News
Latest - Mar 14, 2025
Painless Licensing + Spring TBE – Spring 2025 Newsletter
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 […]Jan 10, 2023
Three Years of Research Culminating in Best Practice Recommendations for Pediatric Surgery
Dr. Karen Cooper started her residency in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (also known as Ear, Nose and Throat or ENT) 25 years ago, and one of the first surgeries she learned to perform was a tonsillectomy. When she began her career, the common practice was to prescribe large amounts of an opioid to manage the […]Jan 6, 2023
Celebrating the Successful Fall 2022 Take Back Event
Take Back Events are organized twice a year by the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) where community members can turn in unused medications they still have in their households. While these Take Back Events predate OPEN, the OPEN team saw these events as a great way to partner with community leaders and raise awareness to the […]Dec 14, 2022
Read Our Fall 2022 Newsletter
Our Fall newsletter is here! Featuring Painless: The Opioid Musical, research presented at APHA, community engagement/achievement and more. Read our Fall 2022 newsletter here. Subscribe to our newsletter here.Dec 13, 2022
Painless: The Opioid Musical Featured on the Today Show
On November 25, Painless: The Opioid Musical was featured on the Today Show, recognizing the importance of this musical and the impact it has already made on our community. The feature showed viewers highlights from its first high school performance and responses from high school students who watched it live. Painless started as an idea […]Dec 6, 2022
OPEN Cited in new CDC Prescribing Guidelines
In the CDC’s November 4th publication of the 2022 Clinical Practice Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Pain, OPEN was cited throughout the article. The CDC referenced OPEN’s recommendations for the number of opioid pills to consider prescribing for patients undergoing surgical procedures, the use of non-opioid medications for acute pain, and prescribing recommendations after dental […]Nov 29, 2022
OPEN Team Presents Pediatric Research at the 2022 APHA Conference
OPEN team members Heidi Aslesen and Zahra Dawson attended the American Public Health Association (APHA) Annual Meeting in Boston from November 6th through November 9th to present research on the intersection of pediatric opioid prescribing, BMI and the impact on children. The APHA Annual Meeting is a yearly public health conference that celebrates the vast […]Nov 16, 2022
Painless: The Opioid Musical Now Available for Streaming
Painless: The Opioid Musical is officially available for streaming on Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube Music! The OPEN team is excited for this impactful project to be available to share with a widespread audience. Bravo and congratulations to every person involved in creating these stories and getting them ready to share with the public! Listen […]Aug 22, 2022
Read our Summer 2022 Newsletter
Our summer newsletter is here! Featuring our Fall Take Back Event, new disposal boxes, new resources and more. Read our summer 2022 newsletter here. Subscribe to our newsletter here.Jul 12, 2022
New Resource: Pediatric Toolkit Available
We are excited to announce a new resource: Our Pediatric Surgical Pain Management Toolkit! This toolkit focuses on prevention of opioid-related complications in children and adolescents by intervening at the point many are first introduced to them: when acute pain is treated after surgery. Providers and parents can find best practices, free educational materials, and […]Jun 20, 2022
3,300 Naloxone Rescue Kits Distributed
From March 2020 – May 2022, our partnership with MEDIC has distributed 3,300 naloxone rescue kits to patients in 22 emergency departments across the state of Michigan. The ‘Rescue Kits’ include gloves, a CPR face-shield, a naloxone education brochure, a county-specific pharmacy information card, and two doses of Narcan. The Naloxone Rescue Kits are distributed […]Jun 3, 2022
Receive a FULLY-FUNDED medication disposal box from OPEN!
Grant funding opportunity available to support implementation of a permanent medication disposal box. Applicants will have the opportunity to select the disposal box that best meets their capacity and needs. Boxes, or kiosks, will be provided through American Rx Group and purchased for the awardee by OPEN. Only organizations in Michigan are eligible to apply. […]May 26, 2022