ABC News (1/28, Sidhu) reports a new study reveals that “opioid-related overdose deaths are on the rise, but individuals aged 15 to 24 have experienced a decline in treatment from the lifesaving medication buprenorphine.” One researcher said in a news release, “These findings for young people are particularly worrisome, given that their decrease in buprenorphine treatment occurred during a period when there was an increase in opioid-related overdose deaths for this age group.”

Meanwhile, U.S. News & World Report (1/29, Newman) says that researchers have been examining the potential of the psychological process called mindfulness and related meditation “to treat addiction by curbing cravings and reducing the risk and severity of relapse – and they’ve seen promising results.” University of Utah Center on Mindfulness and Integrative Health Intervention Development Director Eric Garland “says he thinks there’s ‘about to be an explosion of growth in this area,’ thanks in part to grants under the National Institutes of Health’s HEAL Initiative that have put funding behind a handful of mindfulness research projects.”

Follow all of the ADA’s advocacy efforts, policies, and positions on opioids at ADA.org/opioids.

As a public service, the ADA Center for Professional Success website is now offering free access to information on safe prescribing, online continuing education, and other tools for managing dental pain, especially for patients who are at risk for drug overdose or addiction. For more information, visit Success. ADA.org/opioids. In addition, the Oral Health Topics on ADA.org provide information on oral analgesics for acute dental pain for dental professionals.

ADA CE Online offers the courses Safe and Responsible Prescribing of Opioid Analgesics and Pharmacotherapeutics for Dental Practitioners: Analgesics Clinical Implications, and the ADA Catalog features the book The ADA Practical Guide to Substance Use Disorders and Safe Prescribing.