Recent News

Dr. Wen Issues Statement About Life-Threatening Bleeding After Using Synthetic Cannabinoids

Apr 17th, 2018

BALTIMORE, MD (APRIL 17, 2018) - Today, Baltimore City Health Commissioner, Dr. Leana Wen, issued the following statement about life-threatening bleeding after using synthetic cannabinoids:

"We want to warn all of our residents of the warning signs of someone who..." 

Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings, Sen. Elizabeth Warren plan sweeping legislation to combat opioid crisis (Baltimore Sun)

Apr 17th, 2018

With drug overdose deaths ravaging communities across the country, Rep. Elijah Cummings of Baltimore and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts are planning to introduce legislation Wednesday that would require $10 billion a year in federal funding to combat the opioid crisis. 

Cummings said he and Warren got the idea to fund a massive public health campaign against opioids from Baltimore Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen and her staff, who pitched the lawmakers on the need for increased funding.

Read the entire story.

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2018 March for Science Focused on Public Health Advocacy (Medscape)

Apr 17th, 2018

At the second annual March for Science, speakers here called for political action using science to inform some of the most pressing public health issues of the day, including the opioid crisis, gun violence, and ongoing funding of research for medical cures. 

Baltimore Health Commissioner Leana S. Wen, MD, gave an impassioned speech calling for more money toward the purchase of naloxone to treat more people who are addicted to opioids. Soon after becoming health commissioner in January 2015, Wen issued a blanket prescription for naloxone to all of Baltimore's residents. That program has saved more than 1700 lives, but there's still not enough of the medication to meet the need.

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Baltimore City's real solution to the opioid epidemic (The Hill)

Apr 17th, 2018

An op-ed by Evan Behrle, Special Advisor for Opioid Policy at the Health Department and Dr. Leana S. Wen, Baltimore City Health Commissioner:

In Baltimore, we spend a lot of time training people to use naloxone, the antidote medication that reverses an opioid overdose. At these trainings, we talk about the opioid epidemic — what caused it and how it escalated so quickly. These explanations are often unnecessary. Our city’s residents know the opioid epidemic. It has taken people they loved.

Read the entire op-ed.

Leana Wenopioidsnaloxone

Baltimore health commissioner latest to warn about bleeding from synthetic marijuana (Baltimore Sun)

Apr 17th, 2018

Baltimore Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen added her voice to the chorus warning about the dangers of synthetic marijuana after four people in the state this month were hospitalized for extreme bleeding after taking the drugs.

Wen said the drugs are often marketed as natural but contain untested chemical compounds that can harm or kill. People who use synthetic marijuana play “Russian Roulette” because they don’t know what they are taking, Wen said in a statement.

Read the entire story.

Leana Wen

Plan to curb older adults from falling announced in Baltimore (The Frederick News-Post)

Apr 17th, 2018

Baltimore officials say a plan to curb hospitalizations and emergency department visits related to older adults falling has been announced. A Baltimore City Health Department news release says Mayor Catherine E. Pugh and Baltimore City Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen announced the new strategy Monday.

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Leana Wen

Healthwatch with Dr. Leana Wen: Stabilization Centers, Protecting Seniors, and TPPI (WYPR)

Apr 17th, 2018

On the April edition of Healthwatch, with Dr. Leana Wen: 

Dr. Wen discusses the city's first Stabilizatoin Center, cuts to the city's teen pregnancy prevention programs, and a new initiative to reduce falls among senior citizens. She answers our questions for the hour, and takes your calls, emails and tweets about your public health concerns.

Listen to the program.

Leana Wen

Plan to curb older adults from falling announced in city (AP)

Apr 16th, 2018

Baltimore officials say a plan to curb hospitalizations and emergency department visits related to older adults falling has been announced. 

A Baltimore City Health Department news release says Mayor Catherine E. Pugh and Baltimore City Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen announced the new strategy Monday.

Read the entire story.

Leana Wen

Baltimore City Officials Announce Citywide Falls Prevention Strategy for Older Adults

Apr 16th, 2018

BALTIMORE, MD (April 16, 2018) — Today, Mayor Catherine E. Pugh and Baltimore City Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen announced a new Citywide falls prevention strategy aimed at reducing falls-related emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations for older adults in Baltimore City.

Leana Wen

Baltimore launches campaign to stop the elderly from falling (Baltimore Sun)

Apr 16th, 2018

Far more people end up in the hospital with injuries from falling in Baltimore than in the rest of the state, leading city officials to launch a campaign Monday to curb the rate of falling among the elderly.

“Falls are a growing public health concern, especially for older adults,” said Baltimore Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen.

Read the entire story.

Leana Wen

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