August 22, 2024, Press Release from the Ohio Department of Public Safety:(COLUMBUS, Ohio) – The Ohio Narcotics Intelligence Center (ONIC) rele…
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June 4, 2024, Press Release from the Office of Ohio Governor Mike DeWine: (COLUMBUS, Ohio)—Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed an executive order today authorizing the Ohio Board of Pharmacy to immediately classify nine synthetic opioids as Schedule I controlled substances, effectively banning their sale and use in the state. These nine synthetic opioids are known as nitazenes. Initially developed decades ago as potential alternatives for morphine that were never approved for medical use, new nitazene compounds are increasingly being found in the illicit drug supply in Ohio.
Legislation was passed Thursday to commit the county's opioid settlement funds to get additional dollars from the OneOhio Recovery Foundation grant dollars. The state has more than a million dollars in the OneOhio program allocated for a fourteen-county region in northwest Ohio that includes Allen County. The application process is competitive, and the mental health and recovery services board has been working with multiple agencies to create programs for the possible grant.
The Center for Disease Control reports that the number of overdose deaths in Ohio has increased by 23% from 2019 to 2020. That erases the 23% decline in 2017. Local addiction service officials say the numbers for 2021 are already looking to surpass 2020 numbers in overdose deaths. They believe the pandemic may be a cause for the increase as people struggling with addiction may have lost their support system.
A former Polar Bear returned to the Ohio Northern University campus to chat with pharmacy students about pain management and the opioid crisis. Dr. Suzanne Nesbit, who is currently the director of pain management and palliative care at Johns Hopkins Health System, spoke for the 10th annual Sebok Pharmacy Lecture. She focused on the obligation pharmacists have to provide responsible care for their patients.
Will you show up on time? Can you pass a drug test? These are the questions that employers are asking potential employees in the age of the opioid drug epidemic.
A state auditor's report looking at opioids' impact on Ohio's Medicaid program shows the number of Medicaid recipients with an opioid-related diagnosis quadrupled from 2010 to 2016.
