BOSTON, Aug. 6, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Boston Medical
Center (BMC) has received a $1.3
million grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and
Quality (AHRQ) to support a demonstration project of pharmacy-based
naloxone rescue kits to help reduce opioid addiction and overdose
death in two New England States: Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The study will be conducted in
partnership with Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, CVS Health, based in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, which has pharmacies
throughout the U.S., and several local community pharmacies in both
states, including Massachusetts-based Eaton Apothecary.
"While education and intervention have come a long way in the
past several years, there is still a lot of work to be done to
reduce opioid overdose and overdose death," said the study's
principal investigator, Traci C.
Green, PhD, MSc, deputy director of the Injury Prevention
Center at BMC and associate professor of emergency medicine at The
Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown
University. "Pharmacies have enormous potential to expand
the reach and impact of critical public health interventions, just
as we have seen happen with pharmacy access to clean syringes and
adult immunizations. But how do we do that with naloxone
rescue kits? That's what we intend to figure out here in
Massachusetts and Rhode Island."
In both states, pharmacists must be trained to distribute
naloxone rescue kits through continuing education that covers
opioid addiction, overdose risk and the benefits of appropriate use
of naloxone. The study will track and analyze data from the
participating pharmacies throughout the two states to develop best
practices for a national pharmacy-based naloxone rescue kit
program.
To address the growing opioid epidemic, hospitals and pharmacies
in both states recently began providing naloxone to patients with
substance use disorder and their loved ones for immediate use
following an overdose. Uniquely, under a standing order from BMC's
Alexander Walley, MD, the medical
director of the Massachusetts
naloxone program and also a Co-Investigator on this study,
state-funded community programs train and equip family, friends,
and people who use opioids in overdose recognition and naloxone
administration. Similar infrastructure is absent in most states,
such as Rhode Island. The study
will look at how pharmacies can be leveraged in both settings to
increase naloxone distribution.
As a leader in addiction medicine, BMC recognized early on the
need for such interventions, and in 2009, began providing overdose
prevention education and naloxone rescue kits to emergency
department patients at risk for opioid overdose. BMC was the first
hospital in the country to provide the rescue kits to patients.
Green and Walley, in collaboration with Josiah Rich, MD, MPH, a physician at The Miriam
Hospital in Providence, and
Jeffrey Bratberg, PharmD, from the
University of Rhode Island College of
Pharmacy, developed protocols for pharmacies to supply, order and
provide naloxone to patients. The protocols are in place throughout
Massachusetts and Rhode Island pharmacies, including the 418 CVS
pharmacies and all Eaton Apothecary locations in the two states.
The authors will identify relevant organizational and community
factors associated with successful implementation of the program to
incorporate into a national program.
"In Massachusetts and Rhode
Island, we have been severely impacted by the epidemic of
overdose deaths," said Rich, who also is professor of medicine and
epidemiology at the Alpert Medical School of Brown University. "Rhode Island Hospital is honored
to partner with BMC, CVS and other local pharmacies to develop a
new standard of care that we expect will prevent deaths caused by
opioid overdoses."
Drug overdose is the leading cause of injury death in the U.S.,
greater than car accidents. In fact, according to the Substance
Abuse Mental Health Services Administration, more than 24.5 million
people age 12 or older in the U.S. (9.4 percent of the population)
live with substance use disorders, including 1.9 million who live
with prescription opioid abuse or dependence. Each day, according
to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 100 Americans die of
drug overdose.
"CVS Health has a long-standing commitment to prevent
prescription drug abuse and our participation in this demonstration
project complements our ongoing efforts to expand the availability
and distribution of naloxone to prevent opioid overdoses," said
William Shrank, MD, chief scientific officer of CVS Health and a
study investigator. "All of our CVS/pharmacy locations in
Rhode Island and Massachusetts keep naloxone in stock, and it
is available without a prescription. In addition, by the end of
this month, CVS/pharmacy will be able to dispense naloxone without
a prescription in 14 additional states."
