Dan Ciccarone
Biographic Data
| ID | 143790 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Dan Ciccarone |
| GIVEN NAMES | Dan |
| FAMILY NAME | Ciccarone |
| SIGNATURE | CICCARONE D |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of California, San Francisco |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-2355-5477 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 36 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 124 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 36 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2003 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
US overdose mortality saw first drop below the Jalal-Burke exponential growth curve in 2024
BACKGROUND: Between 1979 and 2016, US overdose death rates rose in a smooth fashion, described by Jalal and Burke using an exponential growth curve that fit observed data nearly perfectly. Fluctuations above this curve have subsequently been seen during shocks related to drug supply and the COVID-19 pandemic. However, large-magnitude dips below the curve have never been demonstrated. Given that overdose mortality began sharply falling during 2023…
Tranq burn
While this study cannot confirm a causal role, our findings of reported burning sensations and moderate to high acidity of lab-tested drugs are coherent with reported rapid vein loss following initiation of tranq injection. This, in turn, lends early support to a synergistic hypothesis of tranq-related SSTW etiology: vein loss and subcutaneous injections stem from the injection of acidic drugs followed by poor tissue perfusion from vasoconstricti…
National and regional trends in fentanyl seizures in the United States, 2017–2023
Early evidence of the effects of xylazine-adulterated fentanyl in Ohio
Fentanyl smoking in San Francisco
Heroin, once dominating the United States' opioid supply, has been supplanted by the more potent synthetic, fentanyl. In San Francisco, this has been accompanied by drastic changes in price and availability and the novel phenomenon of fentanyl smoking. Ethnographic research among people smoking fentanyl in San Francisco, often living houseless, suggests a process of knowledge reconstruction with the adaptation and discovery of consumption techniq…
"I Heard of PrEP-I Didn't Think I Needed it." Understanding the Formation of HIV Risk Perception Among People Who Inject Drugs
Uptake of pre-exposure prophylaxis medication (PrEP) to prevent HIV among people who inject drugs (PWID) remains extremely low in the United States. West Virginia's rising HIV incidence and highest drug overdose rate in the nation makes it an important locus for opioid use and HIV risk interaction. In this pilot study we pioneered the use of Cultural Theory among PWID to understand HIV-related risk perception arising from four contrasting modes o…
‘The High Five Club’
In the United States, HIV outbreaks are occurring in areas most affected by the opioid epidemic, including West Virginia (WV). Cultural Theory contends that multiple cultures co-exist within societies distinguished by their differing intensities of rules or norms of behavior (‘grid’) or degree of group allegiance/individual autonomy (‘group’). Accordingly, we would expect that perceptions about HIV, including stigma, correspond with individuals’ …
Insights from Drug Checking Programs
The year 2021 was the most deadly year for overdose deaths in the USA and Canada. The stress and social isolation stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic coupled with a flood of fentanyl into local drug markets created conditions in which people who use drugs were more susceptible to accidental overdose. Within territorial, state, and local policy communities, there have been longstanding efforts to reduce morbidity and mortality within this populati…
Prevalence and factors associated with chronic venous insufficiency, leg ulceration and deep‐vein thrombosis among people who inject drugs in London, UK
The Opioid Industry Documents Archive
The rise of illicit fentanyls, stimulants and the fourth wave of the opioid overdose crisis
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This review provides an update on recently published literature on the rise of illicit fentanyls, risks for overdose, combinations with other substances, e.g. stimulants, consequences, and treatment. RECENT FINDINGS: Overdose due to illicit synthetic opioids (e.g. fentanyl and fentanyl analogs) continues to rise in the US both preceding and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fentanyl-related overdose is rising in new geographic area…
Fentanyl test strips as an opioid overdose prevention strategy
