addiction

Third-year students at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine learn how to trim crowns and prep a tooth for a crown. They're also learning to deal with the aftereffects, studying alternatives to opioids for pain relief.

Dental Schools Add An Urgent Lesson: Think Twice About Prescribing Opioids

7:20pm September 08, 2017

Opioid painkillers prescribed by dentists have helped fuel the nation's addiction epidemic. Dental schools are teaching the next generation of dentists that there are other ways to treat pain.

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The shelter at Houston's Convention Center, seen here Aug. 29, isn't equipped to provide medication-assisted treatment for opioid abuse.

Houston Methadone Clinics Reopen After Harvey's Flooding

9:36am September 06, 2017

by Rebecca Hersher

Hurricane Harvey disrupted treatment for people addicted to opioids. Many need to get connected to a specialty clinic that can provide medication-assisted treatment.

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Health & Safety

Report: Opioid Abuse Plagues The Rural South, Including North Carolina

4:33pm August 07, 2017

by Sean Bueter

A new study suggests North Carolina is home to four of the top 25 cities for opioid abuse, and the vast majority of cities on the list are located in the South.

Andrea Towson used heroin for more than three decades. After a near-death experience with fentanyl, she sought help.

'That Fentanyl — That's Death': A Story Of Recovery In Baltimore

6:36pm August 03, 2017

Andrea Towson was known in West Baltimore as the go-to person for help getting high. Last year, she nearly died from a fentanyl overdose. "Thank God for another day," she says.

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Some medical professionals say declaring a national emergency could make Naloxone, a drug that treats opioid overdoses, more readily available.

Should The Opioid Crisis Be Declared A National Emergency?

10:13am August 02, 2017

by Greg Allen

Addiction treatment professionals are praising many of the recommendations of a White House commission on the opioid crisis. But some question the recommendation to declare it a national emergency.

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The morphine-like pain killer Oxycontin is just one of a number of opioids fueling a substance use crisis in the U.S. federal health officials say. And successful treatment for the substance use disorder can be costly.

Opioid Treatment Funds In Senate Bill Would Fall Far Short Of Needs

10:13am July 20, 2017

by Ben Allen

A Senate proposal to repeal Obamacare includes $45 billion to treat opioid addiction. But it wouldn't make up for deep cuts to Medicaid in that same bill that has funded much of that treatment.

Babies exposed to opioids in utero may experience withdrawal symptoms at birth, but these symptoms are treatable. Typically, the babies can go home after a few days or a couple weeks.

For Newborns Exposed To Opioids, Health Issues May Be The Least Of Their Problems

4:12pm June 30, 2017

Dr. Joshua Sharfstein says worry less about the short-term withdrawal symptoms of babies exposed to opioids in the womb, and much more about the lives and mothers they go home to.

A 1980 letter published in the New England Journal of Medicine was later widely cited as evidence that long-term use of opioid painkillers such as oxycodone was safe, even though the letter did not back up that claim.

Doctor Who Wrote 1980 Letter On Painkillers Regrets That It Fed The Opioid Crisis

4:44pm June 16, 2017

In 1980, Dr. Hershel Jick wrote a one-paragraph letter about low rates of addiction among hospitalized patients given narcotics. It was later cited as evidence that long-term opioid use was safe.

Charlene Yurgaitis gets health insurance through Medicaid in Pennsylvania. It covers the counseling and medication she and her doctors say she needs to recover from her opioid addiction.

GOP's Proposed Cuts To Medicaid Threaten Treatment For Opioid Addiction

8:26am June 11, 2017

by Ben Allen

Expanding Medicaid has helped many people caught up in the opioid epidemic get treatment. But doctors say the proposed Republican changes to the Affordable Care Act could jeopardize these programs.

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With an opioid addiction crisis that shows no sign of abating, how we describe addiction and dependence matters.

Why We Should Say Someone Is A 'Person With An Addiction,' Not An Addict

5:00am June 11, 2017

by Maia Szalavitz

Journalists should quit calling a person who uses drugs an "addict," according to The Associated Press Stylebook. This follows a trend toward "person first" descriptions of people with diseases.