Alternatives to Arrest for Illicit Opioid Use: A Joint Criminal Justice and Healthcare Treatment Collaboration

Opioid overdoses continue to be a leading cause of death in the US. This public health crisis warrants innovative responses to help prevent fatal overdose. There is continued advocacy for collaborations between public health partners to create joint responses. The high correlation between persons with opioid use disorder who have a history of involvement in the criminal justice system is widely recognized, and allows for treatment intervention opportunities. Law enforcement-led treatment initiatives are still relatively new, with a few sparse early programs emerging almost a decade ago and only gaining popularity in the past few years. A lack of published methodologies creates a gap in the knowledge of applied programs that are effective and can be duplicated. This article seeks to outline an interagency relationship between police and healthcare that illustrates arrest is not the only option that law enforcement may utilize when encountering persons who use illicit substances. Program methods of a joint initiative between law enforcement and healthcare in a large, metropolitan area will be reviewed, supplemented with law enforcement overdose data and statistics on law enforcement treatment referrals.

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A history of opioid abuse: Why buprenorphine is superior for the management of opioid use disorder and pain

Journal of Opioid Management ◽

10.5055/jom.2021.0641 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 17 (7) ◽

pp. 43-50

Author(s):

Michael D. Komrowski, MS ◽

Nitin K. Sekhri, MD

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Opioid Use Disorder ◽

Opioid Abuse ◽

Common Side Effect ◽

Opioid Use ◽

Health Crisis ◽

Public Health Crisis ◽

History Of ◽

Opioid Medications ◽

Regulatory Economic

Opioid abuse represents a public health crisis that has significant associated morbidity and mortality. Since beginning in the early 1990’s, the opioid abuse epidemic has been difficult to control due to regulatory, economic, and psychosocial factors that have perpetuated its existence. This era of opioid abuse has been punctuated by three distinct rises in mortality, precipitated by unique public health problems that needed to be addressed. Patients affected by opioid abuse have been historically treated with either methadone or naltrexone. While these agents have clinical utility supported by robust literature, we the authors posit that buprenorphine is a superior therapy for both opioid use disorder (OUD) as well as pain. This primacy is due to the pharmacological properties of buprenorphine which render it unique among other opioid medications. One such property is buprenorphine’s ceiling effect of respiratory depression, a common side effect and complicating factor in the administration of many classical opioid medications. This profile renders buprenorphine safer, while simultaneously retaining therapeutic utility in the medical practitioner’s pharmacopeia for the treatment of opioid use disorder and pain.

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Opioids and Infectious Diseases: A Converging Public Health Crisis

The Journal of Infectious Diseases ◽

10.1093/infdis/jiz133 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 220 (3) ◽

pp. 346-349 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Tara A Schwetz ◽

Thomas Calder ◽

Elana Rosenthal ◽

Sarah Kattakuzhy ◽

Anthony S Fauci

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Infectious Diseases ◽

Opioid Use Disorder ◽

Soft Tissue Infections ◽

Opioid Use ◽

Therapeutic Approaches ◽

Predisposing Factor ◽

Health Crisis ◽

Public Health Crisis ◽

Immunodeficiency Virus

Abstract A converging public health crisis is emerging because the opioid epidemic is fueling a surge in infectious diseases, such as human immunodeficiency virus infection with or without AIDS, the viral hepatitides, infective endocarditis, and skin and soft-tissue infections. An integrated strategy is needed to tailor preventive and therapeutic approaches toward infectious diseases in people who misuse and/or are addicted to opioids and to concurrently address the underlying predisposing factor for the infections—opioid use disorder. This commentary highlights the unique and complementary roles that the infectious diseases and substance use disorder communities can play in addressing this crisis of dual public health concerns.

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Pharmacists on the front-line of solving a public health crisis: Increasing access to medications for opioid use disorder

Journal of the American Pharmacists Association ◽

10.1016/j.japh.2019.10.014 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 60 (2) ◽

pp. 297-303 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Alex J. Luli ◽

Mark Bounthavong ◽

Jonathan H. Watanabe

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Opioid Use Disorder ◽

Opioid Use ◽

Front Line ◽

Health Crisis ◽

Public Health Crisis

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Racism as Public Health Crisis: Assessment and Review of Municipal Declarations and Resolutions Across the United States

Frontiers in Public Health ◽

10.3389/fpubh.2021.686807 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

Author(s):

Dara D. Mendez ◽

Jewel Scott ◽

Linda Adodoadji ◽

Christina Toval ◽

Monica McNeil ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

United States ◽

The United States ◽

Municipal Governments ◽

Health Crisis ◽

Public Health Crisis ◽

The Us ◽

Data Content ◽

History Of ◽

Key Driver

Racism in the United States has been cited as a key driver of racial health inequities. Racism as a public health crisis has been in the forefront, particularly with respect to state and municipal governments that have developed legislation, resolutions, and declarations. This policy brief includes a review of resolutions and declarations across the US related to Racism as a Public Health Crisis through the end of September 2020. There were 125 resolutions reviewed for content related to the history of racism, reference to racial health equity data, content related to action steps or implementation, and any accompanying funding or resources. We found that the majority of policies name racism as critical in addressing racial inequities in health with limited details about specific actions, funding, or resources.

