Congress faced a startling public health and political problem throughout 2016 as the number of people dying from opioid addiction climbed. 

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The young woman had pale skin and fire-red hair, and by all appearances was only minutes away from dying from opioid overdose. 

The grim scene unfolded in February, in the Kensington section of North Philadelphia. It’s where the death rate from heroin mixed with illicit fentanyl ranks among the highest in the nation, and the sight of young bodies lying prone and unresponsive on the sidewalk has become the new normal for a cluster of impoverished neighborhoods that have already suffered decades of collateral damage from the war on drugs.

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In this issue:

• Note from the Commissioner
• Hundreds of Seniors Join Mayor Pugh, the Health Department, and Rec & Parks for National Senior Health and Fitness Day in Patterson Park
• Clinical Director Named President-Elect of Maryland Assembly on School-Based Health Centers
• and more

IN COLUMBUS, OHIO, A teenage boy who was undergoing treatment for substance use disorder was surprised a couple years ago to learn he'd been infected with hepatitis C. The boy, then 17, was attending private school – and sharing needles with classmates to use heroin, says Dr. Carlos Malvestutto, infectious diseases fellowship program director at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus.

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