February 26, 2019
Some of the communities hit hardest by the opioid epidemic and a related methamphetamine spike also are facing another health crisis: a steep rise in syphilis. It isn’t a coincidence.
February 14, 2019
In the legal battle to hold drug companies responsible for the country’s raging opioid epidemic, media attention largely has focused on a national lawsuit set for a late October trial in federal court in Cleveland, Ohio. But it may be upstaged by a lesser-known opioid case: Oklahoma v. Purdue Pharma, scheduled for trial in May in the Cleveland County Courthouse in Norman, Oklahoma.
January 30, 2019
Dozens of doctors, nurses and researchers here at the Medical University of South Carolina are working on new opioid treatment projects many say they never dreamed possible.
January 7, 2019
Ever since the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl started showing up in the U.S. illicit drug supply eight years ago, experts have surmised that drug traffickers were using the inexpensive white powder to boost the potency of heroin, sometimes adding too much and inadvertently killing their customers.
October 4, 2018
In a rare bipartisan effort, Congress approved sprawling legislation — the Opioid Crisis Response Act of 2018 — designed to make it easier for states to expand access to addiction treatment. President Donald Trump has promised to sign the bill.
September 21, 2018
Despite a raging drug overdose epidemic that is killing nearly 200 Americans every day and sending thousands more to emergency rooms, the vast majority of the nation’s more than 5,500 hospitals have so far avoided offering any form of addiction medicine to emergency patients.
August 14, 2018
Sleep deprivation, dramatic hormonal shifts and the day-to-day realities of caring for an infant create enormous stress for all women, but especially for those who are struggling to stay in recovery from drug use.
May 10, 2018
Doctors who are cutting back on prescribing opioids increasingly are opting for gabapentin, a safer, non-narcotic drug recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
November 14, 2017
As opioid overdoses spiral, first responders and public health agencies are adopting a smartphone application that tracks both deaths and rescues as they happen.
November 6, 2017
In a high-stress profession, doctors succumb to drug addiction at a higher rate than the general population. A state-sponsored confidential treatment program helps them get back to work.
August 28, 2017
A rise in injection drug use is fueling a spike in hepatitis C among young opioid and heroin users.
August 14, 2017
A town in southwest Virginia has the highest per capita opioid prescribing level in the country. New state prescribing rules could help change that.
July 6, 2017
As opioid overdose deaths skyrocket, state and local medical examiners are working overtime to determine which drugs are killing people.
