Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health
Caleb Alexander, MD, MS •
Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health
The study finds Florida’s efforts to prevent inappropriate use of painkillers are showing reductions among prescribers and patients who had the highest prescribing and usage rates.
Health Research Inc./New York State Department of Health
The study reviewed policies from all 129 NY hospitals providing maternity care services. In 2009, none were fully compliant with WHO recommendations, but by 2013, 97, or 75 percent of the hospitals had compliant hospital breastfeeding policies. And as of April 2014, all 129 hospitals in New York had a fully compliant, approved, written breastfeeding policy in place.
This Knowledge Asset includes information about the impacts of bullying; the public health framework for anti-bullying laws; the language and content of these laws; and current evaluation studies on the implementation and effectiveness of anti-bullying laws.
Drug overdose is the leading cause of injury-related death in the United States, killing more people every year than car crashes. While naloxone has been used in hospitals and ambulances for decades, the rising tide of overdose deaths has resulted in calls to make it more available to laypeople and first responders.
Researchers reviewed 47 prescription monitoring program (PMP) websites for overdose content. They found that most PMPs did not address overdose or related terms in available materials and few state PMPs project overdose-specific messaging or provider tools for prevention.
In a Perspective for the New England Journal of Medicine, Sarpatwari and Kesselheim discuss the future of follow-on biologics in the United States. Among other issues, the article discusses the impact that so-called carve-outs from state drug product selection laws will have on reducing the market penetration of interchangeable biologics.
These three articles aim to acquaint specialists in mental health law, health services research, and policy implementation research with the Virginia Advance Directive Project.
Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health
A new study released on March 2, 2015, in Health Affairs reports that most primary care physicians are aware of prescription drug monitoring programs and have used the data in their practices, but do so only intermittently.
The study surveyed 420 physicians randomly identified through the American Medical Association’s Masterfile list. Of those physicians surveyed, 72 percent were aware of their state’s prescription drug monitoring program, and 53 percent reported that they had used the programs.
Workplace injuries remain a significant public health problem. In the U.S. there were 4,383 fatal workplace injuries in 2012, and an estimated 3.8 million nonfatal injuries. Approximately 49,000 deaths each year are attributed to workplace-related illnesses. A 2011 economic analysis found that workplace injuries and illnesses cost the United States $192 billion annually.
This report was prepared for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Public Health Law Program to summarize the research and results undertaken in the first year of a project intended to advance the understanding and practice of legal epidemiology at CDC and state, local and tribal health agencies, with special focus on policy surveillance.
