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Addiction Disorders
Helping hospitalized patients address addiction with empathy
Helping hospitalized patients address addiction with empathy
Certified recovery specialist Eric Ezzi brings compassionate care to for patients dealing with substance use, a role that is part Penn Medicine’s efforts to address the urgent drug addiction crisis.
New Penn Medicine Nudge Unit pilots show simple questions can improve care
New Penn Medicine Nudge Unit pilots show simple questions can improve care
Experts at the Penn Medicine Center for Addiction Medicine and Policy have seen success in treatment after posing one question: “Why not treat alcohol use the same way we’ve been treating opioid use?”
One in six patients with opioid use disorder leaving the hospital before completing treatment
One in six patients with opioid use disorder leaving the hospital before completing treatment
A new Penn Medicine analysis shows that discharges too early for patients with opioid use disorder increased over 50% between 2016 and 2020.
The new U.S. plan to target xylazine-laced fentanyl
The new U.S. plan to target xylazine-laced fentanyl
Researchers from Penn LDI, in conjunction with the Center for Health Economics of Treatment Interventions for Substance Use Disorder, analyze the plan and raise the question of whether it goes far enough.
Auto-nudges increase emergency department treatment of opioid use disorder
Auto-nudges increase emergency department treatment of opioid use disorder
A Penn Medicine study finds assessment for opioid withdrawal doubles when a triage screening question is paired with electronic health record automated prompts.
Data shows disparities among alcohol use disorder diagnosis among veterans
Data shows disparities among alcohol use disorder diagnosis among veterans
New Penn Medicine research shows how AUD diagnoses differ among veterans, given evidence that exposure to trauma, including combat, is a risk factor.
The economics of addiction
The economics of addiction
Professor of Economics Jeremy Greenwood’s research is uncovering information about the opioid crisis, its effects on the labor shortage, and the law of unintended consequences.
Promising efforts to mitigate the opioid crisis
Promising efforts to mitigate the opioid crisis
Margaret Lowenstein, an LDI senior fellow and assistant professor of medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine discusses the increase in opioid and drug overdoses since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Parental nicotine use and addiction risk for children
Parental nicotine use and addiction risk for children
In research done using rats, Penn Nursing’s Heath Schmidt and colleagues found that males that engaged in voluntary nicotine use had offspring more likely to do so, too. Some offspring also developed impaired memory and anxiety-like behavior.
Program issuing mailed kits doubles rate of leftover opioids disposal
Program issuing mailed kits doubles rate of leftover opioids disposal
A Penn study finds that patients of orthopaedic and urologic procedures were more likely to dispose of their extra opioid tablets when they received kits in the mail to do so.
In the News
Philadelphia Inquirer
Mayor Parker’s plan to ‘remove the presence of drug users’ from Kensington raises new questions
Shoshana Aronowitz of the School of Nursing and Ashish Thakrar of the Perelman School of Medicine comment on the lack of specificity in Philadelphia’s plan to remove drug users from Kensington and on the current state of drug treatment in the city.
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WHYY (Philadelphia)
Penn study finds ‘dramatic rise’ in patients with opioid addiction who leave hospitals early, against medical advice
Ashish Thakrar of the Perelman School of Medicine comments on his research into the increase in early discharge rates that is co-occurring with the rapid spread of fentanyl in street drug supplies in Philadelphia and across the country.
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The New York Times
How family history influences your drinking
Henry Kranzler of the Perelman School of Medicine says that complete abstinence is an extreme solution for alcohol use disorder but is the one that works the best.
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Associated Press
Election offices are sent envelopes with fentanyl or other substances. Authorities are investigating
Jeanmarie Perrone of the Perelman School of Medicine says that studies simulating exposure from opening envelopes containing powders showed that very little, if any, of the powder becomes aerosolized to cause toxicity through inhalation.
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Prevention
The most exciting health breakthroughs of 2023
Bonnie Milas of the Perelman School of Medicine discusses the dangers of fentanyl and recommends keeping Narcan in household medicine chests.
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WHYY (Philadelphia)
Camden County launches virtual reality training program to teach people how to use Narcan for drug overdoses
The School of Nursing and the Annenberg School for Communication have partnered with New Jersey’s Camden County to create a virtual reality training video for administering the opioid-reversing drug Narcan.
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