Recent News

FDA orders stronger warnings about risk of using opioid painkillers with certain anti-anxiety drugs (LA Times)

Sep 1st, 2016

The  Food and Drug Administration is issuing strong new warnings that the combined use of opioid medications and benzodiazepines, a class of anti-anxiety medications better known by such commercial names as Xanax and Ativan, can dangerously suppress breathing and cause coma or death.

The drug safety agency is recommending that physicians take extra care in prescribing medication regimens that mix the two classes of drugs. And it is alerting people who use — or abuse — such drugs to the “serious risks” of taking them together.

 

Mixing Opioids and Tranquilizers Can Be Deadly, FDA Warns (NBC News)

Sep 1st, 2016

More and more people have died from mixing strong painkillers with tranquilizers like Xanax, leading federal health officials to strengthen warnings against doing so.

People who mix opioids with the sedatives can suffer from breathing problems, which can lead to comas and even prove fatal, the Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday.

A Blueprint for a Healthier Baltimore (Afro)

Sep 1st, 2016

By: Dr. Leana Wen

In thousands of conversations with community members, businesses, grassroots organizations, and elected leaders across Baltimore, I have seen how our City continues to wrestle with deeply-rooted issues of poverty, racial inequality, and structural racism.

​Here in Baltimore, there are neighborhoods just blocks apart where the life expectancy differs by 20 years. We have made significant strides in reducing infant mortality, and yet Black babies continue to die at twice the rate of White babies. Homicide continues to be the leading cause of death among 15-24 year olds in the city – more than 90 percent of homicide victims in 2016 have been Black.

Baltimore City Announces Increased Response to Addiction on International Overdose Awareness Day

Aug 31st, 2016

Baltimore, Md. (August 31, 2016) – Today, Baltimore City Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen joined U.S. Senator Ben Cardin, Congressman John Sarbanes, and partners across the city to highlight Baltimore’s ongoing response to the overdose crisis in observance of International Overdose Awareness Day, a global annual event to raise awareness of overdose and reduce stigma associated with the disease of addiction.      

Baltimore City Health Commissioner Commends FDA for Issuing Warning for Dangerous Combination of Medications Amid Opioid Overdose Crisis

Aug 31st, 2016

BALTIMORE, MD (August 31, 2016) – Today, Baltimore City Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen issued the following statement in response to the decision by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to adopt a “black box warning” on the concurrent prescription of opioids and benzodiazepines: 

Baltimore Draws 10-Year Blueprint To Cut Racial Health Disparities (Kaiser Health News)

Aug 31st, 2016

Baltimore officials presented a 10-year plan Tuesday that sharply highlights the poor health status of African-Americans and aims to bring black rates of lead poisoning, heart disease, obesity, smoking and overdoses more in line with those of whites.

“We wanted to specifically call out disparities” in racial health, said Dr. Leana Wen, who became the city’s health commissioner early last year. “And we have a moonshot. Our moonshot is we want to cut health disparities by half in the next 10 years.”

 

FDA requires new warnings on danger of combining opioids, benzodiazepines (Washington Post)

Aug 31st, 2016

The Food and Drug Administration, alarmed that increasing numbers of Americans are combining opioid painkillers and benzodiazepines, said Wednesday that it will require tough new warnings on the product labels that spell out the serious dangers of mixing the drugs.

The agency said it will require “boxed warnings” — its strongest category — on 389 separate products and will mandate the warning on opioid-containing cough medications. The new language will list the hazards of using the medications in tandem, which include extreme sleepiness, respiratory depression, coma and even death.

U.S. FDA strengthens warning over opioid/sedative combination (Reuters)

Aug 31st, 2016

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday strengthened warnings about the danger of combining opioid painkillers or cough medicines containing opioids with benzodiazepines, a common class of sedatives.

The agency is requiring that black box warnings, the strongest available, be added to nearly 400 products, alerting doctors and patients that combining opioids and benzodiazepines can cause extreme sleepiness, slowed breathing, coma and death.

FDA Boosts Warning On Danger Of Combining Opioids And Anxiety Meds (NPR)

Aug 31st, 2016

The Food and Drug Administration is warning that patients and doctors should more fully understand the potentially life-threatening risks of combining anti-anxiety or sleep medications with prescription opioids.

To that end, the agency is requiring that nearly 400 products carry a "black box warning" highlighting the risks from combined use, it said in a press releaseWednesday. The risks include extreme sleepiness, respiratory depression, coma and death.

Baltimore attacking overdose epidemic (WMAR)

Aug 31st, 2016

On Baltimore's Block, they deal in drugs of a different kind---naloxone, which is an antidote for opioids, and one of the city’s health educators, Nathan Fields, offers a simple message. 

"If you save a life today, you can make a better choice tomorrow,” Fields said. “If you don't save a life today and that person dies, then there's no tomorrow." 

Pages