The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) was established in 2007. Prior to that time, it existed as the Texas Cancer Council, which was established in 1985 to…
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This posting summarizes policy solutions being offered to address the opioid crisis. The American Public Health Association recommends that policy strategies addressing the epidemic must affect both supply and demand of opioids that would be misused and/or abused. Policies are listed in the tables below (Part I), followed by systemic changes that may be helpful in reducing suffering and public expenditures associated with opioid misuse and addiction (Part II). Key stakeholder institutions have issued guidelines on the epidemic and these are briefly discussed in Part III.
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A number of recent events have brought renewed scrutiny to the pharmaceutical industry, threatening fines and increased regulation. This posting explores these events and perhaps a more balanced view of…
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This last week saw Texas health officials testifying to members of the House Committee on Opioids & Substance Abuse that the Texas opioid death rate is rising by 10 percent every year. The most recent year -2015- of data from the Texas Department of State Health Services reports that 1,174 Texans died from what is termed “accidental poisoning where opioids were involved”. US Centers for Disease Control attributes 1,375 2016 deaths in Texas to opioid-related overdoses. Physicians, pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors, pharmacies, and Medicare and state Medicaid programs are some of the groups being blamed for the crisis, as are addicts themselves. Forthcoming 2017 data on opioid-related deaths reportedly will show even higher numbers of deaths. This posting provides an overview of the crisis and offers some policy solutions that will effectively reduce our reliance on these drugs, regardless of what parties may bear responsibility for the crisis.
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“When exposed to coercion, cruelty, violence, neglect, or rejection, a child may cope with indifference, defiance of rules and authority, or aggression as a self-protective counter-reaction. These defensive attempts to…
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“The greater a child’s terror, and the earlier it is experienced, the harder it becomes to develop a strong and healthy sense of self.” ― Nathaniel Branden
To expand on some of the recent issues raised in postings on gender disparities in poverty and the effects of violence, TI offers a new series on trauma-informed care (TIC) and its use and promise in Texas. Trauma is generally defined as a deeply distressing or disturbing event, causing a sense of intense fear, terror and helplessness. TIC programs are those that incorporate knowledge of the impact of trauma and traumatic stress into policies and programs of systems of care, such as the child welfare system, schools, criminal justice systems and the healthcare system. The graphic displays TIC impacts at a Washington State high school:
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“Often it isn’t the initiating trauma that creates seemingly insurmountable pain, but lack of support after.” –S. Kelley Harrell Building on recent postings’ themes of the health and social impacts…
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“The cure for poverty has a name. It is called the empowerment of women.” –Christopher Hitchens This second and final posting on female poverty in Texas examines how female poverty…
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This posting explores female poverty in Texas. It is the first part of a two-part look at how poverty affects women in our state, what it looks like in terms…
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“The problem here, for the most part, isn’t faulty guns or insufficient training. It’s dangerous people using guns effectively. The best approach to violence prevention is to zero in on…
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