Recent News

"Mayor’s Heroin Task Force Calls for Citywide Overdose Plan, 24/7 Access to Addiction Treatment, and Public Education Campaign to Fight Stigma"

Jul 13th, 2015

The Mayor’s Heroin Treatment and Prevention Task Force today called for 10 bold steps to attack the city’s epidemic heroin and opioid addiction, including having 24/7 “treatment on demand” for substance users and a public education campaign to encourage treatment and combat stigma. Convened by Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake in October 2014, the Task Force was co-chaired by Bernard J. McBride, CEO Behavioral Health System Baltimore, and Dr. Samuel Ross, CEO of Bon Secours Baltimore Health System, and was comprised of 35 community leaders, public health experts and government representatives. 

There were 303 total drug and alcohol overdose deaths in Baltimore City in 2014, compared with 246 in 2013, a 23 percent increase. Last year, 192 overdose deaths were heroin-related, compared with 150 in 2013. There are an estimated 18,900 individuals who use heroin in Baltimore.

Mayor’s Heroin Treatment and Prevention Task Force Recommendations Released

Jul 13th, 2015

The Mayor’s Heroin Treatment and Prevention Task Force today called for 10 bold steps to attack the city’s epidemic heroin and opioid addiction problem, including having 24/7 “treatment on demand” for substance users and a public education campaign to encourage treatment and combat stigma. Convened by Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake in October 2014, the Task Force was co-chaired by Bernard J. McBride, CEO Behavioral Health System Baltimore, and Dr. Samuel Ross, CEO of Bon Secours Baltimore Health System, and was comprised of 35 community leaders, public health experts and government representatives.

"As heroin overdoses surge in Baltimore, the price of the antidote skyrocket" (WMAR) July 13, 2015

Jul 13th, 2015

In 2014 there were more drug and alcohol overdose deaths in Baltimore than people killed on the streets.  Heroin was responsible for 63% of those.  To make matters worse, the lifesaving antidote for opioid overdoses has more than doubled.  Now, local leaders are taking action. A Baltimore task force taking on heroin was looking for a new approach to an old problem, and after 9 months, the group has a list of recommendations to battle the epidemic.  Part of the plan includes getting the overdose antidote naloxone out to the people who need it. "I have given it to literally hundreds of patients and watched as someone who stopped breathing walk and talk again within seconds,” said Baltimore City Health Commissioner, Dr. Leana Wen.  “We have to get naloxone into the hands of every person who can save a life."

"Task force calls for expanded services to save heroin addicts" (WMAR) July 13, 2015

Jul 13th, 2015

Long before the recent resurgence of heroin on the streets of Baltimore, David Zhitnitsky fell victim to the drug, and he found himself homeless, sleeping on a mattress, when a total stranger helped save his life. "The woman comes up to me with her son and tells me, 'You know, I see you're struggling.  I see you have some issues.  Maybe I can help you.'  I said, 'Maam, believe me, you don't want to get into the problems that I have.  It's more than you can handle.'" A crackdown on prescription pain killers in recent years turned heroin into a cheap alternative and last year Baltimore had almost 200 fatal overdoses or about a third of the total statewide. "Here in Baltimore where 19,000 people use heroin, it's not random people who have addictions. It is, as our mayor said, our families, our friends and our neighbors," said City Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen.

"Baltimore officials tackle heroin epidemic" (WBAL-TV) July 13, 2015

Jul 13th, 2015

The city of Baltimore is tackling the heroin epidemic. There's a new push in preventing overdoses using the ever more-expensive drug naloxone. The focus of the task force is saving lives. A billboard is part of that effort. The price of naloxone continues to skyrocket. It's a drug widely used by EMS crews to counteract heroin and opium-based pill overdoses.

"Enough With The Sugary Drinks, Doctors Say" (WYPR) July 8, 2015

Jul 9th, 2015

They’re a regular sight on the streets of Baltimore; morbidly obese teenagers sipping on some kind of sugary drink.  Medical professionals have said the more of those drinks they consume the more likely they are to have health problems, even while they’re young. "I've seen my patients, who are eight years old and weigh 200 pounds," said Baltimore Health Commissioner Leana Wen, a trained emergency room physician.  She said she has also seen teens as young as 15 with high blood pressure and adult on-set diabetes.

Health Department Announces “B’more Health Talks” Biweekly Community Forums

Jul 8th, 2015

The Baltimore City Health Department announces its new “B’more Health Talks” initiative, a biweekly community forum being held via phone call-in to discuss citywide health issues such as reducing health disparities.  The forums will be held the second and fourth Friday of each month at 12:30 pm, starting this Friday, July 10.

B’more Health Talks is designed to be interactive, will be hosted by Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen, and will include guests on each show. Among its goals are to share and collaborate around the work that many different organizations in Baltimore are doing and align around #OneBaltimore efforts.

Individuals wishing to participate in the chat should call 1-760-569-7171, and use code 117-245-291.  A Tweet Chat at #BmoreHealthTalks will also be available.

"Rising cost of overdose treatment drug alarms city" (Baltimore Sun) July 8, 2015

Jul 8th, 2015

Baltimore officials and others are alarmed at a nearly a fourfold jump in the cost of a drug used to save the lives of people who have overdosed on heroin — a price spike that has prompted calls for state and federal action. City Health Commissioner Dr. Leana S. Wen says a leading manufacturer of naloxone has since spring raised the 10-dose cost from $97 to $370, with the most recent hike coming last week. "This means we can only save half the lives of patients we were able to before," Wen told the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Three’s a Crowd: Baltimore Corps Fellows Dive into Life at BCHD

Jul 8th, 2015

In the space of just a few hours, we’ve dropped off flyers to a dozen recreation centers, visited a health clinic, listened in on a senior citizen symposium, and spoken at two neighborhood association meetings. Though with three desks tucked into a quiet corner of the Health Department’s headquarters, it is rare to find us there for very long.

Baltimore Corps Fellows

"Heroin use surges, addicting more women and middle-class" (USA Today) July 7, 2015

Jul 7th, 2015

Heroin use is reaching into new communities — addicting more women and middle-class users — as people hooked on prescription painkillers transition to cheaper illegal drugs, a new report shows. The report shows that heroin addiction can affect anyone, said Leana Wen, Baltimore City Health Commissioner and an emergency medicine physician.

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