“Too many goodbyes: The pain and hope of loving an addict” – Al Jazeera
“I held my love for my father close, afraid of letting it show, as I waited for the call to tell me he had died.”
[Jawahir Al-Naimi/Al Jazeera]
by Brianna Bell
“My mother packed her bags and left my father when she was seven months pregnant with me, her belly swollen under her loose-fitting maternity dress. She planned to stay with her parents until my father ‘got his act together.’ But he never did, and she never returned.
“She raised me on her own, with the help of her parents. My childhood was quiet and simple. I read books in my spare time and went to camp every summer. For vacation we would take the train for free to Montreal, or New Brunswick, enjoying our frugal travels thanks to my mum’s employment with a railway company.
“Most weekends she was at work, so I spent Saturday and Sunday with my Maltese grandparents. My Nanna would cook stuffat-tal fenek (rabbit stew), and tell me it was Maltese chicken. I would watch hockey for hours with my Nannu, while we cracked peanuts into a bowl, shovelling handfuls of them into our mouths.
The first goodbye
“When my grandparents were not able to watch me, my mum would reluctantly drive me across town to visit my father. Our visits were rare and stilted, our relationship like a broken car that fails to ignite.
“I do not recall an affectionate hug or a tender word between us. I do remember empty beer cans piled high in a rubbish bin, the smell of cigarette smoke that coated the back of my throat, and the weight of my dad’s dog curled up in my lap.
“I felt lonely at my father’s house.”
Read this story in its entirety at Al Jazeera – click here.
WEBINAR | Be sure to let people you know about this special presentation on August 19; there will be morning and evening presentations.
The hazards of drugs in our communities is staggering. It’s not just about those who use drugs anymore. This presentation is a safety awareness program that is far-reaching.
The program is designed to provide the general public with current information on the Drug Crisis. This program is not just about those illegally using drugs, but innocent parties that need to understand the dangers of accidental exposure and health hazards of prescriptions, illicit opioid drugs, methamphetamine, BHO / Marijuana and designer drugs that are a safety risk. 
Download the above graphic as a .pdf file to share or print.
“Book Excerpt from Drugs Without the Hot Air” – The Scientist
“In Chapter 14, author David Nutt describes the opioid crisis currently besetting the US.”
“The current US prescription-opioid crisis is one of the most remarkable examples of medicine going wrong. Last year in the USA more people died from an opioid overdose than died from road traffic accidents, and more than the total casualties in the whole of the Vietnam war. The reasons for this are complex. They reflect a perfect storm of good intentions coupled with prescriber ignorance and commercial greed, occurring in a context of growing economic problems in some parts of the country, lack of social support systems, and individual despair, sometimes manifested by pain syndromes, in people who may well have been depressed. A vicious cycle of overprescribing of strong analgesics such as hydrocodone and oxycodone then developed that began the current opioid problem which has now morphed into the massive use of illicit opioids.”
Click here to continue reading this this article at The Scientist.
Did you see Google’s Super Bowl “remember” video?
Yesterday’s Super Bowl featured lots of commercials, but this Google commercial stands out.
“One of the biggest standouts came from Google, which showed that its home assistance service can do more than just set reminders or timers for day to day activities. Google’s Super Bowl commercial touched on a man’s memories of his dearly departed wife and how meaningful every nuance of her was to him over the course of their marriage.
“The commercial clearly resonated with viewers and garnered considerable chatter on Twitter, with one user saying ‘I’m in tears. Good job.'” – Yahoo News
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“Google’s lovely Super Bowl ad shows how sad the future will be” – MSN
“Official drug death stats are off by half” Futurity.org
“Deaths classified as drug-related for 15- to 64-year-olds hit 9% in 2016, up from about 4% about two decades prior, but new research suggests the true number is actually more than double that.”
“Activists and family members of loved ones who died in the opioid/heroin epidemic take part in a ‘Fed Up!’ rally at Capitol Hill on September 18, 2016 in Washington, DC.”(Credit: John Moore/Getty Images)
posted by Michele Berger-Penn
“‘It’s obvious that the drug epidemic is a major American disaster,’ says Samuel Preston, a professor of sociology and member of the Population Studies Center at the University of Pennsylvania. ‘The basic records being kept are annual reports on the number of deaths from drug overdose. But that’s only part of the picture.’
“Among this group of Americans in 2016, 63,000 deaths attributed to drug-related causes—mostly poisonings—but Preston and coauthor Dana Glei from Georgetown University estimate that the overall number of drug-associated deaths is far higher: around 142,000.
Read more at this Futurity article.
In 2017, The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reported that the state with the third highest overdose rate was Pennsylvania (44.3 per 100,000).
“The opioid overdose epidemic is the worst public health crisis in Pennsylvania, and the nation, in almost a generation. The Wolf Administration takes an all-hands-on deck approach to preventing addiction, saving lives and getting Pennsylvanians into treatment. This dashboard provides data behind Pennsylvania’s response to the crisis collected through the Governor’s Opioid Disaster Declaration.”
