3 Brooklyn Clinics, 6.3 Million Oxycodone Pills & 13 Indictments
APRIL 7, 2017 – Noting that the abuse of drugs like the painkiller oxycodone had helped fuel a national opioid epidemic, officials said the case combined a drug conspiracy and Medicaid fraud, in which the clinics also billed the government for expensive but unneeded tests. “I have to say I’ve never really seen anything like it,” Bridget G. Brennan, New York City’s special narcotics prosecutor … Officials said they learned in the course of the inquiry that two Brooklyn clinics owned by Dr. Feygin – were selling large numbers of prescriptions for oxycodone.
Hazelden/Betty Ford Treats Opioid Addiction With Innovations
APRIL 4, 2017 – The Hazelden Betty Ford foundation conducted a “searching and fearless moral inventory” of its best practices, and realized that more could be done to save the lives of people addicted to opioids by helping them succeed in treatment. The result was the COR-12 program. The program uses medications as well as psychological and psychiatric care and addiction treatment including 12-step counseling in order to best serve people who are addicted. The program is unique in that it uses medication-assisted treatment in conjunction with, but never as a replacement for, 12-step recovery. While the goal will always be abstinence, patients in the COR-12 program stay on their assistive medications through detox and beyond.
APR 2017 ISSUE – Forty years ago, when Julia Negron was married to a rock star and addicted to heroin, ODs were so common in her household that she kept a paramedic on call. When someone nodded out, he would dispense emergency injections of naloxone, a drug with a reputation for bringing seemingly lifeless bodies back from the dead. Today, the back of Negron’s black SUV is loaded with the drug as she pulls into a Sarasota, Florida, parking lot and pops the trunk. A trickle of people approach to grab doses of the drug, which may one day revive a friend, a spouse, or a child … Naloxone, which has been around since 1971, reverses the effects of overdosesfrom opioids like heroin, OxyContin, and fentanyl. It has saved countless thousands of lives…
THE MOST IMPORTANT VIDEO STORY OF THE YEAR INVOLVING YOU AND ME: AT THE BOTTOM.
Like a HAPPY MEAL … that KILLS
Fentanyl: New Terror for People Abusing Opioids NPR AUDIO
April 6, 2017 – Fentanyl may be especially lethal because it’s strong, it’s mixed with other drugs in varying amounts unknown to the user, and it can trigger an overdose within seconds. “It happens so fast, like instantly, as soon as you do the shot,” says Allyson, a 37-year-old woman who started using heroin in her late teens. “In the past, it [an overdose] was something that you saw happening, like, you could see the person start to slow down, their color would start to turn blue, and then they would go out, within 10 minutes or so,” Allyson says. With fentanyl, there’s no progression. “Now it’s instant,” she says.
‘Addiction is love gone awry’ says best-selling author
April 5, 2017 – Maia Szalavitz first tried cocaine at 17, in Jerry Garcia’s hotel room, then became addicted to cocaine and heroin in her late teens and early 20s. She stopped using unprescribed drugs in 1988. For nearly 30 years, she has made a career reporting on neuroscience, drugs and addiction. Her work has appeared in TIME, Vice and The New York Times … When you fall in love it completely changes your priorities and you might do some irrational and not well-advised things to make sure you’ll be with that partner.
READ MORE @ SeattleTimes.com
Even If You’re Sober?
Smoking causes one in 10 deaths worldwide
APRIL 4, 2017 – Despite decades of tobacco control policies, population growth has seen an increased number of smokers, it warned. Researchers said mortality could rise further as tobacco companies aggressively targeted new markets, especially in the developing world … The study found some countries had succeeded in efforts to help people quit, mostly through a combination of higher taxes, warnings on packages and education programmes.
States seek Medicaid dollars for addiction treatment beds
APRIL 5, 2017 – Anthony was extraordinarily lucky,” said Greg Warren, regional manager of Gaudenzia’s treatment centers in Maryland, Delaware and Washington, D.C. “Walking in and getting admitted the same day almost never happens … To boost the number of beds available for low-income residents, the federal government has granted California, Maryland, Massachusetts and New York a waiver of an obscure Medicaid rule that prohibits the use of federal dollars for addiction treatment provided in facilities with more than 16 beds. Seven other states – Arizona, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Utah and Virginia – are seeking similar permission….
