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Does opioid agonist treatment reduce overdose mortality risk in people who are older or have physical comorbidities? Cohort study using linked administrative health data in New South Wales, Australia, 2002-2017. 

Larney, S, Jones, NR, Hickman, M, Nielsen, S, Ali, R, Degenhardt, L. 

Addiction. 2023; 000– 0. doi.org/10.1111/add.16178

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/add.16178

Exploring the contextual risk factors and characteristics of individuals who died from the acute toxic effects of opioids and other illegal substances: listening to the coroner and medical examiner voice. 

Thompson T, Rotondo J, Enns A, Leason J, Halverson J, Huyer D, Kuo M, Lapointe L, May-Hadford J, Orpana H. 

Health Promot Chronic Dis Prev Can. 2023 Feb;43(2):51-61. English, French. doi: 10.24095/hpcdp.43.2.01. PMID: 36794822.

https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/reports-publications/health-promotion-chronic-disease-prevention-canada-research-policy-practice/vol-43-no-2-2023/exploring-contextual-risk-factors-characteristics-individuals-died-acute-toxic-effects-opioids-illegal-substances-coroner-medical-examiner.html

Buprenorphine involvement in opioid overdose deaths: A retrospective analysis of postmortem toxicology in Marion County, Indiana, 2015-2021. 

Del Pozo B, Atkins D, Andraka-Christou B, Wightman R, Clark MH, Huynh P, Ray B. 

Drug Alcohol Depend Rep. 2023 Mar;6:100131. doi: 10.1016/j.dadr.2023.100131. Epub 2023 Jan 4. PMID: 36777895; PMCID: PMC9910498.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9910498/

Overdose Alert and Response Technologies: State-of-the-art Review. 

Oteo A, Daneshvar H, Baldacchino A, Matheson C. 

J Med Internet Res. 2023 Feb 15;25:e40389. doi: 10.2196/40389. PMID: 36790860; PMCID: PMC9978985.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9978985/

Part II: Missouri's Fentanyl Poisonings Rise to Record Levels. 

Stoecker WV, Smith CL, Connors E. 

Mo Med. 2023 Jan-Feb;120(1):10-14. PMID: 36860612; PMCID: PMC9970332.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9970332/

KANADA. Vancouver Island: First Nations women overrepresented among B.C. toxic drug deaths: doctor

Vancouver - The top doctor at British Columbia's First Nations Health Authority says Indigenous people, especially women, are dying from toxic drugs at disproportionately high rates as the overdose crisis continues “unabated,” nearly seven years after the province first declared a public health emergency. (CTV News Vancouver Island, Kanada, 01.02.2023)

https://vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca/first-nations-women-overrepresented-among-b-c-toxic-drug-deaths-doctor-1.6254442

I Don't Believe a Person Has to Die When Trying to Get High: Overdose Prevention and Response Strategies in Rural Illinois. 

Walters SM, Felsher M, Frank D, Jaiswal J, Townsend T, Muncan B, Bennett AS, Friedman SR, Jenkins W, Pho MT, Fletcher S, Ompad DC. 

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Jan 16;20(2):1648. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20021648. PMID: 36674402; PMCID: PMC9864395.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9864395/

Men have approximately 2- to 3-fold greater overdose mortality than women for synthetic opioids, heroin and psychostimulants including cocaine across the lifespan: Analysis of state-level CDC data for 2020-2021. 

Butelman ER, Huang Y, Goldstein RZ, Alia-Klein N. 

medRxiv [Preprint]. 2023 Jan 26:2023.01.20.23284833. doi: 10.1101/2023.01.20.23284833. PMID: 36711659; PMCID: PMC9882660.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9882660/

Individual and social network correlates of responding to multiple overdoses among a cohort of people who use drugs. 

Wagner KD, Marks C, Felsher M, Latkin C, Pearson JL, Falade-Nwulia OO. 

Drug Alcohol Depend Rep. 2022 Dec;5:100107. doi: 10.1016/j.dadr.2022.100107. Epub 2022 Oct 7. PMID: 36688935; PMCID: PMC9854250.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9854250/

An evaluation of the association between specific post-overdose care services in emergency departments and subsequent treatment engagement. 

