Category: Health
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Pilot Plan Begins in MA to Rate Addiction-Treatment Centers
Massachusetts will be the first state to participate in a new, national system to rate addiction-treatment programs. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health has approved being part of a pilot program developed by Shatterproof, a national nonprofit organization. Substance-use treatment programs will work with the health department and other state agencies on the pilot, which…
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Cambridge votes to add gender neutral option to birth certificates
The Cambridge City Council voted unanimously last Monday to draft a home-rule petition allowing residents to amend birth certificates to a third gender category, “X,” rather than male or female, as well as streamlining the change process. The proposed bill is intended to accommodate residents who identify as neither exclusively male nor female and to…
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Uninsured Rate Up 50 Percent for Massachusetts’ Children
Across the country, the number of children without health insurance rose in 2017 for the first time in eight years, according to a new report from the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families. The research found no state made progress to get more children insured between 2016 and 2017, including Massachusetts. The Commonwealth saw…
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Mass. Leads Country in Fentanyl Overdose Deaths
Massachusetts reached an all-time high in fentanyl overdose deaths this year, according to new data from the state Department of Public Health. Nearly 90 percent of opioid overdoses in the second quarter involved the synthetic opioid fentanyl. What’s more, a report from The Pew Charitable Trusts maintains that Massachusetts had a higher opioid death rate…
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The True Cost of Food
How much would you expect to pay for the most basic plate of food? The kind of thing you might whip up at home – nothing fancy, just enough to fill you up and meet a third of today’s calorie needs. A soup, maybe, or a simple stew – some beans or lentils, a handful…
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Clean and Sober: Recovery After Suboxone
The opioid trail is a long difficult road. I appreciated Felice Freyer’s article in the Aug. 19 edition of the Boston Globe, which was about getting help for opioid addiction in Massachusetts. I am a person with a Substance Use Disorder in “remission.” It took me a long time to get where I am. I’m 72…
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The Suboxone Withdrawal Diaries, Part 2
“Late last night and the night before, Tommyknockers, Tommyknockers, knocking at the door. I want to go out, don’t know if I can, ‘cause I’m so afraid of the Tommyknocker (dealers) man.” — The Tommyknockers, by Stephen King; a book, that helped me get through this. August 21 This is day 8 of my…
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Healthcare is a Human Right
By the time you read this, I will have had my second surgery to plant a fistula in my arm for my eventual dialysis treatment. But that is not what I want to talk about today. After all, I’m fine, and I’m reasonably healthy because I have been lucky. I have great healthcare, and I’m…
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A running diary of suboxone withdrawal
August 12, 2018 I’m in the third day of my Suboxone withdrawal and starting to feel it. I have night sweats, my appetite is diminishing and I’m only sleeping five hours at night. I’ve gone from three Suboxone a day down to one-half of a Suboxone a day. It’s a familiar feeling because I used…
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Children, Women with Disabilities More Likely to Face Discrimination
Women with disabilities in Afghanistan protest for their rights. Credit: Ashfaq Yusufzai/IPS Children with disabilities are up to four times more likely to experience violence, with girls being the most at risk, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund. “Children with disabilities are among the most marginalised groups in society. If society continues to see…