drug abuse

Acupuncture and massage haven't been proven to ease pain better than drugs — and may cost more. But Oregon hopes these sorts of alternatives to pills will reduce the societal costs of opioid abuse.

With deaths from heroin and painkillers on the rise, more nurses at high schools and middle schools are prepared to intervene in the event of an overdose on school grounds.

Hospitals in some states have begun tracking the names of patients who show up repeatedly seeking opioids. Denying these patients pills saves hospitals money, but some doctors question the ethics.

The rise in heroin use in the town of Turners Falls, Mass., has led to another problem: a proliferation of discarded hypodermic needles. Police can't keep up, so they've asked residents to help.

The U.S. epidemic of injected-opioid use could lead to more severe outbreaks of HIV and hepatitis C, like those now occurring in Indiana, the Centers for Disease Control And Prevention says.

Southeastern Indiana is battling an HIV outbreak. The new cases are mostly linked to injection drug use and have reignited a debate over needle exchanges, which are currently illegal in the state.

Sometimes a different perspective can help you see a problem with fresh eyes. The problem to be solved in Gainesville, Fla.? A hot spot of poverty, child abuse and neglect.

Few doctors — and few patients — realize just how profoundly early abuse, neglect and other childhood traumas can damage an adult's physical health.