News California invests millions to try and curtail drug overdoses

[thegreenhand]

California invests millions to try and curtail drug overdoses​

Lesley McClurg
Marketplace
28 Dec 2021

Doctors and caregivers are racing to help patients access treatment at Highland Hospital in Oakland. A stream of patients rolls off ambulances and inside the ER nurses dart between beds.


“The patient presents with mild opioid and benzo withdrawal system symptoms,” said Christian Hailozian, a substance use navigator, as he reviews the chart of a recent arrival. “Irritability, tremors, sweating, last used fentanyl, crack cocaine, Xanax at noon yesterday.”


The pandemic has exacerbated the country’s opioid crisis. More than 100,000 people in the United States died from drug overdoses last year — an average of about 250 people a day. That’s the highest one-year death toll on record.


California is pouring millions of dollars into a new statewide program called California Bridge, and it’s becoming a model for the rest of the country.

Read the full story here.

 

[thegreenhand]

i wonder what a 'substance use navigator' does...

 

[neversickanymore]

It’s utterly amazing untrained most physicians are about addiction and treatment.