Lots of papers over the past 8 weeks … Mortality Among Young Injection Drug Users in San Francisco: A 10-Year Follow-up of the UFO Study. Evans JL, Tsui JI, Hahn JA, Davidson PJ, Lum PJ, Page K. Am J Epidemiol. 2012 Jan 6. Comments: Thought I’d start with the best one this time, anRead More
Pubmed December 2011 Update
My favorites this week includes the first two – a paper from Serbia on post-mortem evaluations and a review of a LARGE dataset describing types of prescription opioid users and their overdose risk profiles. 1) Association of pulmonary histopathological findings with toxicological findings in forensic autopsies of illicit drug users. Todorović MS, Mitrović S,Read More
Pubmed November 2011 Update
Some good stuff this month… 1) Vital signs: overdoses of prescription opioid pain relievers — United States, 1999–2008 MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2011 Nov 4;60:1487-92. Comment: This report summarizes the impressive outbreak of death from opioid analgesics (around 15,000 in 2008) in the United States – providing a helpful state-by-state breakdown. 2) Influence ofRead More
Pubmed September 2011 Update
Three notable papers this week Characteristics of drug users who witness many overdoses: Implications for overdose prevention. Bohnert AS, Tracy M, Galea S. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2011 Aug 10. Comment: Another analysis from a non-fatal overdose survey in Harlem and the South Bronx. There have been some concerning results in terms of witness management ofRead More
Pubmed August 2011 Update
Two notable papers in this report: 1) Characteristics of an Overdose Prevention, Response, and Naloxone Distribution Program in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County, PennsylvaniaBennett AS, Bell A, Tomedi L, Hulsey EG, Kral AHJ Urban Health. 2011 Jul 20 [Epub]Comments: A substantial contribution to the growing literature evaluating naloxone programs, this paper is a must-read for anyoneRead More