opioid abuse

Public health officials want doctors to consider treating alcohol abuse with medications that have a track record of success.

Medications Can Help People Stop Abusing Alcohol, But Many Don't Know That

4:23pm September 26, 2016

by Emma Yasinski

It is still rare for a person struggling with alcohol abuse to be prescribed naltrexone or acamprosate, two medications that have been proven to help. Efforts are underway to change that.

Health care providers have to have permission from the federal government to provide medication-assisted treatment for opioid addiction.

Doctors Who Treat Opioid Addiction Often See Very Few Patients

11:59am September 20, 2016

by Nancy Shute

It can be very hard to find medication-assisted treatment for opioid addiction, but most doctors who provide it do so for just a small number of patients, a study finds.

The federal government is moving to crack down on kratom, which some people use for chronic pain and to lessen cravings for opioids and alcohol.

Kratom Advocates Speak Out Against Proposed Government Ban

6:18pm September 12, 2016

by Lauren Silverman

The Drug Enforcement Administration is cracking down on a plant that it says is involved in a number of deaths. Advocates say kratom can help treat opioid addiction, which is a far bigger hazard.

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These pills were made to look like Oxycodone, but they're actually an illicit form of the potent painkiller fentanyl. A surge in police seizures of illicit fentanyl parallels a rise in overdose deaths.

Illegally Made Fentanyl Seems To Be Fueling A Spike In Overdoses

3:23pm August 25, 2016

by Katherine Hobson

Fentanyl is showing up in heroin and counterfeit pain pills, and users may not even know they're taking the extremely potent drug.

A Small Town Struggles With A Boom In Sober Living Homes

11:53am August 22, 2016

by Will Stone

Prescott, Ariz., has become a destination of choice for people trying to get sober, with growing numbers of group homes for recovering addicts. Some residents are calling for regulation of the homes.

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Hearing Officer Jim Teal presides over a session of Early Intervention Family Drug Court in Sacramento, Calif., in March. The county program helps keep families together — and saves taxpayers $7 million annually, Sacramento County officials say.

California Court Helps Kids By Healing Parents' Addictions

6:37pm August 16, 2016

by Jenny Gold

A special court in Sacramento, Calif., aims to keep families together by getting treatment for parents who have substance abuse problems, instead of sending off their kids to foster care.

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When used in conjunction with counseling, Suboxone strips placed under the tongue can help ease opioid cravings and other withdrawal symptoms in people trying to quit a heroin or painkiller habit, doctors say.

Insurance Rules Can Hamper Recovery From Opioid Addiction

4:13pm August 05, 2016

by Jake Harper

Medicaid and other health insurers require doctors to file time-consuming paperwork before allowing them to prescribe drugs that help people quit opioids. That delay fosters relapse, specialists say.

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Kathy Snook, Terri Anderson and Gary Snook traveled from Montana to Dr. Forest Tennant's office in West Covina, Calif.

Montana's 'Pain Refugees' Leave State To Get Prescribed Opioids

5:24pm July 20, 2016

by Corin Cates-Carney

With rising awareness of opioid abuse, some pain patients say doctors are less likely to prescribe them. One Montana sufferer goes to great lengths to get his prescription — he flies to California.

The FDA is is expected to decide by May 27 whether a long-acting, implantable version of this anti-addiction drug, buprinorphine, will be available in the United States. The implant is more convenient, proponents say, and less likely to be abused.

FDA Considering Pricey Implant As Treatment For Opioid Addiction

2:56pm May 20, 2016

by Martha Bebinger

The FDA could soon approve an implantable form of a drug used to treat opioid addiction. While the approach helped patients avoid relapse in tests, its price may be prohibitive for some, doctors say.

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Getting High From This Drug For Diarrhea Can Be Fatal

4:09pm May 03, 2016

by Alison Kodjak

An increasing number of opioid abusers are taking huge doses of Imodium to ease withdrawal symptoms or get high. But at those high doses, toxicologists warn, the normally safe drug can stop the heart.