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September 2014 | Read this issue and more at www.healthandwellnessmagazine.net |
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POLITICS OF HEALTH
Kentucky Health
By Fiona Young-Brown
New Drug Problems
Kentucky’s narcotics struggles
continue as a drug designed to help
people beat their addictions to
painkillers and heroin is becoming
abused in its own right. Prescriptions
for Suboxone have risen by more
than 60 percent in the past year,
and, in addition to being wrongly
prescribed, it is being illegally sold
on the streets. Far from combatting
abuse of other opioids, the drug, a
combination of an opioid and a drug
to counter the effects of overdose,
seems to have simply replaced one
problem with another. The Attorney
General’s Office reports that it is
aware of the problem and is monitoring developments.
Healthcare Safe?
Next year’s elections will be here
before we know it, and it’s anyone’s
guess as to whether the next governor will be Democrat or Republican,
or which party will control the
state legislature. But Governor
Steve Beshear has said that he is
not worried about the healthcare
reforms put into place as part of the
Affordable Care Act. In an interview with the BBC, he told reporters that political opponents, while
critical of the current president, will
not want to displease the 421,000
Kentuckians who now have health
insurance coverage. While some
Republicans are calling for a complete repeal of the ACA, others are
seeking an alternative that includes
eliminating mandates and changing
the Medicaid expansions.
Good News for Nurse
Practitioners
After a five-year-long legislative
struggle, Kentucky’s nurse practitioners are now able to prescribe routine medications with a physician’s
involvement, as long as they have
completed a four-year collaboration
with a doctor. Until now, NPs had
only been legally allowed to prescribe certain drugs, and then only if
a physician agreed to sign off on the
prescription. The change came into
effect on July 15 and will allow NPs
more flexibility, particularly in rural
areas where access to physicians may
be limited. Some more restricted
drugs, such as Ambien, oxycodone,
and Adderall, will still require a collaborative agreement with a physician. It is hoped that, if successful,
the new system will serve as a model
for other states where NPs are fighting for more professional freedom.
New Court to
Help Lexington’s
Mentally Ill and Ease
Overcrowded Jails
The Kentucky Supreme Court has
approved a mental health court for
Fayette County, to begin operation
in October, 2014. Similar mental
health courts are already in operation in Louisville and Northern
Kentucky. The new court comes
at a time when the criminal justice
system finds itself increasingly overcrowded and serving as a housing
spot for those with bipolar disorder,
schizophrenia and other mental
illnesses which require treatment
rather than imprisonment. The
court, proposed by a taskforce of
local judges, law enforcement officials, mental health professionals
and advocates for the mentally ill,
will join other specialized courts in
Fayette County - family court, drug
court, and juvenile court - and will
be run by volunteers. The goal will
be that from the time of arrest, law
enforcement officers will be trained
to recognize symptoms of mental
illness and will funnel those offenders to the mental health court rather
than through the traditional system.
They can then be sent to the relevant
support services and treatment programs. The court will not deal with
felony offenders; rather it will work
to benefit those who commit minor
violations such as vagrancy.
Verizon Partners with
Saint Joseph Hospital
Foundation
Saint Joseph Hospital Foundation,
part of KentuckyOne Health, has
announced $125,000 in support
from Verizon. The funding will create a program to help patients with
chronic disease monitor and manage
their health with new
technologies. Funding
from the Verizon Foundation as