Meth OD deaths and opioids in pregnancy spiked in past decade; study points to possible meth-addiction treatment

Two new studies illustrate the impact of drug addiction in rural America over the past decade. 

The first study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that the incidence of pregnant people diagnosed with opioid-use disorder increased 131 percent nationwide from 2010 to 2017, and the nationwide incidence of babies born with withdrawal symptoms increased 82% in that same period. Though increases were seen in almost all demographic groups, the groups with the highest rates of both diagnoses were rural, white and relied on Medicaid. 

The second study, published in JAMA Psychiatry, found that methamphetamine overdose deaths surged nationwide from 2010 to 2018, especially among Native Americans and Alaskan Natives (many of whom suffer health disparities linked to poverty and rural disparities such as lack of access to health care).

Researchers say they may have found an effective treatment for meth addiction. In a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine, researchers outline how a combination of two relatively familiar medications (the antidepressant bupropion and the addiction treatment medication naltrexone) can safely and effectively treat adults with moderate or severe methamphetamine-use disorder. However, they caution, more research is needed.