In this episode of the Editor’s Podcast, Dr. Novick looks at articles appearing in the May 2019 issue of the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, which focuses on substance abuse and related disorders. In a new commentary, "Avoiding Déjà vu All Over Again: Inserting Public Health/ Mental/ Behavioral Health, and Prevention Policy Into the Opiate Crisis Litigation," Beitsch and Langhinrichsen-Rohling link the current substance abuse problem to tobacco and refer to the notable successes that public health accomplished with respect to nicotine dependency. In another article, Hedberg and co-authors describe the opioid epidemic in Oregon and an initiative launched in 2015 which decreases opioid prescribing including statewide guidelines and coverage standards for opioid and non-opioids for back pain in the Medicaid program. Their approach spans public health and health care systems, involves key stakeholders, and uses data to identify strategies to decrease misuse and overdose. A new case study by former Florida Secretary of Health Celeste Philip looks at the first non-travel related Zika case in the United States and how she mobilized her agency to perform unique surveillance, mosquito abatement, and media relation strategies.
