The COVID-19 pandemic is having an impact of mental health services in New York, as the state shuts 150 addiction beds due to corona virus-related budget shortfalls. Treatment has become harder to find just as the pandemic has driven up demand for such services. Overall, about 400 psychiatric beds remain closed for care, and an additional 400 rehab and detox beds in hospitals and community settings were off-limits due to COVID restrictions. Treatment providers are also in a precarious financial situation, as funding cuts force them to limit services at a time when drug overdoses and fatalities are rising.
Meanwhile, one of the largest opioid makers—Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals—has declared bankruptcy as part of a potential $1.6 billion settlement of the nationwide opioid lawsuits. The company, which makes generic opioid painkillers, is one of many firms being sued in thousands of lawsuits for allegedly contributing to the opioid epidemic.
And finally, more and more celebrity athletes are endorsing CBD products—although there is scant scientific evidence the compound is an effective treatment for a variety of ailments, as CBD makers claim. Nevertheless, CBD has become a burgeoning industry, and athletes are using their status and social media reach to champion the products—sometimes falsely suggesting that consumers should use the products as an alternative to opioids for pain, as well as for insomnia and anxiety. So far, there’s no uniform policy across major sports leagues concerning CBD, which contains the non-psychoactive component of marijuana.