Answer Addiction

Tag: preventing overdoses

  • Feds Try To Block Philly Safe Injection Site

    Feds Try To Block Philly Safe Injection Site

    Advocates and opponents of a proposed safe injection site pled their case during a recent federal hearing. 

    In Philadelphia, drug addiction is rampant. The city has struggled to clean up homeless encampments riddled with drug use and disease, but that just pushed the problem elsewhere.

    Now, the city’s mayor and other officials support a controversial plan: opening America’s first supervised injection site. 

    The federal government, however, is fighting to stop that. The Trump administration filed a lawsuit in February, and on Thursday (Sept. 5) during a federal hearing, William M. McSwain, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, personally argued that the proposed safe injection site is illegal. 

    Crack House Statute

    “If this opens up, the whole point of it existing is for addicts to come and use drugs,” McSwain said, according to the Philly Voice. That would violate the so-called “crack house statute,” a portion of the Controlled Substances Act introduced in the 1980s that makes it illegal to “manage any site for the purpose of unlawfully using a controlled substance,” the Voice reported. 

    In court, advocates and opponents debated the purpose of a safe injection site. McSwain and his team argued that the purpose is for people to use drugs, making the site illegal. But attorneys for Safehouse, a nonprofit that plans to open the proposed site, said that the purpose is to save lives and connect people with treatment. 

    Saving Lives, Offering Treatment

    “I dispute the idea that we’re inviting people for drug use. We’re inviting people to stay to be proximal to medical support,” said Ilana Eisenstein, chief attorney for Safehouse. 

    Ronda Goldfein, vice president of Safehouse, said that although the idea seems radical, it is not inherently different from the work that’s already being done with needle exchanges and Narcan programs. 

    She said, “If the law allows for the provision of clean equipment, and the law allows for the provision of naloxone to save your life, does the law really not allow you to provide support in that thin sliver in between those federal permissible activities?”

    However, McSwain argued that the seemingly small difference is a big deal. 

    “If Safehouse pulled an emergency truck up to the park where people are shooting up, I don’t think [the statute] would reach that,” he said. “If they had people come into the unit, that would be different.”

    The judge in the case could make a ruling at this point, or could request more hearings to decide whether or not the plans for the safe injection site can move forward. Safehouse and many people around Philly are holding out hope for another tool in the fight against overdose deaths. 

    “We recognize there’s a crisis here,” Goldfein said. “The goal would be to open as soon as possible.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Device To Automatically Stop Opioid Overdoses In Development

    Device To Automatically Stop Opioid Overdoses In Development

    The groundbreaking device would deliver naloxone throughout the body in the event of an overdose.

    Researchers at Purdue University are working on developing a device that can be injected under a person’s skin that will automatically deploy in the event of an overdose, delivering the opioid-blocking drug, naloxone, into their system.

    With this in place, a person’s life could be saved even if they overdose while alone, without anyone to call 911 or administer Narcan—the common naloxone-based nasal spray.

    According to Fast Company, the device holding the drug is being designed to be as simple as possible. The tiny capsule is plugged at one end with material that will melt when the metal touching it becomes hot, releasing the drug. This will require an additional device, about the size of a golf ball, that is worn on the arm just outside of the capsule and monitors the wearer’s vitals. 

    How It Will Work

    During an opioid overdose, the victim’s heart rate and breathing slow to dangerous levels. If this happens, the device would activate a strong magnetic field, heating up the metal touching the plug. The naloxone released into the body will block the opioid receptors in the brain, stopping the drug’s ability to affect the body, and saving the victim’s life.

    “The antidote is always going to be with you,” said Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Purdue, Hyowon “Hugh” Lee.

    This device is still in the development stage, and it will be at least a few years before it is made available to the public. It needs to be thoroughly tested and gain FDA approval. “If you assume the device is working and it doesn’t, it would be truly problematic,” Lee pointed out.

    However, Lee also believes that the device could be further improved and developed into something like a smartwatch, with the capsule injected in the wrist. It could also be used to administer other medications to people with life-threatening conditions such as severe allergies. Someone suffering a dangerous allergic reaction could have the device automatically administer a dose of epinephrine, eliminating the need for these individuals to carry EpiPens or rely on others to inject them.

    “People with allergies need epinephrine right away. This setup might remove the need for an epi pen,” Lee said.

    More High-Tech Solutions

    Purdue isn’t the only institution responding to the opioid crisis with high-tech solutions. A contractor from Boston recently began deploying a system he developed to create overdose-resistant bathrooms. John King’s invention can alert employees of convenience stores, coffee shops, and other establishments with single-use bathrooms if a person has fallen to the floor and hasn’t stood up for several seconds.

    This system has already allowed employees to respond quickly to overdose cases, ensuring that naloxone can be administered soon enough to save lives.

    View the original article at thefix.com