Naloxone can be obtained from pharmacies without a prescription
in Massachusetts and Rhode
Island.
About Boston Medical Center
Boston Medical Center is a
private, not-for-profit, 496-bed, academic medical center that is
the primary teaching affiliate of Boston
University School of Medicine. It is the largest and busiest
provider of trauma and emergency services in New England. Committed
to providing high-quality health care to all, the hospital offers a
full spectrum of pediatric and adult care services including
primary and family medicine and advanced specialty care with an
emphasis on community-based care. Boston Medical Center offers
specialized care for complex health problems and is a leading
research institution, receiving more than $118 million in sponsored research funding in
fiscal year 2014. It is the 11th largest recipient of
funding in the U.S. from the National Institutes of Health among
independent hospitals. In 1997, BMC founded Boston Medical Center
Health Plan, Inc., now one of the top ranked Medicaid MCOs in the
country, as a non-profit managed care organization. It does
business in Massachusetts as BMC
HealthNet Plan and as Well Sense Health Plan in New Hampshire, serving more than 315,000
people, collectively. Boston Medical Center and Boston University School of Medicine are partners
in the Boston HealthNet – 13 community health centers focused on
providing exceptional health care to residents of Boston. For more information, please visit
http://www.bmc.org.
About Rhode Island Hospital
Founded in 1863, Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, R.I., is a private, not-for-profit
hospital and is the principal teaching hospital of the Alpert
Medical School of Brown University. A
major trauma center for southeastern New England, the hospital is
dedicated to being on the cutting edge of medicine and research.
Last year, Rhode Island Hospital received more than $50 million in external research funding. It is
also home to Hasbro Children's Hospital, the state's only facility
dedicated to pediatric care. For more information, visit
www.rhodeislandhospital.org.
About CVS Health
CVS Health (NYSE: CVS) is a pharmacy
innovation company helping people on their path to better health.
Through its 7,800 retail drugstores, nearly 1,000 walk-in medical
clinics, a leading pharmacy benefits manager with more than 70
million plan members, and expanding specialty pharmacy services,
the Company enables people, businesses and communities to manage
health in more affordable, effective ways. This unique integrated
model increases access to quality care, delivers better health
outcomes and lowers overall health care costs. Find more
information about how CVS Health is shaping the future of health at
www.cvshealth.com.
About the University of Rhode
Island and its College of Pharmacy
The University of Rhode Island has many of today's
leading innovators, researchers and creative problem solvers. The
University is known regionally and worldwide for its big ideas and
pioneering research in such areas as air, water, and ground
pollution; biotechnology and life sciences; engineering, marine
sciences, forensic sciences, pharmaceuticals, behavioral sciences,
and public health promotion. Unique interdisciplinary courses and
research projects provide its 13,000 undergraduate and 3,000
graduate students with cutting-edge experiences. URI's College of
Pharmacy is located in a new, $75
million facility where faculty and students are conducting
the highest quality research in pharmaceutical, biomedical,
clinical and population-based sciences. The College is also going
deep into the ocean and forest to find natural substances that
could prevent and fight diseases. Target areas include cancer,
aging, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, HIV, infectious diseases,
disability and public health. The College has attracted about
$61 million in National Institutes of
Health funding to expand biomedical research capacity at nearly
every college in the state and is playing leading roles in URI's
Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program and the George & Anne
Ryan Institute for Neuroscience.
Media Contacts
Boston Medical Center – Jenny
Eriksen Leary, jenny.eriksen@bmc.org, 617-638-6841
Rhode Island Hospital – Beth
Bailey, bbailey@lifespan.org, 401-444-6421
CVS Health – Christine
Cramer, Christine.Cramer@CVSHealth.com, 401-770-3317
URI College of Pharmacy – Dave Lavallee,
dlavallee@uri.edu, 401-874-5862
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SOURCE CVS Health