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As the opioid crisis has widened to involve illicit drugs like heroin and fentanyl, it has hit black and urban communities harder and harder. In 2011, the national overdose death rate for black Americans was 8.3 per 100,000, compared to 14.9 per 100,000 for white people. By 2017, the black overdose death rate had more than doubled to 19.8 per 100,000. Baltimore, Maryland, is a stark example of this, where black people make up most of the overdose deaths in the city. To see how the opioid epidemic has impacted black Hoosiers, check out this infographic.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced it would prosecute 60 doctors, pharmacists, medical professionals and others due to a connection allegedly involving opioid-pushing and healthcare fraud. In January 2019, the DOJ began searching data to find outliers in prescribing and filling patterns in areas suffering from high numbers of opioid overdoses and deaths in the Appalachia region. The DOJ is building its case to show that prescriptions were written and filled outside the normal course of medicine and for no legitimate medical purpose.
 The Indiana Professionals Recovery Program, in partnership with the Indiana Board of Pharmacy and the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency, is dedicated to providing all healthcare professionals suffering from substance use disorder the support, resources, advocacy and accountability needed to overcome their addiction. The program works to create a pathway for providers working in the healthcare industry to seek recovery and reentry into the workforce upon successful entry into long term recovery. If you suspect a co-worker, employee or family member in the healthcare industry is struggling with alcohol or drug addiction, contact the organization here.
Rapastinel, a drug created to help people living with major depressive disorder, is showing new promise in treating opioid withdrawal. Patients who are on medications for opioid withdrawal must take them for a long time, creating more opportunity for relapse. New research, conducted in rats, has recently demonstrated that rapastinel could be beneficial with treating opioid withdrawal symptoms within a few days, which are often the worst days of a withdrawal. The researchers also noted that thus far the drug has not produced any negative side effects. Because of this, it is possible that the findings of this study could make the drug a candidate for future testing in humans.
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