opioid crisis

December 5, 2019

Multisite study focuses on opioid use during pregnancy

The Vanderbilt Maternal Addiction Recovery Program is participating in a 12-site clinical trial that will compare two forms of the medication buprenorphine in treating opioid use disorder during pregnancy, and the results could have a potentially significant impact on clinical practice.

By Kelsey Herbers
October 10, 2019

Project seeks to enhance opioid care for infants

The number of opioid-exposed infants who were connected, along with their families, to outside resources upon discharge from the hospital surged in a recent six-month pilot.

By Holly Fletcher
August 29, 2019

New tool helps predict patients’ opioid needs after cesarean section

Most women who undergo a cesarean section are sent home with more opioids than they need, but a significant proportion of women use all opioids and report unmet pain needs, according to Sarah Osmundson, MD, MS, assistant professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

By Kelsey Herbers
July 15, 2019

Parental substance use linked to increase in infants in foster care

The nation’s opioid crisis is a factor in the recent increase in the number of infants entering the nation’s foster care system, with at least half of all infant placements now a result of parental substance use.

By Holly Fletcher
The Addiction Bridge Clinic will be staffed by a multispecialty team, including, from left, David Edwards, MD, PhD, David Marcovitz, MD, William Sullivan, MD, MEd, Cody Chastain, MD, Katie White, PhD, MD, and Jason Ferrell, LCSW.
May 2, 2019

New clinic bridges inpatient, outpatient addiction care

New Bridge Clinic links patients with substance use disorder to follow-up care upon discharge.

By Kelsey Herbers
December 13, 2018

VUMC Addiction Consultation Service sees rising demand

An Addiction Consultation Service, specialized training for physicians and changes in the language used in addiction cases are the first of many in a series of new clinical approaches being offered around addiction care as Vanderbilt University Medical Center — and the rest of the country — see an increased demand for such services.

By Kelsey Herbers
December 13, 2018

Early postpartum opioids linked with persistent usage

Vanderbilt researchers have published findings indicating that regardless of whether a woman delivers a child by cesarean section or by vaginal birth, if they fill prescriptions for opioid pain medications early in the postpartum period, they are at increased risk of developing persistent opioid use.
By Jill Clendening
September 13, 2018

QuizTime app created to aid opioid education efforts for providers

Vanderbilt University Medical Center will partner with the Tennessee Department of Health to offer workplace-based education to health professionals across the state via QuizTime, a smartphone application developed at VUMC. This continuing education activity will focus on proper utilization of opioid and non-opioid therapies in managing pain.
By Kathy Whitney
September 6, 2018

Discovery Lecture to focus on nation’s opioid epidemic

Innovative strategies for addressing the nation’s opioid epidemic and its consequences will be discussed during a Cutting-edge Discovery Lecture on Sept. 13. The lecture will begin at 4 p.m. in room 208 Light Hall.
By Bill Snyder
September 6, 2018

Health policy speaker urges looking beyond data

Katherine Swartz, PhD, a nationally known leader in health policy research, encouraged others conducting investigations in the field to move beyond the data and into local communities to gather the stories behind the data during last week’s Research into Policy and Practice Lecture hosted by Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Department of Health Policy.
By Jill Clendening
August 16, 2018

Battlefield acupuncture used as alternative for chronic pain

Franklin resident Diane Grich admits she was surprised when she was asked if she would like to try acupuncture instead of a more invasive medical procedure to address the chronic lower back pain that had troubled her off and on for 17 years; she chose acupuncture.
By Jill Clendening
July 26, 2018

Team Hope program’s mission is to enhance care for newborns with NAS

A collaborative program across units at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt is changing the way nurses and doctors care for newborns diagnosed with drug withdrawal symptoms at birth, also known as neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS).
By Christina Echegaray
July 26, 2018

First lady visits Children’s Hospital to learn about VUMC’s opioid approach

First lady Melania Trump visited Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt Tuesday to learn firsthand about Team Hope, Vanderbilt’s multidisciplinary team focused on helping infants born with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) as well as their families.
By Christina Echegaray
1 2 3 4