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A National Resource for Opioid Policy Science

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Note from the Co-Director

Rosalie Liccardo Pacula

Looking back in history, it is easy to spot moments that led to significant change (good and bad). We are now living through one of these moments: A global health pandemic requiring social distancing when millions are protesting the social and economic injustice our fellow Black Americans continue to suffer, an unstable economy with job losses at the levels of the Great Depression, and tremendous uncertainty about the future.

All of this is happening while deaths from opioid overdoses continue to rise as do indicators of ongoing opioid misuse. Access to treatment has been strengthened by new payment allowances for telehealth and reduced regulations on buprenorphine prescribing; at the same time, access is diminished as millions have lost employment-based insurance. Our communal wellbeing is threatened by feelings of isolation, anxiety, and despair.

Now is the time for communities to draw on the addiction and surveillance resources they started building before the pandemic to quickly identify populations and neighborhoods in particular need and target outreach and addiction resources to them. Individuals suffering from opioid addiction are likely to be at greatest risk of COVID-19 due to unstable housing and unstable health care, among other factors.

In this newsletter, we include materials that may be particularly helpful to communities during these challenging times. Now is the time to draw on what we already know from research and act fast to help those at greatest risk.

Stay safe, stay healthy, and care for your communities. – Rosalie Liccardo Pacula, Co-Director OPTIC

Relevant Products from OPTIC Researchers

A gloved hand holding a vial of buprenorphine, a treatment for opioid use disorder. Photo by Hailshadow/Getty Images

Photo by Hailshadow/Getty Images

An Epidemic in the Midst of a Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic strikes at a moment when our national response to the opioid crisis was beginning to coalesce. COVID-19 threatens to dramatically overshadow and reverse this progress. Read more »

A pharmacist fills a Suboxone prescription at Boston Healthcare for the Homeless Program in Massachusetts, January 14, 2013, photo by Brian Snyder/Reuters

Photo by Brian Snyder/Reuters

Examining Trends and Disparities in Treatment for Opioid Use Disorders

This article finds individuals living in counties with more people of color had less access to medication treatment for opioid use disorder. Read more »

West Virginia flag waving in the wind, photo by bkindler/Getty Images

Photo by bkindler/Getty Images

The Affordable Care Act In The Heart Of The Opioid Crisis

Among people with opioid use disorder in West Virginia, people of color were significantly less likely to receive buprenorphine and more likely to use naltrexone. Read more »

Close up of a nurse using a stethoscope to conduct a prenatal check on a pregnant woman, photo by SDI Productions/Getty Images

Photo by SDI Productions/Getty Images

Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder among Pregnant Women and Criminal Justice Involvement

Pregnant women with OUD referred by criminal justice agencies between 1992 and 2017 were consistently less likely to receive evidence-based treatment than women referred through other sources. Read more »

View All Publications »

Commentary and Resources

Relevant information and guidance for communities confronting opioids in the age of COVID-19

Fighting Two Battles: How CMS is Addressing the Opioid Epidemic in the Time of COVID-19 (IMPAQ International)

From Opioids to Coronavirus: Medicaid is a Crisis Response Program (The Hill)

Want to Stem the Rising Mental Health Crisis? Look Beyond the Usual Suspects for Help (Psych Central)

AMA Recommends Exceptions to Facilitate Opioid Use Disorder Treatment (American Medical Association)

COVID-19 Policy Recommendations for OUD, Pain, Harm Reduction (American Medical Association)

COVID-19: Telehealth for Opioid Addiction Interventions Webinar and Resources (Association for Addiction Professionals)

Pregnant woman icon, image by gaga vastard/Getty Images

1 in 5

pregnant women with OUD

were referred for treatment through a criminal justice agency.

(RAND Corporation)

National Perspectives

A national sampling of relevant research and insights

COVID-19 Pandemic Provides Opportunity to Realign Self-Help Groups with Medications for People with Opioid Use Disorder - Trad N, Wen H, Saloner B. Health Affairs

Opioid Overdose Death Following Criminal Justice Involvement: Linking Statewide Corrections and Hospital Databases to Detect Individuals at Highest Risk - Krawczyk N et al. Drug Alcohol Depen

Opioid Policy Changes During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond - Davis CS, Samuels EA. J Addict Med

Predictive Modeling of Opioid Overdose Using Linked Statewide Medical and Criminal Justice Data - Saloner B et al. JAMA Psychiatry

Psychological Aspects of the COVID-19 Pandemic - Blanco C, Wall MM, Olfson M. J Gen Intern Med

Structural Racism and the Opioid Overdose Epidemic: The Need for Antiracist Public Health Practice - Kunins HV. J Public Health Manag Pract

Forthcoming Presentations

July 23, 2020
Discussing the intertwined pandemics with Admiral Brett P. Giroir, MD, Assistant Secretary for Health, and Adam Leventhal, USC Institute for Addiction Science Director at The Intersection of Two Pandemics: COVID-19 and Addiction Webinar - Rosalie Liccardo Pacula

August 6, 2020
Presenting Session on "Evaluating Methods to Estimate the Effect of State Laws on Opioid-Related Outcomes in the Presence of Selection Bias" at Virtual Joint Statistical Meeting - Beth Ann Griffin

Leadership

Brad Stein

Bradley Stein

Director

Rosalie Liccardo Pacula

Rosalie Liccardo Pacula

Codirector

Beth Ann Griffin

Beth Ann Griffin

Codirector

 

OPTIC is designed to be a national resource, fostering innovative and high-quality research in opioid policy science, and developing and disseminating methods, tools, and information to the research community, policymakers, and other stakeholders.

http://www.rand.org/OPTIC

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