April 5, 2017 – The figures are stark: one in five children are classed as obese before they start primary school while that increases to a frightening one in three by the time they are 11. But it isn’t just youngsters’ weight which is affected as the number of children requiring at least one tooth to be tooth to be removed rises with each passing year … Food companies have long come under fire for their use of sugar in so many of their products but would we eat them without this injection of flavour? The fact that there are so many items on supermarket shelves with a sky high sugar content says more about those who consume them than anybody else. After all, there is more information about what we eat, such as the traffic light system, than at any time in history yet we choose to ignore it. When we rush to get home after work we throw old rubbish into our basket…
Demi Lovato Opens Up About Her New Boyfriend, Journey Towards Sobriety
The popsinger also talked about her journey towards sobriety, explaining just how much it meant to her. “I decided to be opened about the story and share everything that I’ve been through because it helps others,” she said. “It is so meaningful and impactful to me that I would not change it for the world.” Demi also made a point about how people don’t seek the help they need because alcohol and drug issues are considered an embarrassment, saying, “When you create an stigma is important to break it, creating awareness, talking about it, and starting a conversation.”
READ MORE @ 961Kiss.iHeart.com
Giving Back, NOT Giving Up VIDEO
Alcoholic who downed 3 bottles of vodka a DAY turns his life around in spectacular fashion VIDEO
April 8, 2017 – A former alcoholic who was drinking three bottles of vodka and 12 cans of strong lager every day is now putting the finishing touches on his degree dissertation – and has just landed a job helping others to beat the booze. Jay’s story is one of many remarkable accounts told to the Liverpool Echo during a visit to Transforming Choice – an organisation in South Liverpool taking a unique approach to helping people to battle their addictions and come back from the brink.
Mass. warns addicts about Florida drug-treatment recruiters
April 7, 2017 – Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey has issued a consumer advisory, warning of unscrupulous marketers “trying to recruit Massachusetts residents with substance use disorder to travel to so-called treatment centers in Arizona, California and Florida.” According to the advisory, the recruiters often use texts or social media to recruit patients. Some offer to pay for airfare and health insurance to cover the costs of out-of-state treatment. The Palm Beach County Sober Home Task Force has targeted such practices as inducements, which violate Florida’s anti-kickback and patient brokering laws.
Mini-Me actor Verne Troyer being treated for alcoholism
April 7, 2017 – Writing on Facebook, he said he had been receiving treatment for the last week and would be voluntarily checking into rehab later this week. The actor said he wrote the post due to concern from fans and said that he had battled alcohol addiction in the past. “While it’s not always been an easy fight, I’m willing to continue my fight day by day,” he said. He added: “I want to thank everyone that’s reached out with their messages of support, it truly means the world to me. With your support, I got this.”
Kelly Osbourne: Ozzy overdosed while cancer-stricken mum was having a seizure
April 7, 2017 – Papa, don’t preach. She’s the middle child of rock ‘n’ roll royalty, but for Kelly Osbourne, life has been anything but glamorous. In her upcoming memoir, There Is No F*cking Secret: Letters From a Badass Bitch, the 32-year-old recounts her struggle with drug addiction, as well as the terrifying day she witnessed her father overdose while her cancer-stricken mother had a seizure. “[One night] Mum had a seizure,” Kelly wrote. “I finally called for an ambulance, and together with the idiot nurse, we got Mum stabilised.”
Addicts Help Colorado Leaders Formulate Heroin Addiction Battle Plan VIDEO
April 6, 2017 – People are dying at an alarming rate in Colorado because of heroin. In the first ever report about heroin abuse in Colorado, were learning that heroin related deaths doubled from 2011 to 2015…Seventy percent of the heroin users surveyed in the report claim that prescription painkillers, for medical needs, played a role in their use of heroin … When asked what could have prevented their heroin use, respondents said they might not have used heroin if they had never taken pain pills, had different friends or had more education about the effects of drug use. “Colorado has an opportunity to be a model for the rest of the country in bringing law enforcement, treatment, recovery and prevention together in a true partnership to address the heroin problem,”…
Marijuana cases clog treatment meant for heroin, opiates
APRIL 7, 2017 – Philadelphia’s drug treatment data reveals a disturbing discrepancy in taxpayer-funded resources: As heroin overdoses soared to shocking rates in recent years, the city’s capacity to treat opioid addicts was cut in half because so many people were being treated for marijuana. From 2011 to 2015, more than 20 percent of admissions to city drug treatment programs were for marijuana, according to data compiled by the city’s Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility. Some years, more people were treated for weed than for heroin.
