Practice Support Update Blog

August 31, 2025: International Overdose Awareness Day

Aug 12, 2025 10:00:00 AM / by Leslie D McDowell, DNP, ANP-BC, RN posted in Primary Care, Pediatrics, opioid use disorder, opioids, naloxone

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From 2000-2023, more than 41,500 North Carolinians lost their lives to a drug overdose. Each day in 2023, 12 North Carolinians died from a drug overdose. Recent year death data is not yet final, but an estimated 3,025 North Carolinians (8 per day) are suspected to have died from an overdose in 2024.

NC Overdose Deaths.6.2025

Overdose does not discriminate.

One important way you can help is to have Naloxone on hand, ensure it is available to your patients and their families, and educate yourself, your staff, and people you care about, how Naloxone saves lives.

A person with a substance use disorder cannot begin recovery if they are not alive!

Who should have Naloxone on hand?

In 2018, United States Surgeon General, Dr. Jerome Adams, issued a public health advisory emphasizing the importance of naloxone in savings lives. In this advisory, he recommended the following groups of people carry naloxone and know how to use it:

  • Individuals taking high doses of opioids as prescribed for the management of chronic pain
  • Individuals taking prescription opioids concurrently with alcohol or sedating medications (i.e. benzodiazepines)
  • Individuals misusing prescription opioids or using illicit opioids such as heroin
  • Individuals with a history of opioid use disorder
  • Individuals completing opioid detoxification
  • Individuals recently discharged from emergency medical care following an opioid overdose
  • Individuals recently released from incarceration with a history of opioid use disorder
  • Family and friends of people who have opioid use disorder
  • Community members who come into contact with people at risk for opioid overdose

Learn more here:

Responding to an Opioid Overdose

Source: https://naloxonesaves-nc.org/safer-use-and-overdose-prevention/what-is-naloxone/

https://naloxonesaves-nc.org/

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Need CME for DEA Registration Renewal?

Jul 10, 2024 11:57:04 AM / by Practice Support Team posted in opioid use disorder, opioids, DEA, Medication assisted treatment

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Online Courses Orange Button - Finger Pushing Button of Black Computer Keyboard. Blurred Background. Closeup View.-1

As you know, federal legislation requires that all practitioners who apply for or renew their DEA registration must attest that they have completed 8 hours of training on the treatment and management of patients with opioid or other substance use disorders (unless practitioners are solely veterinarians).

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Opioid Prescriber Training: Live Webinar May 10, 2024

May 1, 2024 4:23:56 PM / by Leslie D McDowell, DNP, ANP-BC, RN posted in Substance Use, opioid use disorder, opioids, Medication assisted treatment

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Gabapentin added to NC CRS

Jan 29, 2024 9:13:00 AM / by Practice Support Team posted in Primary Care, prescriptions, opioids

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Electric cord with electricity sparkls as symbol of powerIn North Carolina, a new state law has added the anticonvulsant and nerve pain medication gabapentin to the list of drugs that are tracked through the state's prescription drug management system, the NC Controlled Substances Reporting System.

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Community Forum: Substance Use with Beth Macy

Jun 28, 2023 8:41:27 AM / by Practice Support Team posted in opioid use disorder, opioids

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Burke County Health Department is hosting a Community Forum event on July 12 featuring Beth Macy, the author of Dopesick, recently adapted for the HULU television series with Michael Keaton.

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