Did you know that the majority of stimulant-involved overdoses also involve opioids? That includes 76% of cocaine-related deaths and 54% of psychostimulant-related deaths in 2019. The United States is tackling an epidemic within a pandemic and has entered what has been described as the “fourth wave” of the crisis.
Join VA’s Dr. Elizabeth Oliva and Dr. Joseph Liberto Dec. 16 at 1 p.m. ET to learn about Strategies to Address the Fourth Wave of the Opioid Crisis. They will discuss evidence-based treatments for Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) and stimulant use disorders. They will also share strategies and actions community providers can take to improve care for Veterans and mitigate their risk for overdose.
The fourth wave of the opioid crisis is still heavily impacted by fentanyl. It also increasingly involves stimulants such as methamphetamine and cocaine. Recent data suggests the majority of stimulant-involved overdoses also involve opioids.
Almost 100,000 deaths in a year
For the first time in our nation’s history, close to 100,000 people have died of drug overdose in a single year. Many of these drug overdose deaths are preventable with naloxone and evidence-based treatments.
VA is a national leader in Opioid Overdose Education and Naloxone Distribution (OEND). It is committed to supporting access to both lifesaving naloxone as well as to effective, evidence-based treatments for OUD and stimulant use disorder (for example, medications for OUD [MOUD], contingency management).
VA has a number of initiatives designed to support providers with implementing these lifesaving interventions and treatments, such as the Psychotropic Drug Safety Initiative (PDSI), Academic Detailing, and Medication Addiction Treatment in VA (MAT VA) – Opioid Overdose – Mental Health (va.gov).
We hope you’ll join this webinar. Learn about resources available to support the provision of lifesaving naloxone to patients at-risk for overdose, including those using stimulants, along with life-transforming, evidence-based treatments for OUD.
Webinar information
- Title: Strategies to Address the Fourth Wave of the Opioid Overdose Crisis
- When: Dec. 16 at 1 p.m. ET
- Register: Register in VHA TRAIN. Webinar will be recorded for later viewing.
- Accreditations: AACME, AAPA, ANCC, ACPE, APA, ASWB, JA IPCE, NYSED
- Note: You must complete the end of course evaluation to receive credit for the course and the continuing education credit.
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The evidence base of success are the outliers, we deliberately don’t track the majority veterans left in pain or had thier benzodiazepine stopped, most dropped from care after the VA labels them drug abusers or addicts. The system is about the employees not patients with no oversight. Patient abuse is rampant throughout VHA with the majority of providers putting their heads down and doing their best not to get involved. The VA cooks the numbers on everything, it’s all politics and little science.