Apr 11, 2025
MARQUETTE, Mich. (WLUC)— A diverse team of health professionals hopes to reduce the harms of substance use through education, resource provision, and community engagement. Behavioral Health Specialist Melissa DeMarse of OPEN (Overdose Prevention Education Network) joins Tia Trudgeon on the Morning News to discuss her group’s mission and a musical it’s bringing to the U.P. […]
Apr 1, 2025
In this issue: Hep C Champion Spotlight Michigan Syringe Service Program Directory Access Free Naloxone! Save the Date: 2025 Michigan Harm Reduction Summit Free CME Hepatitis C Webinars Hepatitis C Clinical Consultation Support Click here to read the full newsletter. Originally published on April 1, 2025 by MDHHS.
Mar 14, 2025
Hello, Painless: The Opioid Musical started as an idea to engage with students on the topic of opioid use after learning that almost 75% of high schoolers had access to unused opioids. Painless has been featured on The Today Show, seen by more than 2,400 students in Michigan, and streamed over 90,000 times. We are thrilled to share […]
Mar 10, 2025
Painless: The Opioid Musical started as an idea by Dr. Chad Brummett, Co-Director of OPEN, when he gave a lecture to high school students and learned that almost 75% of them admitted to having easy access to unused opioids. After Dr. Brummett contacted former Chair of Musical Theatre Vincent J. Cardinal in 2018, students at […]
Feb 20, 2025
Alex Peahl, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology, discusses her studies assessing various aspects of postpartum pain management, with the goal of understanding and reducing the risks of opioid prescribing during and after pregnancy. Alex Friedman Peahl, M.D., M.Sc., is an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Michigan Medicine and a member of the […]
Jan 17, 2025
January 1st, 2025 marked the official 1-year anniversary of the new OPEN: the Overdose Prevention Engagement Network. Throughout 2024, OPEN focused on supporting community and healthcare organizations across Michigan through the key pillars of prevention, treatment, and recovery. During 2024, OPEN was busy creating new resources and services catered towards our community of healthcare professionals, […]
Dec 18, 2024
Hello, At OPEN, we are dedicated to ensuring that individuals across Michigan have access to the highest quality care. One of the pivotal medications in this field, Buprenorphine, plays a crucial role in helping people living with opioid use disorder (OUD) on their recovery journey. We are excited to announce that on March 5, 2025, […]
Dec 17, 2024
On December 13th, OPEN officially sunsetted two of its community programs; Medication Disposal Products and Safe Storage Locking Pill Bottles. Together, these programs helped thousands of people across Michigan. Final awards will be sent to organizations during the beginning of 2025. The Medication Disposal Products program allowed organizations to apply to receive Deterra Medication Pouches […]
Dec 13, 2024
Postoperative opioid prescribing is meant to address moderate-to-severe pain that can’t be controlled by over-the-counter medications. Yet, prescriptions after surgery can pose unintended risks of prolonged use.1 Several recent studies suggest that inappropriate postoperative opioid prescribing is correlated with increased opioid use, as well as new persistent use among opioid naive patients – defined as […]
Oct 17, 2024
Hello , Medication safety is crucial all the time – especially during Halloween. Medication and candy can often look remarkably similar, posing a significant risk to children and people who may mistake one for the other. Can you tell which is which? Use our Candy or Medication Guide to test your identification skills and learn […]
Oct 11, 2024
Exactly one year ago today, on October 11th, 2023, OPEN and Michigan Medicine unveiled the first naloxone vending machine as part of our Naloxone Distribution and Vending Machine program in the Adult Emergency Department waiting room. This program started with the goal of bringing free access to naloxone to as many people across Michigan as […]
Oct 11, 2024
The University of Michigan will use a new $3.6 million federal grant to study how pain and opioids after surgery impact people with opioid use disorder, how guidelines might be adjusted to address postsurgical pain and how to prevent opioid-related harms. The five-year study funded by the National Institutes of Health will ask patients undergoing […]