Chambers LC, Hallowell BD, Samuels EA, Daly M, Baird J, Beaudoin FL. 

J Am Coll Emerg Physicians Open. 2023 Jan 11;4(1):e12877. doi: 10.1002/emp2.12877. PMID: 36643599; PMCID: PMC9833281.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9833281/

Lassen sich Todesfälle durch Drogentrends vorhersagen?

Liefert der Konsum von Kokain, Crystal und Ecstasy in der Partyszene Hinweise zu allgemeinen Drogentrends? Gibt es einen Zusammenhang mit Drogentoten in der Bevölkerung? Ein Forschungsteam aus New York hat sich mit diesen Fragen beschäftigt. (drugcom.de, 04.01.2023)

https://www.drugcom.de/news/lassen-sich-todesfaelle-durch-drogentrends-vorhersagen/

An integrated LSTM-HeteroRGNN model for interpretable opioid overdose risk prediction. 

Dong X, Wong R, Lyu W, Abell-Hart K, Deng J, Liu Y, Hajagos JG, Rosenthal RN, Chen C, Wang F. 

Artif Intell Med. 2023 Jan;135:102439. doi: 10.1016/j.artmed.2022.102439. Epub 2022 Nov 3. PMID: 36628797; PMCID: PMC9630306.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9630306/

Association of sex work and social-structural factors with non-fatal overdose among women who use drugs in Vancouver, Canada. 

Harris MT, Goldenberg S, Cui Z, Fairbairn N, Milloy MS, Hayashi K, Samet JH, Walley AY, Nolan S. 

Int J Drug Policy. 2023 Jan 12;112:103950. doi: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2022.103950. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36640591.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0955395922003668

USA. New York City Releases 2021 Overdose Data Showing Unprecedented Overdose Levels

Overdose rates show an increase in racial, economic, age, and neighborhood-level inequities in overdose deaths. (NYC Government, USA, 12.01.2023)

https://www.nyc.gov/site/doh/about/press/pr2023/overdose-rates-reach-unprecedented-levels.page

Somalia. Somalia's opioid overdose: Young, female and addicted

It was the discovery of the body of a 22-year-old woman on the streets of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, last year that brought into the open the problem of female drug addiction in the city. Health workers said she died from an opioid overdose. (BBC, UK, 27.12.2023)

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-64032267

Substance use, injection risk behaviors, and fentanyl-related overdose risk among a sample of PWID post-Hurricane Maria. 

Abadie, R., Cano, M., Habecker, P. et al.

Harm Reduct J 19, 129 (2022). doi.org/10.1186/s12954-022-00715-4

https://harmreductionjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12954-022-00715-4

Zahl der Drogentoten unter US-Jugendlichen steigt dramatisch

Washington – Die Zahl der an einer Drogenüberdosis gestorbenen Kinder und Jugendlichen ist in den USA dramatisch gestiegen. Von 2019 bis 2021 habe sich die Zahl der Drogentodesfälle unter den Zehn- bis 18-Jährigen mehr als verdoppelt, heißt es in einer gestern veröffentlichten Studie der US-Gesundheitsbehörde CDC. Sie warnt darin vor allem vor gefälschten Pillen mit dem synthetischen Opioid Fentanyl als Inhaltsstoff.

Patterns of mortality risk among patients with substance use disorder: an opportunity for proactive patient safety?.  (aerzteblatt.de, 16.12.2022)

https://www.aerzteblatt.de/nachrichten/139690/Zahl-der-Drogentoten-unter-US-Jugendlichen-steigt-dramatisch

Patterns of mortality risk among patients with substance use disorder: an opportunity for proactive patient safety?

Svensson, J., Bergström, J., Kåberg, M. et al.

BMC Psychiatry 22, 770 (2022). doi.org/10.1186/s12888-022-04437-6

https://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-022-04437-6

USA. Hidden Fentanyl Is Driving a Fatal New Phase in US Opioid Epidemic

The rise of fentanyl has brought on the most dangerous phase yet in the US’s decades-long opioid epidemic, causing a surge in overdose deaths and crippling efforts to end a devastating addiction crisis.

