News & Blog
COVID-19 has brought simulation modeling to the foreground of public discourse, as policy makers and stakeholders project the effects of different interventions to “flatten the curve.” Simulation models allow investigators to tinker with different conditions of the world to observe how they affect future outcomes; however, translating the models’ results to the public can be […]
According to a new study, the total annual cost of opioid use disorder (OUD) to U.S. society in 2018 was $786.8 billion. This figure includes costs associated with excess healthcare expenditures, criminal justice resources, lost workplace and home productivity, and premature mortality. Of the $786.8 billion, $89.1 billion was attributed to additional healthcare expenditures. The study […]
October 12, 2020
Injection-related infective endocarditis (IE) is a serious and expensive medical complication among people who inject drugs (PWID). In some states, such as North Carolina there has been a 12-fold increase in injection-related IE between 2007 and 2017. Approximately 1.3% of people who inject drugs report IE within the past year, and between 0.5% and 11.8% […]
HIV outbreaks in Indiana, West Virginia, and Massachusetts have highlighted the need to rapidly identify and treat HIV infections among people who use drugs and their social networks in order to prevent disease transmission. Many state and local health departments have expanded their fourth generation laboratory-based HIV testing capacity that allows them to identify acute […]
People who use drugs (PWUD) are among the most vulnerable populations for COVID-19. They have increased prevalence of pre-existing co-morbidities that may increase their risk of a negative outcome following COVID-19 exposure, for example respiratory and cardiovascular diseases due to smoking cigarettes, marijuana, or other substances. Syringe service programs (SSPs) not only provide sterile injection equipment […]
Study Finds Wide State Variation in Opioid Prescribing, Dosages In our new study in BMJ Open, we show that in 2015-2019 more than 70% of U.S. opioid-naive patients received an opioid prescription after knee arthroscopy. They received an average of 40 tablets, despite recent studies showing most patients end up taking less than 5 tablets. The take-home message? Despite recent […]