“Estimated Number of Drug Overdose Deaths in Pennsylvania in 2017 | Preliminary data is showing a decline in drug overdose deaths, but there is more work to do. Pennsylvania continues to focus on saving lives, expanding treatment access and getting patients into treatment.”
In 2017, the drug overdose deaths (by county) are:
- Berks – 85
- Lancaster – 108
- Lebanon – 25
Opioid crisis harms aging community
A new National Council on Aging report synthesizing the results of a national survey taken earlier this yearreveals that the aging network is spending more time addressing effects of the opioid epidemic, and older adults face increased financial concerns as a result of the crisis. Read the full issue brief for more findings and recommendations to address these issues.
New Medicare benefit: Opioid use disorder treatment – Health Management Associates
“Starting January 1, 2020, under the Calendar Year (CY) 2020 Physician Fee Schedule final rule, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will pay Opioid Treatment Programs (OTPs) through bundled payments for opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment services in an episode of care provided to people with Medicare Part B (Medical Insurance). OTPs must enroll in the Medicare program in order to receive reimbursement when these services are provided to Medicare patients.” – Medicare Website
“The new Medicare benefit for Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) treatment includes counseling, as well as medication-assisted treatment (MAT) and related items and services. This benefit was established by Congress in the SUPPORT Act of 2018 and is now being implemented by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Medicare beneficiaries, including those dually eligible for Medicare & Medicaid, are the fastest growing group of OUD patients. Beneficiaries may access one of two types of providers: Opioid Treatment Programs (OTPs) (e.g., methadone clinics) or physicians and other health professionals. Providers offering these services will receive a bundled payment, either weekly or monthly depending on the type of provider, that can repeat as long as a patient needs treatment. Based on early guidance, Medicare Advantage (MA) plans have already created 2020 benefit packages that provide a level of access to OTP services that is “consistent with prevailing community patterns of care.” Now that the new benefit is final, MA will need to cover both OTP and Physician OUD treatment for Now that the new benefit is final, MA will need to cover both OTP and Physician OUD treatment for 2021.
Please click here or on the image above to review the HMA Insights for additional details and key questions that HMA has identified and continues to monitor.
“Opioid / scam awareness” FREE Link training affords exceptional opportunity for everyone
“The face of the nation’s opioid epidemic increasingly is gray and wrinkled. But that face often is overlooked in a crisis that frequently focuses on the young.”
And this is the singular reason the Pennsylvania Link to Aging and Disability Resources | Berks-Lancaster-Lebanon Service Area asked Special Agent Alan McGill to come to our counties for the above presentations in each county.
McGill is a Special Agent with the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office and those who attended the presentations in Lebanon and Lancaster all agreed: THIS WAS AN EXCEPTIONALLY WELL DONE SESSION THAT IS SO IMPORTANT. (The Berks County presentation is today at the McGlinn Conference Center in Reading.)
Following the “Opioids & Dangerous Drugs” presentation, Jerry Mitchell, Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office education & outreach | scam awareness subject matter expert facilitated a dynamic brief mini-presentation about scams and fraud.
“The heroin and opioid epidemic is the number one public health and public safety challenge facing Pennsylvania. In 2016, 4,642 Pennsylvanians died from overdoses – a 37 percent increase from the year before. An average of 14 Pennsylvanians die every day from overdose, and based on available data from 2017 the death toll will only continue to rise.
“Opioids come in many different forms with many different names, including OxyContin, Percocet, Vicodin, Codeine, Hydrocodone, Morphine and Heroin
“Health effects of prolonged opioid use:
- Depression
- Liver disease
- Heart disease
- Hepatitis C (through shared needles)
- HIV/AIDS (through shared needles)
- Brain damage
- Death (by overdose)
“Opioids are often stolen from someone with a legitimate prescription. Seventy percent of people that illegally use prescription drugs admit getting them from family and friends. The number one source of drugs for teenagers is home medicine cabinets.
“Opioids can also be obtained when a person is legally prescribed a drug and then abuses it, prescriptions are forged and altered, or the medications are purchased from a dealer illegally selling prescription drugs.” – SOURCE: Office of the Attorney General Website
There is so much evidence that opioid and other substances are being sought and used by older persons. “Older adults are among the groups affected by this problem because Continue reading →
“The secret opioid memo that could have slowed an epidemic” – The New York Times
Producer/Director John Pappas
“A confidential government document containing evidence so critical it had the potential to change the course of an American tragedy was kept in the dark for more than a decade. The document, known as a ‘prosecution memo,’ details how government lawyers believed that Purdue Pharma, the maker of the powerful opioid, OxyContin, knew early on that the drug was fueling a rise in abuse and addiction. They also gathered evidence indicating that the company’s executives had misled the public and Congress.
“”The Weekly’ shines a light on that 2006 Justice Department memo and its consequences for today’s wave of lawsuits against opioid makers and members of the Sackler family, which owns Purdue Pharma.” – Click here to continue reading this article at The New York Times.