READ MORE @ Philly.com
La Quinta Resort Welcomes:
West Coast Symposium for Addictive Disorders
The West Coast Symposium on Addictive Disorders is one of C4 Recovery Solutions’ premier addiction conferences. WCSAD is dedicated to continuing education and networking in the field of addictions. WCSAD hosts more than 1,000 addiction professionals from across the country.
READ MORE @ WCSAD.com
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Study: Why female sex workers have poor drug rehab results
March 29, 2017 – Street sex workers often have a difficult time getting the most out of drug rehab because of their inability to discuss the root causes of their trauma, and the stigma associated with sex work … Researchers … conducted 20- to 90-minute interviews with 24 current and former street sex workers with a history of heroin and/or use of crack cocaine to discuss their experiences in addiction treatment. Interviews revealed that many of the participants had issues coming clean about their sex work, and when they did, they were often stigmatized by others in treatment or staff members…
April 4, 2017 – To save lives and get better results for the $50 billion-plus of taxpayer money already spent on this problem every year, the politically correct myths about addiction need a clear-headed reassessment Myth 1: Drug addiction is a chronic illness like Parkinson’s … Myth 2: Drug addicts can’t stay clean. Criminal justice innovators are proving that’s not entirely true. In special “drug courts” throughout the nation, … Myth 3: Don’t hurt drug addicts’ feelings – it might discourage them from seeking treatment. In fact, heroin use has become more prevalent … Myth 4: The more treatment, the better. That’s what the treatment industry will tell you. It’s a $35 billion-a-year industry, with ever more drug-related deaths to show for it. Investors are eagerly putting up money for more rehab centers. Call it the drug-treatment “gold rush.”
April 5, 2017 – Ohio researchers in drug abuse and addiction say they’re impressed and energized by Gov. John Kasich’s proposal to infuse up to $20 million into scientific breakthroughs that he envisions helping to solve the national opioid crisis. During Tuesday’s State of the State speech, the Republican governor sought to liken the potential of such treatments and technologies to past pioneering innovations in Ohio, such as those by Thomas Edison and the Wright brothers.
Drug treatment site for kids could be open in year VIDEO
April 5, 2017 – “The need for this facility is huge,” Elson said of the Casa Pacifica plan, citing a recent survey of youths who live on a 24-acre campus that currently provides services including psychiatric services, therapy and crisis care. “Over 90 percent had some sort of alcohol and drug issue that was a factor in their placement here.” The Ventura County government, longtime partner of Casa Pacifica, has agreed to pay $3 million over five years for the expansion. On Wednesday, speakers thanked the community for contributions. A choir from Pacific Palisades Charter High School Choir sang the lyric, “and the world will be a better place.”
A puke bucket and an ancient drug: is ayahuasca the future of PTSD treatment?
April 6, 2017 – “In psychotherapy, it’s how we reconcile past events that have traumatised us.” Thomas has conducted preliminary research suggesting that ayahuasca can reduce dependence on addictive drugs. Part of the explanation may be that it helps ease the pain of traumatic memories that people sometimes “self-medicate” with substances such as alcohol, tobacco and cocaine … I visited Peru to find out more about an intriguing ayahuasca study – and to have my own experience with the psychedelic brew… My own encounter with ayahuasca was a happy one. I felt nauseous but didn’t vomit. I witnessed no earth-shattering visions, though I did experience perceptual distortions and a temporarily enhanced sense of meaning and beauty. The only long-term effect on my physical and psychological wellbeing appeared to be a persistent bout diarrhoea that lasted several days. Retreats like those at the Temple of the Way of Light usually involve a series of ceremonies over several days, but I attended just this one…
Is It True: Drinking Too Much Alcohol Kills Brain Cells?
April 6, 2017 – Alcohol definitely does something to our brains, you might suggest. How else would you explain the setting dizziness, the slurred speech, the eventual loss of inhibitions and control over emotions, and in dire cases blackouts and complete forgetfulness? However, the reasons behind these symptoms might be much simpler than you assumed. While it is true that ethyl alcohol kills cells, leading to its use as antiseptic in killing harmful microorganisms, it can’t kill our brain cells in the same way because of two factors. Firstly, the alcohol we ingest isn’t allowed to accumulate and travel unchecked through our body. Our liver works furiously to release enzymes which digest this ethyl alcohol, breaking it down into simpler forms such as acetaldehyde, then acetate, which are further broken down into carbon dioxide and water and eliminated from our bodies.
