KHadley

About Karen Hadley

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So far Karen Hadley has created 36 blog entries.

The Plusses and Minuses of MAT Drugs

By |2022-04-07T17:23:55-04:00January 24th, 2022|CSDAP Original Content, Medical Model, Policy Makers, Service Providers, Suboxone (Buprenorphine), Treatment Drugs (non-Suboxone)|

Methadone and various formulations containing buprenorphine are treatment drugs used in medication-assisted treatment, usually referred to as MAT. These are the MAT drugs approved for treatment of opioid addiction (opioid painkillers, heroin, fentanyl). We will take a look at the minus side as well as the plus side of these opioid addition treatment drugs. Treatment with MAT drugs can be right for some people. But anyone choosing this treatment so they can leave addiction behind should be prepared for the minus side of MAT.

Is an Opioid Distributor Still Seeking to Profit from the Opioid Epidemic?

By |2022-03-25T13:10:59-04:00January 19th, 2022|CSDAP Original Content, Medical Model, Pharma, Suboxone (Buprenorphine), Treatment Drugs (non-Suboxone)|

In 2018, McKesson committed the astronomical sum of $100 million to support a new non-profit group, the FORE Foundation. Is there any reason, really, to think twice about this collaboration between McKesson and the FORE Foundation? The answer might be "yes." This type of action was one of the tactics used by Purdue Pharma to smooth the path to increased opioid prescribing—getting a non-profit to spend your money making increased use of your products possible. In the end, even this move could be all about profits.

This again? “LSD helps to treat alcoholism”

By |2022-04-07T17:42:55-04:00January 19th, 2022|Research, Studies and Reports, Treatment Drugs (non-Suboxone)|

The powerful hallucinogen LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) has potential as a treatment for alcoholism, according to a retrospective analysis of studies published in the late 1960s and early 1970s… Psychedelics were promoted by psychiatrists in the 1950s as having a range of medical uses — to treat conditions such as schizophrenia, for example — before political pressures in the United States and elsewhere largely ended the work.

Decriminalization — Harm Reduction — Medication — Have We Forgotten About Rehabilitation?

By |2022-02-10T21:49:53-05:00January 18th, 2022|Medical Model, Pathways to Recovery, Suboxone (Buprenorphine)|

A stunning report this week that an estimated 93,000 people died of drug overdoses in 2020 has renewed attention on the nation’s other epidemic: The drug crisis that the government, health-care workers and street-level activists have been battling unsuccessfully for more than two decades... A wide spectrum of changes has been offered by government, academic and think tank researchers, criminal justice experts and health-care workers, and lay people to try to help the nation’s more than 8.1 million people with substance use disorders. Solutions range from completely decriminalizing the consumption of drugs, as Portugal did in 2001, to overturning the way the health-care system treats users.

Serotonin Syndrome “Strikingly High” in Patients Receiving Buprenorphine

By |2022-04-07T17:44:00-04:00January 17th, 2022|Research, Studies and Reports, Service Providers, Suboxone (Buprenorphine)|

The prevalence of serotonin syndrome, which, at its most severe, is a potentially life-threatening drug reaction that increases serotonin levels, is strikingly high in patients receiving buprenorphine (Suboxone, Reckitt Benckiser) on an outpatient basis for opioid addiction, a single-center study shows. "The Suboxone clinic presented so many cases, so many women having ankle clonus and agitation and tremor, I thought that this was worth reporting. In fact, 43% of our patients showed some degree of serotonin syndrome. Yet, many mild and moderate cases of serotonin syndrome go unrecognized," lead researcher Shawn Cassady, MD, from the First Step clinic, in Cockeysville, Maryland, told Medscape Medical News.

SAMHSA Offers Sound Guidelines for Well-Rounded Recovery

By |2022-04-07T17:44:31-04:00January 14th, 2022|CSDAP Original Content, Pathways to Recovery|

Navigating the many choices of recovery programs can be baffling until you grasp the Four Dimensions of Recovery outlined by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. These dimensions provide insight into the qualities of a rehabilitation program that has a chance of true and lasting success.

New Bay Area Program Emphasizes Abstinence Only Drug Policy

By |2022-06-17T16:40:12-04:00January 12th, 2022|Communities, Pathways to Recovery, Real Stories, Service Providers|

An uprising is taking place in San Francisco. In a city now known as much for its humanitarian crisis and social breakdown as for its steep hills and beautiful bridges, formerly incarcerated people, mostly black men, are refusing to be homeless, addicted, and unprepared for life and success. On September 7, the Positive Directions Treatment, Recovery, and Prevention Academy, an alternative-sentencing program that serves up to 84 formerly incarcerated men, opened its doors. Program participants receive up to 30 months of transformational support in a structured residential setting, at no cost to them. Spearheaded by Steve Adami, director of the Adult Probation Department’s Reentry Division, and in partnership with Westside Community Services and Positive Direction Equals Change, the Academy works to help former prisoners live honorably and independently.

U.S. judge tosses $4.5 billion deal shielding Sacklers from opioid lawsuits

By |2022-02-10T14:58:23-05:00January 10th, 2022|Communities, Pharma, Policy Makers|

OxyContin bottlesNEW YORK, Dec 16 (Reuters) - A federal judge overturned a roughly $4.5 billion settlement that legally shielded members of the Sackler family who stand accused of helping fuel the U.S. opioid epidemic, a decision that threatened to upend the bankruptcy reorganization of their company, OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP.

U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon said in a written opinion on Thursday the New York bankruptcy court that approved the settlement did not have authority to grant the Sacklers the legal protection from future opioid litigation that formed the linchpin of Purdue’s reorganization.

The Sackler Act: Will it Provide Justice for America? 

By |2022-03-25T13:13:17-04:00January 10th, 2022|CSDAP Original Content, Legislation, Regulation & Litigation, Pharma|

In response to the legal maneuverings of the Sackler family as they attempt to escape the consequences of their actions, Representative Carolyn B. Maloney of New York introduced the Sacker Act on March 19, 2021. The full title of this bill is “The SACKLER Act and Other Policies to Promote Accountability for the Sackler Family’s Role in the Opioid Epidemic.” The purpose of this legislation is to prevent individuals who have not filed for bankruptcy, like members of the Sackler family, from obtaining releases from individual liability through bankruptcy proceedings. This is exactly what the Sacklers have been trying to do—and succeeding until the most recent development on this matter on December 16, 2021.

Medication-Assisted Treatment in the Real World

By |2022-03-25T13:14:03-04:00January 6th, 2022|CSDAP Original Content, Medical Model, Real Stories, Suboxone (Buprenorphine)|

Medication-assisted treatment with products containing buprenorphine seems to be the primary solution encouraged by official sources. But, determining the value of medication-assisted treatment requires considering both peer-reviewed studies and real-life experience in the calculation of risks and rewards. Important aspects of buprenorphine use are its ongoing effects on quality of life and the difficulties people encounter when withdrawing from it.

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