250 percent by 2013 to reach 313 deaths. Of those, 210 were between the ages of 25 and 34, and 103 were between 15 and 24. Opioid-related emergency department visits in the state increased 73 percent from 2010 to 2014, according to data from the New York State Department of Health.
In Gov. Cuomo’s proposal of 2017’s State of the State Address he discussed the strides the state has made to address the”devastating epidemic” of opioid addiction and laid out a comprehensive strategy that addresses addiction, prevention, treatment, and recovery.
His proposals included eliminating required authorization to make addiction treatment more accessible; adding fentanyl analogs to the state’s controlled substances schedule; increasing access to buprenorphine; establishing around-the-clock crisis treatment centers; requiring emergency department prescribers to consult the Prescription Monitoring Program registry to combat “doctor shopping;” and creating recovery high schools to help young people in recovery graduate.
The new proposals come on the heels of several initiatives that have been implemented since 2014, such as limiting opioid prescriptions for acute pain to 7 days, rather than 30 days; expanding insurance coverage for addiction treatment and creating a task force to combat the opioid crisis in New York State.
Author: Livia Areas-Holmblad
Livia Holmblad is an editor at Addiction Now and covers breaking news, features and everything in between. She moved to SoCal after living in NYC for about 10 years, where she worked for VICE and SinoVision as a writer, editor, host, producer, and director. Born and raised in Rio de Janeiro. Contact Livia at liviah@addictionnow.com
