Yoga for addiction recovery comes to The Morton Center
By Darla Carter | Posted on August 7, 2019The ancient practice of yoga is coming to The Morton Center as a way to help people in the Louisville area defeat their addictions. Yoga for Recovery is a pilot project for participants in Morton’s intensive outpatient program and is aimed at teaching them...
Addiction crisis spawns in-home drug treatment program
By Darla Carter | Posted on August 5, 2019As the state and nation continue to grapple with the scourge of opioids, a Kentucky business is trying in-home drug treatment to help people fight their addictions. Renew Recovery recently announced that it has teamed up with Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in...
Norton lowers opioid prescriptions by over 50% through data analysis, education
By Boris Ladwig | Posted on August 2, 2019Norton Healthcare has lowered its opioid prescriptions by more than half since 2014 through data analysis and further educating its doctors — and their patients. Norton in 2013 created an opioid task force to monitor, analyze and decrease the number of opioids its patients...
Freedom House welcomes 200th baby, eyes expansion
By Darla Carter | Posted on July 30, 2019A Louisville program that helps mothers defeat their addictions and become good parents celebrated its 200th healthy baby Monday as Volunteers of America Mid-States makes plans to replicate the program in eastern Kentucky. The little boy, Julian, was born to a 27-year-old resident of...
Kentucky overdose deaths decreased by 15% in 2018
By Joe Sonka | Posted on July 19, 2019The Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy issued its annual report on overdose fatalities in the state on Thursday, showing that such deaths decreased by almost 15% in 2018 compared to the previous year, the first time Kentucky has seen a decrease since 2013....
Coroner overdose data show fentanyl still driving fatalities in Louisville
By Joe Sonka | Posted on July 3, 2019Local government data show that while Louisville EMS overdose runs and naloxone administrations have fallen so far this year to the lowest levels since 2015, fatal overdoses ticked up in the first quarter of 2019 — driven once again by the powerful opioid fentanyl,...
Louisville selected for program to expand medication-assisted treatment for opioid addiction in jails
By Joe Sonka | Posted on May 13, 2019Louisville is one of 15 local jurisdictions to be selected to participate in a national program that could expand the use of medication-assisted treatment for Metro Department of Corrections inmates with an opioid use disorder. According to a news release from Mayor Fischer’s office,...
Fatal drug overdoses fell by 25 percent in Louisville last year
By Joe Sonka | Posted on March 12, 2019The number of fatal accidental drug overdoses in Louisville fell by 25 percent last year to 299, which is the lowest annual total in the city since 2015, according to a review of records from the Jefferson County Coroner’s office. While the total number...
Louisville syringe exchange sites now distributing fentanyl testing strips
By Joe Sonka | Posted on March 4, 2019Louisville’s syringe exchange program is now distributing fentanyl testing strips to its participants, which can detect if drugs like heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine are laced with the powerful opioid that contributes to over 70 percent of fatal overdoses in Louisville. According to Dave Langdon,...
Louisville EMS overdose runs and naloxone administrations decreased in 2018
By Joe Sonka | Posted on January 18, 2019The number of 911 calls reporting an overdose and patients receiving a dose of naloxone on those ambulance runs decreased significantly last year from the record high totals in 2017, according to figures provided by Louisville Emergency Medical Services. While these overdose statistics from...