Evaluation of the NE OBAT ECHO: A Tool for Strengthening the Addiction Workforce

Posted by Tavi Hristova

Published in Substance Abuse journal (SAj), Evaluation of the New England Office Based Addiction Treatment ECHO: A Tool for Strengthening the Addiction Workforce, describes the New England Office Based Addiction Treatment Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (NE OBAT ECHO) program’s impact on the knowledge and attitudes of participants. Click here to read the article.

Heerema MR, Ventura AS, Blakemore SC, et al. Evaluation of the New England Office Based Addiction Treatment ECHO: A Tool for Strengthening the Addiction Workforce. Substance Abuse. 2023;0(0). doi:10.1177/08897077231179601

Telehealth Rule Extended for Controlled Substance Prescribing Flexibilities

Posted by Tavi Hristova

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) released its proposed telemedicine rules in February and received major backlash, with a record 38,000 comments on the proposed rules.

“We take those comments seriously and are considering them carefully. We recognize the importance of telemedicine in providing Americans with access to needed medications, and we have decided to extend the current flexibilities while we work to find a way forward to give Americans that access with appropriate safeguards,” DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said in a statement issued Wednesday.

Last week, the DEA filed a draft temporary rule with the Office of Management and Budget titled “Temporary Extension of COVID-19 Telemedicine Flexibilities for Prescription of Controlled Medications.” If a telemedicine relationship was established during the COVID-19 public health emergency, the DEA will extend the in-person exam waiver for an additional 180 days.

Click here to read the full Fierce Healthcare article by Heather Landi.

Why the U.S. designated Xylazine an emerging threat

Posted by Tavi Hristova

The Biden-Harris administration declared the combination of xylazine and fentanyl an emerging threat. Xylazine’s growing role in overdose deaths nationwide prompted the Administration to make this designation for the first time in U.S. history. Ali Rogin discussed the threat with Dr. Raagini Jawa of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Click here to watch the 5-minute PBS NewsHour video.

We encourage you to educate patients about xylazine and how to reduce harm. Boston Medical Center’s Grayken Center for Addiction TTA and the University of Pittsburgh have created xylazine informational handouts for patients. There are pocket-size versions in English and Spanish and a larger size version for visual display. Click here to access these resources.

BREAKING NEWS: Biden-Harris Administration Designates Fentanyl Combined with Xylazine as an Emerging Threat to the United States

Posted by Tavi Hristova

Xylazine’s growing role in overdose deaths nationwide prompts the Administration to make this designation for the first time in U.S. history. Click here to read the press release.

We encourage you to educate patients about xylazine and how to reduce harm. Boston Medical Center’s Grayken Center for Addiction TTA and the University of Pittsburgh have created xylazine informational handouts for patients. There are pocket-size versions in English and Spanish and a larger size version for visual display. Click here to access these resources.

After a spat with the RMV, this BMC researcher is taking his ‘NARCAN’ license plate on the road

Posted by Tavi Hristova

The Registry of Motor Vehicles originally rejected Stephen Murray’s application to have ‘NARCAN’ as a license plate, stating it was too “vulgar”. Then, after receiving pushback, the RMV reversed its decision. Murray, an overdose researcher at BMC, hopes that his new license plate aids in eliminating the stigma surrounding this life-saving drug and the people who need it.

Click here to read this Boston Globe article by Spencer Buell.

Podcast: The Impact of Addiction on Families

Posted by Tavi Hristova

Alicia Ventura, MPH, Director of Special Projects and Research for the Grayken Center for Addiction TTA Program at Boston Medical Center, joins the Right Mind Media Podcast to share what families can do to positively affect the outcome for their loved one with a substance use disorder. Click here to access the episode.

Victoria Adeleye, PMHNP-BC, CARN, Awarded REACH Fellowship

Posted by Tavi Hristova

Victoria, a former Nurse Care Manager in the OBAT clinic and current psychiatric nurse practitioner in BMC’s Addiction and Behavioral Outpatient Recovery (ABOVE) program, was recently selected as a Recognizing and Eliminating Disparities in Addiction through Culturally-informed Healthcare (REACH) Scholar for the 2021-2022 cohort.

Based in the Department of Psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine, this one-year fellowship aims to increase the overall number of racial and ethnic underrepresented minority addiction specialists in the Addiction Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine workforce and to increase the number of addiction specialists adequately trained to work with racial and ethnic minority patients with substance use disorders. Victoria’s work with the REACH program will specifically focus on utilizing faith-based community interventions to engage racial and ethnic minority patients in addiction care.

More information about the REACH training program is available here. Please join us in congratulating Victoria on this exciting fellowship!