Addiction Programs Adapt To Meet Challenges of Pandemic And A Rising Need

Earlier this year, a National Institutes of Health (NIH) examination of death certificates in the U.S. showed a sharp rise in alcohol-related deaths between 1999 and 2017. Connecticut mirrored those numbers, and addiction organizations stepped up their efforts to reach those in need. Then came the pandemic. Treatment centers, support groups and the state were suddenly ordered to shut down. “We like to say the opposite of addiction is connection,” said Thomas Russo, spokesman for the Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery (CCAR).

Fentanyl Crisis Prompts Change In Treatment Strategies

Joseph Deane had been drug free for months before he overdosed in the bathroom of a restaurant in New Haven last December. He couldn’t resist when his dealer offered drugs. Unfortunately, the dope turned out to be fentanyl. Deane, just 23 years old, had been fighting addiction for years, but fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, took his life because it’s 50 to 100 times more powerful than heroin. After months without drugs, his body couldn’t handle it.

Doctors Slow To Adopt Medication-Assisted Therapy For Opioid Treatment

William Evans grew up in Brookfield, a high school tennis player from a family with an Ivy League pedigree. By the time he was working at his first job after college, he was addicted to opioids, spending $25,000 in less than a year and driving to Philadelphia twice a week to buy drugs on the street. Now 37, Evans hasn’t used illegal drugs since 2006. He is married and has a 3-year-old daughter, a home in Trumbull, and a sales job at a software company. He attributes his sobriety to counseling and medication to treat his addiction.

Yale: Opioid Addiction Treatment In ED Is Cost-Effective

As the opioid epidemic deepens, Yale researchers say starting treatment with medication is the most cost-effective way to treat patients in hospital emergency departments. People with opioid addiction often seek treatment in EDs for overdoses and other ailments. Those who receive buprenorphine, a medication that reduces drug cravings, in the ED incur lower health care costs over the following month than those who get a referral to treatment services or receive a brief intervention with a facilitated referral, according to a new analysis of a randomized clinical trial. The analysis, published today in the journal “Addiction,” compared the estimated health care costs for patients over the 30 days following their ED visit. Those costs included ED care, addiction treatment, inpatient and outpatient costs and medications.

Drug Treatment Centers Fined, Placed On Probation

A company that runs substance abuse treatment centers in New Haven and Bridgeport has been fined $10,000 and each facility has been placed on probation for two years after state health inspectors found various violations at the sites. New Era Rehabilitation Center Inc. faces the disciplinary action following unannounced inspections that took place in September and October of 2013, according to two state Department of Public Health consent orders signed earlier this month. The company was fined $5,000 for violations at its New Haven facility, 311 East St., and $5,000 for violations at its Bridgeport site, 3851 Main St. New Era Executive Director Dr. Ebenezer Kolade signed the consent orders but the company, which specializes in methadone maintenance, denies the allegations and admits no wrongdoing. A woman who answered the phone at New Era’s New Haven location Wednesday said the company had no comment before hanging up.