 federal and state restrictions on group gatherings (“social distancing”) took effect, making AA and other meetings untenable. This seems like cruel timing. But John Kelly, Ph.D., one of the authors of the study, provided the below infographic to ADAW on other meetings. And Keith Humphreys, Ph.D., co‐author, was quoted recently on ABC News saying that he is concerned about patients with extreme mental health issues such as addiction, for whom face‐to‐face contact is key.     

NY AG ends Emergent's exclusivity for Narcan nasal spray

Narcan, the lifesaving opioid overdose reversal drug, has been the only naloxone spray allowed on the market due to an exclusivity agreement between the pharmaceutical company that owns it — Emergent BioSolutions — and the company that makes the spray device. This deal is ending thanks to New York Attorney General Letitia James, who has made it possible, via an agreement with Emergent, for other companies to use the patented, proprietary spray technology. Emergent, which bought Adapt, the creator of Narcan, will have to renegotiate these terms, James announced on Jan. 2. “Given the tragic, devastating effects of the opioid crisis, and the urgent need for additional drugs for the emergency treatment of opioid overdoses, my office will do whatever possible to ensure that there are no unnecessary impediments to the development of additional lifesaving opioid overdose reversal drugs,” she said. “I'm proud to announce that, starting today, additional companies will be able to gain access to these nasal spray devices. With more companies able to access this easy‐to‐use technology, our hope is that we can reduce the number of opioid overdose deaths across New York and this nation and save millions of additional lives.” A little history here: Adapt Pharma launched Narcan in February 2016, a year before the State Targeted Response (STR) grants were issued. Narcan is patented, but naloxone had been used for decades in the emergency treatment of opioid overdoses, by first responders and medical workers. In October 2018, in the middle of the lucrative STR (which no longer had to be 80% treatment) and State Opioid Response funding cycles, Emergent bought Adapt — for Narcan. Adapt had already entered into the contract with the nasal spray device manufacturer. Other pharmaceutical companies had been trying to develop a nalmefene overdose reversal drug using the device.     

APA and ACOG: Screen pregnant women for substance use

In “Substance Use Disorders in Perinatal Women,” Kimberly Yonkers, M.D., gives a sobering presentation on the consequences of substance use in pregnant women, on the women themselves, their pregnancies and their offspring, in the perinatal period. Yonkers' presentation took place April 25 as part of the American Psychiatric Association's (APA's) virtual online annual meeting; the meeting itself, scheduled to be in Philadelphia, was canceled due to COVID‐19. Yonkers' presentation touched on social justice as well as medical issues.     

Levenson,former rehab CEO,on his conversion to harm reduction

Many people familiar with the addiction treatment field over the past few decades might be surprised to hear that Ben Levenson, the founder of 12‐Step‐based Origins Behavioral Healthcare in 2009, is no longer a believer in abstinence‐based treatment for everyone.     

NASADAD to NIDA: Connect research to practice

When the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) sought input on its five‐year plan, the people responsible for publicly funded prevention, treatment and recovery — state directors — called for returning to the days of communication between federal agencies like the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and between NIDA researchers and the service delivery system. In an Aug. 7 letter to NIDA's strategic planning team, Robert I.L. Morrison, executive director of the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors (NASADAD), noted that each state alcohol and drug agency has a critical role to play in NIDA initiatives. This role includes.     

Feds charge Florida addiction doctor with billing fraud

Last month, the U.S. Department of Justice arrested Michael J. Ligotti, D.O., of Delray Beach, Florida, for billing Medicare and private insurance companies for $681 million in unnecessary urine tests. Ligotti owned and operated Whole Health, a private clinic, which offered addiction and other treatment programs, and he also was the “medical director” of more than 50 addiction treatment programs and sober homes.     

Sublocade improves abstinence and quality of life outcomes

Treatment with injectable subcutaneous buprenorphine (Sublocade) over a course of a year resulted in better abstinence and quality of life, according to a study by Walter Ling and colleagues published in the current issue of the Journal of Addiction Medicine.