We found that using FTS and receiving a positive test result was associated with changes in drug use behavior and perceptions of overdose safety. FTS may represent an effective addition to current overdose prevention efforts when included with other evidence-based strategies to prevent opioid overdose and related harm
The triple wave epidemic
The US mortality rate has gone up three years in a row from 2014 to 2017 (Murphy, Xu, Kochanek, & Arias, 2016, 2018; National Center for Health Statistics, 2017). Correspondingly, life expectancy at birth has declined; the first triple year decline since World War One and the devastating influenza pandemic one hundred years ago (Tejada Vera B, 2017). Most of the top ten causes of death are declining year over year; however, the third leading caus…
Opioid Crisis
The accepted wisdom about the US overdose crisis singles out prescribing as the causative vector. Although drug supply is a key factor, we posit that the crisis is fundamentally fueled by economic and social upheaval, its etiology closely linked to the role of opioids as a refuge from physical and psychological trauma, concentrated disadvantage, isolation, and hopelessness. Overreliance on opioid medications is emblematic of a health care system …
Fentanyl in the US heroin supply
US regional and demographic differences in prescription opioid and heroin-related overdose hospitalizations
Sold as Heroin
Since 2001, heroin-related overdose deaths in the United States have risen six-fold, a rise unaccounted for by the expanding user population. Has heroin become a more dangerous drug? Reports of fentanyl and its analogs, often concealed in or sold as heroin, have also increased sharply. This article investigates heroin injectors' perceptions and experiences of changes in the heroin supply in the East Coast city of Baltimore, Maryland, currently fa…
Heroin uncertainties
Injecting drugs in tight spaces
The Textures of Heroin
Since the 1990s, U.S. heroin consumers have been divided from the full range of available products: east of the Mississippi River, Colombian-sourced powder heroin (PH) dominates the market while, to the west, Mexican-sourced "black tar" (BTH) is the main heroin available. By conducting qualitative research in two exemplar cities, Philadelphia (PH) and San Francisco (BTH), we compare users' experiences of heroin source-types, markets, health conse…
Fire in the vein
Heroin-related overdose
Every ‘Never’ I Ever Said Came True”
Urban segregation and the US heroin market
The entry of Colombian-sourced heroin into the US market
Opioid Crisis
The accepted wisdom about the US overdose crisis singles out prescribing as the causative vector. Although drug supply is a key factor, we posit that the crisis is fundamentally fueled by economic and social upheaval, its etiology closely linked to the role of opioids as a refuge from physical and psychological trauma, concentrated disadvantage, isolation, and hopelessness. Overreliance on opioid medications is emblematic of a health care system …
The good-enough science-and-politics of anthropological collaboration with evidence-based clinical research
Heroin uncertainties
Sex Without Disclosure of Positive HIV Serostatus in a US Probability Sample of Persons Receiving Medical Care for HIV Infection
Objectives. We estimated the proportion of HIV-positive adults who have any sexual contact without disclosure and the proportion of their sexual partnerships that involve unprotected sex without disclosure. Methods. We drew participants from the HIV Cost and Services Utilization Study (n = 1421). Interviews assessed disclosure and sexual activities with up to 5 recent partners. Results. Overall, 42% of the gay or bisexual men, 19% of the heterose…
Explaining the Geographical Variation of HIV Among Injection Drug Users in the United States
Distinct physical and chemical types of street heroin exist worldwide, but their impact on behavior and disease acquisition is not well understood or documented. This article presents a hypothesis to explain the unequal diffusion of HIV among injection drug users in the United States by examining the distribution and use of one type of heroin--"Mexican black tar." Drawing on ethnographic, clinical, epidemiological, and laboratory data, we suggest…
Heroin-related overdose
With both eyes open
Sex Without Disclosure of Positive HIV Serostatus in a US Probability Sample of Persons Receiving Medical Care for HIV Infection
