Recent News

Maryland Hit With Record Number Of Fentanyl Deaths (The Fix)

Jul 30th, 2018

"It's terrifying that we're at a point where the numbers escalate every year. We don't even know where the peak is," said Baltimore's health commissioner.

Maryland hit a sobering new milestone last year: The state saw more fentanyl deaths than ever before. And this year, it turns out, is already on track to set another disquieting record. 

Read the entire story.

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Congressional officials, Baltimore leaders talk opioids at Health Care for the Homeless (Health Care for the Homeless)

Jul 30th, 2018

That stat surfaced during a roundtable discussion and C-SPAN live broadcast with congressional officials, Baltimore leaders and community members at our downtown clinic on Friday, July 27. 

We were honored to welcome Senator Elizabeth Warren, Congressman Elijah Cummings, Senator Ben Cardin, Congressman John Sarbanes, Mayor Catherine Pugh, Baltimore Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen and many others to tour our facility and discuss the state of our nation’s opioid epidemic. 

Read the entire story.

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US City Bans Sugary Drinks on Children’s Menus (Learning English)

Jul 29th, 2018

Recently, Baltimore, Maryland, became the largest city in the United States to ban restaurants from including sodas and other sugary drinks on their menus for children.

Now, Baltimore’s restaurants can only offer milk, water or 100 percent fruit juice as drinks with meals meant for children.

Read the entire story.

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Melanie Repert: Help stop proposed gag rule affecting health care for women (Arizona Daily Star)

Jul 28th, 2018

The first time I visited the Baltimore City Health Department’s Druid Clinic, I was 17. I wasn’t going to the clinic for myself. A friend had told me she thought she was pregnant but was too nervous to go to the clinic to take a test alone, so I offered to go with her. When we arrived she was still nervous, so I offered to take a test as well.

Read the entire op-ed.

More than 2,000 Marylanders Died from Opioid-Related Overdoses in 2017 (Baltimore Magazine)

Jul 27th, 2018

More than 2,200 Maryland residents died in 2017 from unintended drug and alcohol-related intoxication, setting an all-time mark for the state in the seventh consecutive year.

“We are seeing an epidemic of overdoses in Maryland and around the country and these numbers are terrifying,” said Baltimore Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen in response to the report. “We are not even at the peak of the epidemic and we don’t know what the peak looks like.”

Read the entire story.

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Note From The Commissioner: Decisions about Medical Care Should be Based on Science, Not Ideology

Jul 27th, 2018

On Monday, at our Druid Health Clinic, doctors and nurses stood with Mayor Catherine Pugh and our entire Baltimore City federal delegation – Senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen and Representatives Elijah Cummings, Dutch Ruppersberger, and John Sarbanes – to voice our strong opposition to the Trump Administration’s proposed changes to Title X family planning services. These changes will hurt four million people, many of whom already bear the brunt of health disparities and inequities, including women of color and low-income individuals.

Leana Wen

Congressional Roundtable on the Opioid Crisis (CSPAN)

Jul 27th, 2018

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Ranking Member Elijah Cummings and Senator Elizabeth Warren hold a roundtable with congressional colleagues, Baltimore officials, and community representatives to discuss the city’s opioid crisis.

View a recording of the roundtable from CSPAN.

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Pugh, other city officials urge comprehensive U.S. help on 'desperate' opioid issues (Baltimore Sun)

Jul 27th, 2018

With 175 Americans dying each day from drug overdoses, the opioid crisis is akin to “a plane crashing every day,” Mayor Catherine Pugh said on Friday as she and other Baltimore officials urged Congress to approve comprehensive legislation to combat the epidemic.

“We are in desperate need at this particular point in time,” Pugh said at a roundtable discussion that included .Baltimore Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, community leaders and addiction experts at the city offices of Health Care for the Homeless.

Read the entire story.

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Dr. Leana Wen Discusses the Opioid Crisis – CSPAN Washington Journal (CSPAN)

Jul 27th, 2018

Baltimore City Commissioner of Health Dr. Leana Wen talked about challenges facing large cities like Baltimore in dealing with the opioid epidemic. She spoke via video link from Baltimore.

Watch the segment here.

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Pugh, other city officials urge comprehensive U.S. help on 'desperate' opioid issues (Baltimore Sun)

Jul 27th, 2018

With 175 Americans dying each day from drug overdoses, the opioid crisis is akin to “a plane crashing every day,” Mayor Catherine Pugh said on Friday as she and other Baltimore officials urged Congress to approve comprehensive legislation to combat the epidemic.

Cummings and Warren, both Democrats, sought to use the forum — nationally televised by C-SPAN — to promote legislation that would provide $100 billion over 10 years for services to combat substance use disorders. It is modeled after 1990’s Ryan White Act that provided billions of federal dollars to combat the AIDS crisis. 

“This is what we on the front lines have been asking for,” said Baltimore Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen, who moderated the panel.

Read the entire story.

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