BY MORGAN MCKAY NEW YORK STATE
PUBLISHED 5:01 AM ET AUG. 25, 2020   SPECTRUM NEWS

Restaurants and bars are now joining a growing list of businesses that will be able to carry opioid antagonists, like Narcan, in the case of an opioid-related overdose. 
Governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislation on Monday that expands the list of establishments that are allowed to possess and administer opioid overdose reversal medication. This list will now include malls, beauty parlors, theaters, hotels, restaurants, bars and retail establishments. 
"
​We have made tremendous progress in combating addiction across New York and while we have seen a reduction in opioid deaths over the past 10 years, there is still work to be done," Cuomo said.
The bill will also give these businesses protection under the "Good Samaritan Law," so they will not be penalized for providing medical attention.

"By authorizing the use of these reversal drugs without fear of liability, this new law will also provide peace of mind to residents and business owners around the state who are inclined to help those in desperate need of help," bill sponsor Senator Pete Harckham said. 

​TO CONTINUE READING: https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/buffalo/ny-state-of-politics/2020/08/25/cuomo-signs-bill-to-expand-narcan-use?cid=id-app15_m-share_s-web_cmp-app_launch_august2020_c-producer_posts_po-organic

July 31, 2020 | by Samar Khurshid GOTHAMGAZETTE

With the pandemic blowing a hole in the economy and leading to a drastic drop in state tax revenue, budget officials have for months been withholding payments for state contracts to manage cash flows. Among the victims of that fiscal approach are substance use treatment providers who are being forced to cut already-limited services and consider staff layoffs and furloughs, which they say will likely lead to a sharp increase in overdoses and new disease outbreaks around the state. 
The pandemic caused a 14% drop in expected revenue for the state in the current fiscal year, roughly $13.3 billion, leading the state to reduce $4 billion in spending so far by withholding contract payments across the board and imposing freezes on new contracts, hiring, and pay raises, according to the Division of Budget. Governor Andrew Cuomo has said the state cannot meet the shortfall unless the federal government provides aid, failing which he would cut about 20%, or $8.2 billion, of funding for local governments for everything from education and social services to health care programs. 
But several nonprofit providers that contract with the state to run substance use treatment programs – including syringe exchanges, sexually-transmitted infection (STI) screenings, naloxone overdose rescue training, and more – are already feeling the crunch, having gone months without being paid by the state. The state has also cut local funding for substance use and addiction treatment programs by 31%, according to news reports, exacerbating providers’ worries about being able to provide services.
In interviews, providers and harm reduction advocates painted a dire picture. They say that the already rising rate of overdoses that they are witnessing is at risk of spiking to the same levels as 2016, when the opioid epidemic reached its peak and spurred local and state officials into action. Since official data lags behind and could be unavailable until even a year after the fact, they fear that by the time the actual numbers become apparent, it will be too late. A generational crisis could be underway.  
TO CONTINUE READING:   https://www.gothamgazette.com/state/9637-state-withholds-contract-payments-nonprofits-substance-use-treatment-providers-overdoses-disease?mc_cid=5

​Yale University News|August 7, 2020

Researchers at the Yale Liver Center found that patients with COVID-19 presented with abnormal liver tests at much higher rates than suggested by earlier studies. They also discovered that higher levels of liver enzymes — proteins released when the liver is damaged — were associated with poorer outcomes for these patients, including ICU admission, mechanical ventilation, and death.
The study appeared online onJuly 29 in Hepatology.
Previous studies in China found that approximately 15% of patients with COVID-19 had abnormal liver tests. The Yale study, which looked retrospectively at 1,827 COVID-19 patients who were hospitalized in the Yale New Haven Health system between March and April, found that the incidence of abnormal liver tests was much higher — between 41.6% and 83.4% of patients, depending on the specific test.
In all, the Yale researchers examined five liver tests, looking at factors such as elevations in aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine transaminase (ALT), which indicate liver cell inflammation; an increase in bilirubin, which indicates liver dysfunction; and increased levels of alkaline phosphatase (ALP), which may indicate inflammation of bile ducts.

Although the researchers do not know why the incidence of abnormal liver tests was so much higher than in previous studies from China, senior author Dr. Joseph Lim, professor of medicine and director of the Yale Viral Hepatitis Program, said other health differences between the Chinese and U.S. populations could account for it.
“We can speculate that U.S. patients may have an increased rate of other risk factors such as alcoholic or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease,” he said.

TO CONTINUE READING: https://www.mdlinx.com/news/strong-link-found-between-abnormal-liver-tests-and-poor-covid-19-outcomes/62T02X3quARxyENd5XKdnn?utm_medium=e

Terri Wilder, M.S.W.Aug. 3, 2020- The Body Pro

​The 23rd International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2020) was held virtually for the very first time and featured discussion about the current direction and future prospects for HIV prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. It was followed by a virtual COVID-19 conference on July 10 and 11. This conference was the first abstract-driven scientific conference dedicated to the global COVID-19 pandemic. It featured 140 late-breaking studies addressing urgent questions related to COVID-19 epidemiology, prevention, treatment, and care.
During the summit, researchers gave a presentation entitled, “Sofosbuvir and Daclatasvir as a Potential Candidate for Moderate or Severe COVID-19 Treatment, Results from a Randomised Control Trial.” During the official press briefing, Andrew Hill, Ph.D., the principal investigator, reviewed promising results from the study.
Hill graduated from Oxford University and then gained his Ph.D. from the University of Amsterdam. He’s been working on clinical trials of drugs to treat HIV and hepatitis C for the past 28 years. He’s a senior visiting research fellow at Liverpool University and also works as a consultant for the World Health Organization and Unitaid. Hill spoke with Terri Wilder, M.S.W., after the COVID-19 conference.
Terri Wilder: Dr. Hill, can you start by giving me an overview of the trial, the preliminary results, and how you were involved?
Andrew Hill: There were three studies conducted in Iran at the peak of their first epidemic there in March and April 2020. I was involved with them because they had used the same drug to cure thousands of people with hepatitis C in Iran. I actually contacted them at the beginning of the epidemic and suggested they try using the hepatitis C drugs to actually treat COVID-19, as well, because there were some early studies suggesting that these drugs might be active, not just against hep C, but against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, as well.
TW: The drugs that were used, as you mentioned, were hepatitis C drugs. Can you talk a little bit about the dosage of the drugs that were given to the patients? And then also, what was the control treatment that was given?

TO CONTINUE READING:​https://www.thebodypro.com/article/can-hepatitis-c-drugs-treat-covid-19-research