Objectives. We estimated the proportion of HIV-positive adults who have any sexual contact without disclosure and the proportion of their sexual partnerships that involve unprotected sex without disclosure. Methods. We drew participants from the HIV Cost and Services Utilization Study (n = 1421). Interviews assessed disclosure and sexual activities with up to 5 recent partners. Results. Overall, 42% of the gay or bisexual men, 19% of the heterose…
Explaining the Geographical Variation of HIV Among Injection Drug Users in the United States
Distinct physical and chemical types of street heroin exist worldwide, but their impact on behavior and disease acquisition is not well understood or documented. This article presents a hypothesis to explain the unequal diffusion of HIV among injection drug users in the United States by examining the distribution and use of one type of heroin--"Mexican black tar." Drawing on ethnographic, clinical, epidemiological, and laboratory data, we suggest…
The political economy of heroin
The Case adherence index
The Center for Adherence Support Evaluation (CASE) Adherence Index, a simple composite measure of self-reported antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence, was compared to a standard three-day self-reported adherence measure among participants in a longitudinal, prospective cross-site evaluation of 12 adherence programs throughout the United States. The CASE Adherence Index, consisting of three unique adherence questions developed for the cross-site …
Correlates of sex without serostatus disclosure among a national probability sample of HIV patients
Impact of South American heroin on the US heroin market 1993–2004
Heroin in brown, black and white
Henceforth harm reduction
Saying goodbye to high-dead-space syringes
The good-enough science-and-politics of anthropological collaboration with evidence-based clinical research
Every ‘Never’ I Ever Said Came True”
Urban segregation and the US heroin market
The entry of Colombian-sourced heroin into the US market
Fire in the vein
Heroin-related overdose
Injecting drugs in tight spaces
The Textures of Heroin
Since the 1990s, U.S. heroin consumers have been divided from the full range of available products: east of the Mississippi River, Colombian-sourced powder heroin (PH) dominates the market while, to the west, Mexican-sourced "black tar" (BTH) is the main heroin available. By conducting qualitative research in two exemplar cities, Philadelphia (PH) and San Francisco (BTH), we compare users' experiences of heroin source-types, markets, health conse…
Fentanyl in the US heroin supply
US regional and demographic differences in prescription opioid and heroin-related overdose hospitalizations
Sold as Heroin
Since 2001, heroin-related overdose deaths in the United States have risen six-fold, a rise unaccounted for by the expanding user population. Has heroin become a more dangerous drug? Reports of fentanyl and its analogs, often concealed in or sold as heroin, have also increased sharply. This article investigates heroin injectors' perceptions and experiences of changes in the heroin supply in the East Coast city of Baltimore, Maryland, currently fa…
Heroin uncertainties
Opioid Crisis
The accepted wisdom about the US overdose crisis singles out prescribing as the causative vector. Although drug supply is a key factor, we posit that the crisis is fundamentally fueled by economic and social upheaval, its etiology closely linked to the role of opioids as a refuge from physical and psychological trauma, concentrated disadvantage, isolation, and hopelessness. Overreliance on opioid medications is emblematic of a health care system …
Fentanyl test strips as an opioid overdose prevention strategy
We found that using FTS and receiving a positive test result was associated with changes in drug use behavior and perceptions of overdose safety. FTS may represent an effective addition to current overdose prevention efforts when included with other evidence-based strategies to prevent opioid overdose and related harm
The triple wave epidemic
The US mortality rate has gone up three years in a row from 2014 to 2017 (Murphy, Xu, Kochanek, & Arias, 2016, 2018; National Center for Health Statistics, 2017). Correspondingly, life expectancy at birth has declined; the first triple year decline since World War One and the devastating influenza pandemic one hundred years ago (Tejada Vera B, 2017). Most of the top ten causes of death are declining year over year; however, the third leading caus…
Medicine (29 works) · HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk (22 works) · Opioid Use Disorder Treatment (22 works) · Heroin (16 works) · Psychiatry (16 works) · Sociology (15 works) · Drug (12 works) · Forensic Toxicology and Drug Analysis (12 works) · Psychology (11 works) · Political science (10 works)