Tag: heroin
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Free overdose-reversal kits are given to Kentucky hospitals with the highest recent rates of heroin-overdose deaths
Kentucky hospitals with the highest rates of heroin overdose deaths are receiving funding for heroin/opiate overdose reversal kits, which will be provided free of charge to every treated and discharged...
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State health commissioner backs needle exchanges, most controversial part of anti-heroin legislation passed this year
The Kentucky General Assembly cracked down in 2012 on “pill mills” that dispense painkillers irresponsibly, and addicts responded by going for heroin, creating a big problem in much of the...
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Congress is taking on opoid abuse and the nationwide increase in drug overdoses
Federal officials have become increasingly concerned about the rapid increase in drug overdoses across the country. The House Energy and Commerce Committee, in a series of hearings on the topic,...
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New health-related laws deal with heroin, dating violence, end-of-life care, prescriptions, colon-cancer and newborn screening
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News FRANKFORT, Ky. – The Kentucky General Assembly passed several health-related bills this session, including high-profile measures on heroin and dating violence. It did not...
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Heroin bill finally passes and is signed into law; Naloxone program put into motion; dating-violence bill sent to Beshear
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News The long-negotiated bill to tackle Kentucky’s heroin-overdose epidemic passed in the final hours of the 2015 legislative session. Almost immediately after the heroin bill...
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Deaths from drug overdoses and prescriptions for opiate treatment drugs are both rising, worrying state officials
Despite measures to discourage prescription drug abuse, Kentucky health officials report overdose deaths continue to rise and opioid treatment drugs are being prescribed “at alarming rates,” Kevin Wheatley reports for...
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UK professor develops nasal spray to deliver standard antidote to painkiller overdose; fast-tracked, in final clinical trials
A new lifesaving product to treat painkiller overdoses is in its final round of clinical trials at the University of Kentucky and is being fast-tracked by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration....
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Increasingly common heroin addiction overwhelms agencies
Jails, treatment facilities, drug courts and hospitals are struggling to provide the necessary help as more Kentuckians become addicted to heroin, Chris Kenning writes for The Courier-Journal: “In a state that...
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Beshear says statewide smoking ban ‘just a matter of time’
Gov. Steve Beshear said in an interview broadcast Sunday that Kentucky will have a statewide smoking ban once Kentuckians get more comfortable with the idea, but he didn’t say how...
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General Assembly’s failure to pass heroin bill incites wrath, calls for local action and a special session
In the final hours of the 2014 legislative session, the House failed to pass Senate Bill 5, which would have helped combat heroin abuse. Some heroin-recovery advocates and community leaders are...