Shedding new light on overdose prevention centers

Driving the Day

Overdose prevention centers, where drug users can partake under the supervision of staff trained to respond to overdoses, have been around since 1986.

But U.S. law effectively prohibits their existence.

Two that opened in 2021 in New York City — the nation’s first government-sanctioned centers — were able to do so because of an agreement between the city, local law enforcement and prosecutors that they could operate freely.

Evidence from other countries that have overdose prevention centers has shown promising effects as far as overdose mortality rates and other health outcomes.

However, there hasn’t been a rigorous study of the model’s efficacy on U.S. soil.

“If effective, OPCs could be a useful addition to the range of targeted approaches already available for slowing down and eventually reversing the devastating impact of the opioid crisis,” an NIH-prepared report said in 2021.

Now NYU Langone and Brown University are launching a four-year study that aims to fill that void, and the National Institutes of Health is kicking in $1.4 million annually to make it happen.

The first-of-its-kind study will follow people who use New York City’s two overdose prevention centers and an OPC pilot expected to launch next year in Providence, R.I.

Researchers will compare the health outcomes of people who use overdose prevention centers with people who use other harm reduction services.

They will also collect data on the facilities’ operational costs, their impact on surrounding communities and the estimated savings to the health care and criminal justice systems.

“The findings, when they’re ready, could have national implications as we all fight the rising tide of overdose deaths in the U.S.,” New York City Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan said in a statement.

IN OTHER NEWS:

— State Sen. Bill Weber and Assemblymember Matt Slater introduced legislation Friday that would require the state to directly share enhanced federal medical assistance percentage funds with counties and New York City.

The Republican lawmakers’ bill cited as its justification Gov. Kathy Hochul’s budget maneuver this year that intercepts those funds, which are available under the federal Affordable Care Act, to support the state’s Medicaid spending.

ON THE AGENDA THIS WEEK:

— Tuesday at 10 a.m. The state Assembly Committee on Health meets.

— Tuesday at noon. The state Senate Committee on Health meets.

— Thursday at 8 a.m. The New York State Trauma Advisory Committee meets in-person in Albany.

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What you may have missed

— Leonard Peruski was welcomed last week as the new director of the Wadsworth Center in Albany. Since 2016, Peruski had led international laboratory operations in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of Global Health Protection.

He previously served as commander of the U.S. military team that deployed to New York City with the CDC in the aftermath of the 2001 anthrax attack.

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