Covid-19 helped pave the way for fentanyl’s ascent. Driven into boredom and isolation by the pandemic, many Americans turned to illegal drugs – and in 2020 and 2021, more people than ever were killed by fentanyl. (Bloomberg, USA, 13.12.2022)

https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2022-us-fentanyl-opioid-deaths/

USA. Explosion in US adolescent overdoses, mainly fentanyl

Drug overdoses among people aged 10 to 18 more than doubled in the United States between 2019 and 2021, according to a study released Thursday by health authorities, who warned in particular of the risks of counterfeit pills containing fentanyl. (MedicalXpress, USA, 16.12.2022)

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-12-explosion-adolescent-overdoses-fentanyl.html

Concurrent use of opioids and stimulants and risk of fatal overdose: A cohort study. 

Palis, H., Xavier, C., Dobrer, S. et al.

BMC Public Health 22, 2084 (2022). doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-14506-w

https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-022-14506-w

Drug overdose deaths in adults aged 65 and over: United States, 2000–2020. 

Kramarow EA, Tejada-Vera B. 

NCHS Data Brief, no 455. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2022. doi.org/10.15620/cdc:121828

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db455.htm

USA. Overdose Deaths up 81% in Pregnant, Postpartum

Women Drug overdose deaths in pregnant and postpartum women rose by about 81% from 2017 to 2020, researchers report in a JAMA research letter published online Dec. 6. (Medscape, USA, 07.12.2022)

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/985211

Bundeslagebild Rauschgiftkriminalität 2021

(…) Die häufigsten Todesursachen waren der Konsum von Heroin und Opiat-Substitutionsmittel alleine oder in Verbindung mit anderen Stoffen. Die deutlichsten Anstiege betrafen monovalente Vergiftungen durch Opiat-Substitutionsmitteln (+167 %) sowie monovalente Vergiftungen durch Amphetamin (+149 %) oder Amphetaminderivate (+117 %). (Bundeskriminalamt (BKA), 10.11.2022)

file:///Users/hans/Downloads/2021RauschgiftBundeslagebild.pdf

A death by any other name: substance-induced or substance-related mortality

Hjorthøj, Carsten et al.

The Lancet Psychiatry, Volume 0, Issue 0 

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(22)00370-4/fulltext

USA. Continuing Crisis - Drug Overdose Deaths in New York

Report prepared by the Office of Budget Policy and Analysis, November 2022

https://www.osc.state.ny.us/reports/continuing-crisis-drug-overdose-deaths-new-york

Modeling the cost and impact of injectable opioid agonist therapy on overdose and overdose deaths. 

Tse WC, Scott N, Dietze P, Nielsen S. 

J Subst Abuse Treat. 2022 Dec;143:108871. doi: 10.1016/j.jsat.2022.108871. Epub 2022 Sep 9. PMID: 36182753.

https://www.journalofsubstanceabusetreatment.com/article/S0740-5472(22)00153-2/fulltext

Prescribing Characteristics Associated With Opioid Overdose Following Buprenorphine Taper. 

Bozinoff N, Men S, Kurdyak P, Selby P, Gomes T. 

JAMA Netw Open. 2022;5(9):e2234168. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.34168

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2796830

Effectiveness of Opioid Tapering or Abrupt Discontinuation vs No Dosage Change for Opioid Overdose or Suicide for Patients Receiving Stable Long-term Opioid Therapy. 

Larochelle MR, Lodi S, Yan S, Clothier BA, Goldsmith ES, Bohnert ASB. Comparative 

JAMA Netw Open. 2022;5(8):e2226523. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.26523

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2795159

Notes from the Field: Antihistamine Positivity and Involvement in Drug Overdose Deaths — 44 Jurisdictions, United States, 2019–2020. 

Dinwiddie AT, Tanz LJ, Bitting J. 

MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2022;71:1308–1310. doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7141a4

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7141a4.htm

  1. Out-of-hospital management of unresponsive, apneic, witnessed opioid overdoses: a case series from a supervised consumption site. 
  2. Alprazolam-related deaths in Scotland, 2004-2020. 
  3. Causes of mortality among female sex workers: Results of a multi-country study
  4. Drug use behaviors, trauma, and emotional affect following the overdose of a social network member: A qualitative investigation.
  5. Core competencies of peer workers who use pulse oximeters to supplement their overdose response in British Columbia.