Recent News

Drug-related deaths overburden Maryland medical examiner's office (Baltimore Sun)

Apr 17th, 2017

The opioid epidemic that has claimed so many lives in Maryland is overwhelming the state medical examiner's office.

The agency has exceeded national caseload standards — the number of autopsies a single pathologist should perform in a year — in each of the past four years. The office now risks losing its accreditation.

"Everyone continues to add on work hours and work faster and hopefully not take short cuts," said Dr. David R. Fowler, Maryland's chief medical examiner. "They absorb this extra load. But there is a point where they can't continue to add to that and expect the system will function."

The challenge is not limited to Maryland. The combination of additional and more complex cases is overwhelming medical examiners' offices across the country, particularly along the East Coast, leaving many on the verge of losing accreditation.

"We view this as a national crisis," said Dr. Brian L. Peterson, president of the National Association of Medical Examiners.

The association categorizes the Maryland Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, traditionally well regarded by peers, as "deficient." It will re-evaluate the Baltimore-based agency in May.

The office can continue to operate without accreditation. But the association warns that performing too many autopsies can jeopardize quality and undermine confidence in the results.

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Officials see a spike in sleep-related infant deaths in Baltimore City (WMAR)

Apr 13th, 2017

Baltimore City is experiencing a spike in sleep-related infant deaths.

In the first few months of this year, there have been six sleep-related infant deaths.

The increase comes as a surprise to city health officials who saw record-low numbers in the past several years.

“Between 2009 and 2016 we have had an unprecedented nearly 40 percent drop in infant mortality,” said Baltimore City Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen.

In 2009, 27 babies died in their sleep compared to 2015 where 13 babies passed.

Read the entire story. 

Baltimore sees uptick in sleep-related deaths of infants (Baltimore Sun)

Apr 13th, 2017

Baltimore City health officials have announced a spike in deaths among newborns related to unsafe sleeping arrangements and urged parents to follow professional medical advice about how to put their infants to bed safely.

There were six suspected cases of sleep-related death in the first three months of the year, compared with seven suspected cases in all of 2016, based on preliminary data from the state medical examiner’s office. The sleep-related deaths had been on the decline for years and were the result of a campaign called B’more for Healthy Babies to educate parents about putting their babies to sleep alone and on their backs in a crib.

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Treat opioid addiction with resources, not rhetoric (Op-ed CNN)

Apr 13th, 2017

Little is known about the Trump administration's plan to end this public health epidemic of opioid abuse, apart from the creation of a Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis. So far, the White House has only said that the commission will produce a report and look for federal funding mechanisms.

But that is not nearly enough.

At a time when opioid overdose deaths kill tens of thousands of Americans every year -- including more than 33,000 in 2015 -- we do not have the luxury of giving this commission months to rehash facts that experts, including the surgeon general and coalitions of doctors and public health experts, already agree upon.

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Baltimore Health Officials Respond to Suspected Spike in Sleep-Related Infant Deaths

Apr 12th, 2017

BALTIMORE, MD (April 12, 2017) — Baltimore health officials today urged families to follow safe sleep practices in response to a suspected spike in sleep-related infant deaths. Despite back-to-back record low infant sleep-related deaths in 2014 (13) and 2015 (13), six babies have died in their sleep so far this year in Baltimore City. Baltimore previously experienced a record high of 27 infant sleep-related deaths in 2009.

Dr. Leana Wen: Maryland Makes Progress in Treating Addiction as a Disease (Opinion) (Center Maryland)

Apr 12th, 2017

The opioid epidemic has ravaged families and communities across Maryland, claiming thousands of lives every year. In 2015, there were 1259 drug- and alcohol-related intoxication deaths. That number rose to 1,468 deaths on only the first nine months of 2016, according to the most recently available data.

Addiction and overdose are undoubtedly health issues, but for years, our efforts to curb drug use focused solely on the criminal justice side of the equation. As the heartbreaking numbers indicate, that alone is not enough. We must do more to save lives, improve access to on-demand treatment, and eliminate stigma about the disease. Only then will we be able to fully address this health crisis.

Read the entire op-ed.

Baltimore City Health Commissioner Dr. Wen Commends the Maryland General Assembly for Passing Legislation to Address the Opioid Epidemic

Apr 11th, 2017

BALTIMORE, Md. (April 11, 2017) – Baltimore City Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen today issued the following statement in response to the Maryland General Assembly’s passage of two bills, the Heroin and Opioid Prevention Effort (the HOPE Act, SB967/HB1329) and the Heroin and Opioid Education and Community Action Act of 2017 (the Start Talking Maryland Act, SB1060/HB1082), which improve access to treatment and education in response to the ongoing opioid epidemic.

Baltimore City Health Commissioner Commends Maryland General Assembly for Passing Legislation to Stop Prescription Drug Gouging

Apr 10th, 2017

BALTIMORE, MD (April 10, 2017) — Today, Baltimore City Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen issued the following statement in response to the Maryland General Assembly’s passage of House Bill 631, which will authorize the State’s Attorney General's Office to take legal action to stop price gouging of off-patent or generic drugs: 

CMS puts $120 million into bridging gaps between clinic and community (Modern Healthcare)

Apr 7th, 2017

What happens after a patient leaves the doctor's office is just as important, if not more so, as what takes place during the visit itself. But bridging that gap between the clinic and community is a major challenge for healthcare and community providers alike.

In an effort to close the divide, the CMS Innovation Center said Thursday it will give up to $120 million to 32 organizations selected to participate in its Accountable Health Communities model. Over five years, the groups will serve as test hubs helping Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries with health-related social needs including housing instability, food insecurity, domestic violence and transportation.

The three-track model aims to reduce unnecessary healthcare utilization in order to drive down spending, while also improving outcomes and quality of care for patients. Model participants will work to improve community-clinical collaboration by screening beneficiaries for unmet social needs, referring them to the right services or helping them navigate and access those services. They also work to ensure that community services are available and responsive to beneficiaries.

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Baltimore City Health Department Has a New Look!

Apr 7th, 2017

You may have noticed over the past few days that we revealed a new Baltimore City Health Department logo. The logo change is part of a larger rebranding strategy to standardize our image across the entire agency.

Baltimore City Health Department Old Logo New Logo Comparison Local Government Rebrand

Over the past six months, the communications team analyzed our internal and external documents as well as evaluated the core values of the agency. The result was a refined vision and mission statement grounded in equity, community, and wellbeing.

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