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Common Definitions and Acronyms

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Aaron’s Law: Passed in 2015, Aaron’s Law requires pharmacies, not-for-profits, health departments and other entities that distribute naloxone to register as naloxone providers on the Overdose Prevention Therapy-Indiana (optIN) website. This allows Hoosiers to obtain naloxone if they suspect they could experience or witness an opioid overdose. Prior to this law, only emergency responders were able to carry naloxone. Aaron’s Law also includes Good Samaritan protections, which you can read more about here.

Addiction: A medical condition that is characterized by compulsive actions or behaviors that involve the pursuit of rewarding stimuli, despite adverse or dangerous consequences. Like other chronic diseases, addiction often involves cycles of relapse and remission. Addiction is used interchangeably with the term substance use disorder.

CDC: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Diversion: The transfer of any legally prescribed drug from the individual for whom it was prescribed to any other person for purposes not intended by the prescriber.

DMHA: Division of Mental Health and Addiction (housed within the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration)

DTIP: Division of Trauma and Injury Prevention (housed within the Indiana Department of Health)

ESOOS: Funding for Enhanced State Opioid Overdose Surveillance has been awarded to several states by the CDC to provide more timely and comprehensive data on fatal and nonfatal opioid overdoses and risk factors associated with fatal overdoses.

FSSA: Indiana Family and Social Services Administration

IC Indiana Code

ICD-10: International Classification of Diseases-Tenth Revision

ICJI: Indiana Criminal Justice Institute

IHA: Indiana Hospital Association

Indiana Scheduled Prescription Electronic Collection and Tracking (INSPECT): Indiana’s prescription drug monitoring program.

ISMA: Indiana State Medical Association

Medication-assisted treatment (MAT): The use of medications, in combination with counseling and behavioral therapies, to treat substance use disorders.

Naloxone/Narcan: Naloxone, also known by the brand name Narcan, is a drug that can reverse the effect of an opioid or heroin overdose, and can be life-saving if administered in time. Emergency medical services must be contacted immediately before or after administration.

Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS): A withdrawal syndrome infants experience after birth due to the sudden discontinuation of substances that were used or abused by the mother during pregnancy.

Opioid: Opioids are drugs taken to reduce pain. They can come in three forms: natural (comes from the opium poppy plant); semi-synthetic (modified in a lab from the opium poppy plant); fully synthetic (completely man-made in a lab). The terms opioid and opiate are often used interchangeably, though opiate refers to natural products while opioid refers to the synthetic products.

Opioid use disorder: A specific form of substance use disorder in which opioids are the drug of abuse.

Overdose: The consumption or use of a drug or substance in excessive quantities. Overdoses can be intentional or unintentional. The terms overdose and poisoning are often used interchangeably.

PDO: Prescription drug overdose

Poisoning: The consumption of a harmful substance that can result in a toxic state or death. The terms overdose and poisoning are often used interchangeably.

Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMPs): State-run electronic databases used to track the prescribing and dispensing of controlled prescription drugs to patients. Authorized personnel − prescribers, pharmacists, and coroner’s/medical examiners and law enforcement agents − have access to this data to see medications dispensed and doses. In Indiana, this program is called INSPECT.

Route of administration: The path taken by a drug to get into the body. Examples include smoking, injecting, snorting, etc.

SAMHSA: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Substance abuse: The continued use of illicit or prescription drugs despite problems resulting from drug use with relationships, work, school, health or safety. People who abuse substances often experience loss of control and take drugs in larger amounts or for longer than they intended.

Substance misuse: The use of prescription drugs in a manner other than as directed by medical guidelines.

Substance use disorder: A clinical diagnosis that is marked by the recurrent use of alcohol and/or drugs that causes significant impairment, such as health problems, disability and failure to meet major responsibilities at work, school or home. The term substance use disorder is used interchangeably with the term addiction.

Tolerance: When a person no longer responds to a drug in the way that they initially responded. A higher dose of the drug is needed to achieve the same level of response achieved initially.

WISQARS: CDC’s Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) is an interactive database system that provides customized reports of injury-related data.

WONDER: CDC’s Wide-ranging ONline Data for Epidemiologic Research (WONDER) is an easy-to-use Internet system that contains many health-related data sets available to the public.