addiction treatment

Patricia Hopkins is superintendent of a rural school district in Maine's Kennebec County, which signed on to a lawsuit against opioid companies. She hopes the settlement funds will allow her to hire more social workers to help children whose families have been affected by the opioid crisis.

Health & Safety

States differ on how best to spend $26B from settlement in opioid cases

5:00am November 22, 2022

by Aneri Pattani

The cash represents an unprecedented opportunity to derail the opioid epidemic. But with countless groups advocating for a share of the pie, the impact could depend heavily on geography and politics.

A heroin user in a South Bronx neighborhood which is experiencing an epidemic in drug use, especially heroin and other opioid based drugs.

Health & Safety

Black Americans are now dying from drug overdoses at a higher rate than whites

2:15pm March 02, 2022

by Brian Mann

New research shows drug overdose deaths continue to surge among Black Americans. For the first time since 1999, Black Americans are dying at a higher rate per capita than white Americans.

Suboxone and a similar medicine, Subutex, are both proven to help people with opioid addiction stay in recovery. Yet the Drug Enforcement Administration often makes it hard for pharmacies to dispense it.

DEA takes aggressive stance toward pharmacies trying to dispense addiction medicine

4:41pm November 08, 2021

by Aneri Pattani

A West Virginia pharmacist wanted to help those hit by the opioid crisis. But a few years after he began providing medications to treat addiction, drug enforcement raided his pharmacy.

Will wipes away sweat on a hot day while walking down Willow Street in Lynn, Mass., as he looks to distribute safety supplies to drug users on the street.

National

He Lost Nearly Everything To Addiction. Then An Arrest Changed His Life

7:04am June 19, 2021

by Martha Bebinger

For years, people who used drugs were treated like criminals, often given long sentences. Now there's growing acceptance that addiction is a treatable disease, but shame and discrimination linger.

This 2017 photo shows a slogan is on the storefront of Journey, a former substance abuse treatment center, in Lake Worth, Fla. Now closed, it was one of two centers owned by Kenneth Chatman, who is now serving a 27-year federal prison sentence for health

As Addiction Deaths Surge, Profit-Driven Rehab Industry Faces 'Severe Ethical Crisis'

2:56pm February 15, 2021

by Brian Mann

Many drug rehab programs use aggressive sales techniques, price-gouge patients and provide substandard care. The system often pushes people struggling with addiction into debt, but not recovery.

Queue Listen Now

The Trump administration's decision to relax rules regarding the prescription of buprenorphine comes as record-level drug overdose deaths occurred in the U.S. in the 12 months ending in June 2020.

Trump Administration Will Let More Doctors Prescribe Drug To Fight Opioid Addiction

4:46pm January 15, 2021

The change means that doctors will no longer need a special federal waiver in order to prescribe buprenorphine, a medication to treat opioid use disorder.

Queue Listen Now

Researchers have found that a combination of two medications is effective at treating meth addiction.

A Medical Treatment For Meth Addiction Proves Effective In New Trial

7:45pm January 14, 2021

by Brian Mann

The evidence is strong that some people struggling with meth addiction benefit from the drug regime.

Each mobile clinic has a nurse, a counselor and a peer specialist — all trained to drive a 34-foot-long motor home. "I never thought when I went to nursing school that I'd be doing this," says Christi Couron as she pumps 52 gallons of diesel fuel into t

Health On Wheels: Tricked-Out RVs Deliver Addiction Treatment To Rural Colorado

12:47pm September 28, 2020

by Markian Hawryluk

As COVID-19 forced many addiction treatment clinics to scale back, Colorado brought its clinics on wheels to remote, underserved towns and used telehealth to connect patients with addiction doctors.

Costs have gone up for addiction treatment centers in recent months, as they have had to invest in teletherapy and personal protective gear. "We are at risk for not having the funding that we need to keep our doors open," says one medical director.

Health & Safety

A New Addiction Crisis: Treatment Centers Face Financial Collapse

5:59pm June 15, 2020

by Yuki Noguchi

Alcohol and drug consumption have increased recently, but fewer patients have sought treatment. Most treatment centers face possible closure even as they anticipate a post-pandemic surge in need.

A January report found that 40% of U.S. counties don't have a single health care provider approved to prescribe buprenorphine, a medicine integral to helping many patients beat opioid addiction. Permitting more-distant doctors to evaluate patients online

Coronavirus Crisis Spurs Access To Online Treatment For Opioid Addiction

3:54pm April 20, 2020

by Phil Galewitz

The federal government has waived a law that required an in-person doctor's visit before patients could be prescribed drugs that quell withdrawal symptoms. That's a boon for patients, counselors say.