I’m pretty good at quitting things. I gave up drinking more than 40 years ago – with one relapse – and gave up smoking about 30 years ago. Self-preservation was the main reason. I was locked up eight times when I was drinking. I was a crazy, out-of-control drunk who was a hazard to myself and others. Luckily, I didn’t have a car or drive during my drinking days. Somewhere in my pickled brain I knew better, I guess…
See where people have died from drug overdoses in Broward
April 5, 2017 – Broward officials say a new map offers a hard look at how devastating the opioid epidemic has been in South Florida. The map, prepared and made public by Broward County on Wednesday, is meant to show how widespread the problem has become in the community. “The public gets a visual of just how serious this is,” said Dr. Craig Mallak, Broward County’s medical examiner. “They hear about it and just see numbers. This really brings it home to your neighborhood.”
San Francisco may open injection sites for heroin addicts VIDEO
April 5, 2017 – A drug-injection site has never been tried before in the United States. It would allow addicts to inject drugs in a designated place where counselors and health officers would be on hand. No potential sites have been determined. “We need to look at whether or not we should try this because it could possibly help,” said Breed. San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee had worried such an idea would enable addiction in a city funded place. But he says he is warming up to the idea. “If I have health experts on site, then it is not about free injections. They are about reducing harm on a long term sustainable basis. That is what I am supportive of,” said Lee. But perhaps the biggest supporters are the addicts themselves…
WATCH MORE @ KTVU.com
Stamina Not Scotch
Recovered alcoholic who couldn’t swim is now taking on the English Channel
April 6, 2017 – FOUR years ago alcoholic Luke Richards could barely swim the length of a swimming pool. Yet next year the Sandringham 43-year-old will take on the Everest of swims, the English Channel. The account manager has nearly died twice due to his excessive drinking, at one time swilling a litre of bourbon a day, barely able to go a few hours without a swig. He managed to function at work – just – but the spirits had taken their toll. He was a mess, emotionally, physically and mentally, and once tried to drink himself to death. “On Labour Day weekend of 2012 I attempted suicide and am only alive today by chance,”…
Drug Addicts Today Get More Love & Compassion, Especially If They’re White VIDEO
APRIL 7, 2017 – With the so-called “War On Drugs” so clearly a political and moral failure, Americans suffering from addiction today live in a more compassionate climate. More and more, drug addicts are seen as struggling with a public health issue, rather than one based on notions of crime and moral ineptitude. As the country faces a roiling opioid epidemic, politicians and policymakers are engaging in proactive measures to address the crisis, even going so far as to sanction safe havens for drug addicts to use drugs like heroin and cracking down on medical doctors who are too generous in prescribing painkillers.
One Family’s Story of Mental Illness and What Came After
APRIL 4, 2017 – NO ONE CARES ABOUT CRAZY PEOPLE – The Chaos and Heartbreak of Mental Health in America By Ron Powers 360 pp. Hachette Books. $28. In the opening chapter of his extraordinary and courageous book, the author and critic Ron Powers writes about a recurring dream in which he imagines his sanity as resting atop “a thin and fragile membrane that can easily be ripped open, plunging me into the abyss of madness, where I join the tumbling souls whose membranes have likewise been pierced over the ages.” The “horror and helplessness of the fall,” he goes on, “are intensified by an uncaring world.”
Silver Springs, FL., on the cusp of Ocala, FL,The Guest House Ocala. The Guest House Ocala, located on a beautiful 52-acre estate, is looking for a full-time Licensed Therapist to join our team. The Guest House will provide training and certification to become a Certified Trauma Therapist. Benefits include a very competitive salary based on experience and excellent benefits package including vacation. Candidate must have experience using experiential modalities with trauma survivors and clients with substance and process addictions. Preferred modalities included somatic experiencing, EMDR and psycho drama. Qualifications” Qualifications include: minimum of a Master’s degree, licensed in the state of Florida or willing to become immediately licensed in Florida, LMHC or LCSW preferred.
READ MORE @ TheGuestHouseOkala.com
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What is “brain hacking”? Tech insiders on why you should care that your phone is a slot machine VIDEO
April 9, 2017 – Have you ever wondered if all those people you see staring intently at their smartphones – nearly everywhere, and at all times – are addicted to them? According to a former Google product manager you are about to hear from, Silicon Valley is engineering your phone, apps and social media to get you hooked. He is one of the few tech insiders to publicly acknowledge that the companies responsible for programming your phones are working hard to get you and your family to feel the need to check in constantly.
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