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No Game for Boys to Play: The History of Youth Football and the Origins of a Public Health Crisis by Kathleen Bachynski

The Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth ◽

10.1353/hcy.2021.0000 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

pp. 177-179

Author(s):

David K. Wiggins

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Health Crisis ◽

Public Health Crisis ◽

Youth Football ◽

History Of

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Suga will hold Japan steady in short term only

Emerald Expert Briefings ◽

10.1108/oxan-db255050 ◽

2020 ◽

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Foreign Policy ◽

Presidential Election ◽

Short Term ◽

Health Crisis ◽

Content Type ◽

Policy Initiatives ◽

Public Health Crisis ◽

The Us ◽

Us Presidential Election

Significance He leaves office having failed to achieve his ambition to reform Japan’s constitution, and is widely seen as having mismanaged the most serious public health crisis in decades. Impacts New foreign policy initiatives are unlikely until after the US presidential election. Abe could make a decision before leaving office on whether Japan should acquire pre-emptive strike capabilities. No moves on constitution revision are likely for the next twelve months at least. Japan would be at a disadvantage if a foreign policy crisis were to occur in the next twelve months, and the next few weeks in particular. Whether the Olympics next summer go well will have some influence on whether Suga stays on as leader.

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The Intertwined History of Malingering and Brain Injury: An Argument for Structural Competency in Traumatic Brain Injury

The Journal of Law Medicine & Ethics ◽

10.1017/jme.2021.55 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 49 (3) ◽

pp. 365-371

Author(s):

Stephen T. Casper

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Traumatic Brain Injury ◽

Brain Injury ◽

Brain Injuries ◽

Health Crisis ◽

Sources Of Uncertainty ◽

Public Health Crisis ◽

Structural Competency ◽

History Of ◽

The Cost

AbstractEvery year millions of people suffer minor brain injuries, many of which occur in collision sports. While there has been substantial commentary and debate about the nature of this public health crisis, it is clear that the scientific and clinical arguments reflect values preferences and judgments that are often invisible in documents which combine artful language with undue focus paid to sources of uncertainty at the cost of clarity and transparency. This essay gives a brief history of these patterns and proposes a remedy.

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Overview

Substance Use Disorders ◽

10.1093/med/9780190920197.003.0007 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 121-138

Author(s):

Yngvild Olsen ◽

Anika A. H. Alvanzo ◽

Jarratt D. Pytell

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

United States ◽

The United States ◽

Health Impacts ◽

Opioid Use ◽

The Us ◽

Significant Public Health ◽

History Of ◽

Opioid Use Disorders ◽

Barriers To Use

Substance use disorders (SUDs) are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States. In spite of the significant public health impacts of SUDs, medications approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are underutilized for the treatment of SUDs. This chapter reviews the history of FDA-approved medications for alcohol, nicotine, and opioid use disorders and provides some background on barriers to use of these medications to treat patients with SUDs. Suggestions are provided to guide clinicians on a path forward to reduce these barriers and increase the use of FDA-approved medications for the treatment of SUDs.

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Association between Participation in Counseling and Retention in a Buprenorphine-Assisted Treatment Program for People Experiencing Homelessness with Opioid Use Disorder

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph182111072 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (21) ◽

pp. 11072

Author(s):

Amanda R. W. Berry ◽

Tracy L. Finlayson ◽

Luke M. Mellis ◽

Lianne A. Urada

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Cohort Analysis ◽

Retention In Care ◽

Opioid Use Disorder ◽

San Diego County ◽

Opioid Use ◽

Health Crisis ◽

Medication Assisted Treatment ◽

Retrospective Cohort Analysis ◽

Human Habitation

The opioid epidemic is a public health crisis that disproportionately affects our unsheltered neighbors. Because medication-assisted treatment (MAT) is effective for preventing deaths from drug overdose and retention is associated with better health outcomes, there is a clear need for more research on factors impacting retention in care. This retrospective cohort analysis examines the relationship between attendance in counseling and retention on buprenorphine for three or more months for individuals experiencing homelessness being treated at a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) and Public Health Service Act §330(h) Health Care for the Homeless Program grantee in San Diego County, California. The cohort included 306 adults experiencing homelessness who had at least one prescription for buprenorphine and participated in a MAT program between 2017 and 2019. The sample included 64.4% men, almost exclusively white, and 35% lived in a place not meant for human habitation. Of the sample, 97 patients were retained at 3 months and 209 were not. Results from a logistic regression model showed that counseling appointments were positively associated with retention at three months (OR = 1.57, p < 0.001). Findings from this study inform future MAT program design components for people experiencing homelessness.

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