Why Does the Opioid Mortality Rate Continue to Rise?
From April 2020 through April 2021, there were 100,300 drug overdose deaths across the country according to the CDC — a 28.5% increase over the previous year. Some 75% of these were opioid-related overdoses that killed an average of nine users an hour around the clock throughout the year. Looking forward, the just-published Stanford-Lancet Commission on […]
Meet Ane-Kristine Finbraten: Harkness/Norwegian Institute of Public Health Fellow, Physician, and Researcher on Hepatitis C Elimination
Coming to New York City was an easy decision for Harkness Fellow Ane-Kristine Finbraten. The city has one of the most robust hepatitis C elimination efforts to learn from. A founding member of the Centre for Elimination of Hepatitis C in Norway and an infectious diseases provider, Finbraten was elected as a 2021-2022 Commonwealth Fund […]
Cost of Hepatitis C Care Facilitation for HIV/Hepatitis C Co-infected People Who Use Drugs
The development of direct-acting antivirals transformed hepatitis C virus (HCV) therapy, allowing patients to experience fewer side effects and non-specialist providers to prescribe HCV treatment with more ease. Despite these advances, existing social and structural barriers, such as stigma and accessibility of medical care, restrict access to effective HCV treatment for people who use drugs […]
Advancing Evidence-Based Substance Use Disorder Treatment Policies
If you want to reform state laws to require detox facilities to include medications like buprenorphine and methadone in their treatments, you should start by changing the “hearts and minds” of those who oppose it, Rebekah Gee, MD, MPH, MHSPR, told the January 14, 2022 Penn LDI/CHERISH Virtual Conference at the University of Pennsylvania. Keynoting a gathering organized […]
Principles and Metrics for Evaluating Oregon’s Drug Decriminalization Measure
In November 2020, Oregonians voted to pass Measure 110, a ballot initiative that decriminalizes the possession of small amounts of all drugs and increases access to low-barrier substance use disorder treatment and harm reduction services. Led by the Drug Policy Alliance, the ballot measure is a historic step forward to address drug-related arrests that disproportionally impact low-income and people of […]
Lowering the Barriers to Medication Treatment for People with Opioid Use Disorder
Overdose deaths have reached unprecedented levels in the U.S., despite effective medications to treat opioid use disorders (OUDs). Because the regulatory and administrative barriers to treatment are high, only about 11% of people with OUD receive effective medications, which include buprenorphine, methadone, and naltrexone. In response, clinicians and advocates have looked to a “low-threshold” approach […]
Targeting Emergency Department Resources to Address the Opioid Epidemic
In a new study in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine, my colleagues and I estimate the number and distribution of emergency visits for opioid use disorder (OUD) across the country. We found that nearly 2/3 of all emergency visits for OUD occurred in 25% of EDs nationwide. Why is this important? Patients with OUD come to the […]
Improving Opioid Overdose
In the summer of 2021, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) awarded Bruce R. Schackman, CHERISH director and Saul P. Steinberg Distinguished Professor at Weill Cornell Medicine, and Natasha Martin, CHERISH Research Affiliate and associate professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of California San Diego, a scientific conference grant to provide simulation modeling […]
Catching Up with Pilot Grant Recipients Ali Jalali, Austin Kilaru, and Hao Zhang
Every spring, the Center for Health Economics of Treatment Interventions for Substance Use Disorder, HCV, and HIV (CHERISH) awards competitive pilot grants to investigators interested in developing health economic research in our areas of interest, with a focus on junior investigators and trainees. Funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, CHERISH pilot grants provide these investigators […]
The Impact of Recreational Cannabis Laws and Cannabis Use Disorder Among Pregnant Patients
To date, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists advises pregnant patients not to use cannabis because of the increased risks of health complications to the pregnant individual and the newborn. However, as states expand access to recreational or medical cannabis, there is growing evidence of increased cannabis use and positive perceptions of cannabis among pregnant patients. […]
Ending HIV in the United States Will Require a Substantial Financial Commitment
“What will it take to end HIV in the United States?” is a pressing question posed by public health officials, researchers, and policymakers alike. Population Data & Modeling Core Director Benjamin Linas seeks to answer that question by amplifying notable results from a simulation modeling study published by researchers at Johns Hopkins. In an editorial issued in the Annals of […]
Weighing the Costs and Benefits of Initiating Extended-release Injectable Naltrexone Compared to Buprenorphine-naloxone
Naltrexone and buprenorphine are two effective medications for opioid use disorder (OUD). Naltrexone, which is typically given as a monthly extended-release injection (XR-NTX), and daily oral buprenorphine, which is typically combined with naloxone (BUP-NX), are prescribed in outpatient or office-based medical settings. XR-NTX patients, however, need to complete detoxification before starting treatment. Results from a […]
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