Opioid Rx dosages drop with state law changes

The total amount of opioids dispensed per new opioid prescription decreased by 22% in Penn Medicine outpatient practices in New Jersey after the state passed a law limiting prescriptions to a five-day supply for new opioid prescriptions. Penn Medicine implemented an electronic health record (EMR) alert, or 'nudge,' to notify clinicians if that limit had been reached.

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Who is telling the truth about their health?

When researchers or policymakers ask health related questions — which they do a lot — they often rely on self-reported rather than tested health data. Researchers looked into how reliable this type of data is for research and found that, depending on country or age, self-reported data could be highly biased.

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Barrier to rural opioid treatment: Driving distance to methadone clinics

People who live in rural counties in five states heavily affected by the opioid epidemic must drive longer distances to obtain methadone, a treatment for opioid addiction, compared to individuals from urban counties, say researchers. Their study suggests these long drive times in rural counties could be reduced by making methadone more accessible in primary care clinics.

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Early life racial discrimination linked to depression, accelerated aging

Early life stress from racial discrimination puts African Americans at greater risk for accelerated aging, a marker for premature development of serious health problems and perhaps a shorter life expectancy, according to a new study.

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Benefits for mind, body and work ability seen in Medicaid Expansion study

Expanding Medicaid to more low-income adults helped many of them feel healthier, and do a better job at work or a job search, in just one year after they got their new health coverage, a new study finds. But people with behavioral health conditions, including mental health disorders such as depression or addiction to alcohol or drugs, got an especially big boost in many health and work-related measures.

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