HHS secretary signals support for new restriction on addiction treatment
WASHINGTON — A federal proposal to impose new restrictions on a key addiction-treatment medication has…
Category: opioids
Opinion: Making naloxone available over the counter won’t solve the overdose crisis — but it will help
The Food and Drug Administration aims to conduct priority reviews of at least two product…
Buprenorphine deaths did not increase despite wider access during pandemic, study shows
The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic led to a sea change in addiction medicine —…
Opinion: For addiction treatment, longer is better. But insurance companies usually cut it short
Access to treatment for addiction has long plagued U.S. health systems. Why? Two reasons: It…
Opinion: Allowing pharmacies to dispense methadone is dangerous for patients and communities
Congress is expected to pass a massive $1.7 trillion omnibus spending package that includes numerous…
U.S. life expectancy falls for second straight year as drug overdose and Covid deaths take toll
Life expectancy for Americans fell for the second straight year in 2021, largely driven by…
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Under new rules, methadone clinics can offer more take-home doses. Will they?
Danielle Russell is, as she says, a “poster child” for methadone. For more than a…
Addiction treatment got easier during Covid. A new proposal would keep it that way
Addiction treatment got easier during the Covid-19 pandemic — and the Biden administration wants to…
Opinion: Responsibly expanding access to methadone for people with opioid use disorder will save lives
The overdose epidemic continues to ravage communities across the country. In Washington state, where I…
Congress has its sights set too low on addiction, advocates charge
Judging by lawmakers’ words, addiction might be the most bipartisan topic in Washington. For years,…
In Philadelphia, ‘tranq’ is leaving drug users with horrific wounds. Other communities are bracing for the same
PHILADELPHIA — The volunteers were handing out the staples of harm reduction: safe injection and…
Top U.S. addiction researcher calls for broad deregulation of methadone
BOSTON — The U.S. government’s top addiction researcher is calling for broad deregulation of methadone,…
Fentanyl isn’t just causing overdoses. It’s making it harder to start addiction treatment
Doctors are reporting a troubling trend when it comes to fentanyl. The powerful drug, they…
STAT+: Walmart agrees to pay $3.1 billion in latest settlement stemming from the opioid crisis
In the latest fallout from the opioid crisis that swept the U.S., Walmart agreed to…
New CDC opioid guidelines emphasize flexibility in treating pain
Federal health officials on Thursday updated their recommendations for using opioids to treat pain, removing…
CVS, Walgreens announce opioid settlements totaling $10B
CVS Health and Walgreen Co. announced agreements in principle Wednesday to pay about $5 billion…
Opinion: Listen: Will opioid settlement money actually go to opioid prevention? Here’s hoping
As states begin to receive money from the multitude of lawsuits and settlements the opioid…
Opinion: Allocate opioid settlement dollars to real addiction-ending solutions
The crisis of opioid overdose deaths that sparked the multitude of lawsuits leading to a…
When it comes to addiction, Americans’ word choices are part of the problem
Who gets better medical care in the United States: “addicts,” or “people with substance use…
To stem overdoses, Canada is offering safer opioids. Advocates want the U.S. to do the same
TORONTO — The Finks, married just a month earlier, sat down for their appointment, Kim…
Medicare provides insufficient access to opioid addiction treatment, report finds
Medicare is vastly underserving older Americans with opioid use disorder, with only 18% of enrollees…
Fentanyl test strips could help save lives. In many states, they’re still illegal
Nothing has made the nation’s addiction epidemic more deadly than fentanyl’s infiltration of the drug…
Biden administration has simple way to cut overdose deaths, experts say: expand methadone access
WASHINGTON — When it comes to fighting opioid addiction, there’s no tool more effective than…
Judge rules CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart owe $650M in opioids suit
CLEVELAND — A federal judge in Cleveland awarded $650 million in damages Wednesday to two…
Opinion: The next generation of illicit drugs? Think ‘synthetic’
The illicit drug market continues to become more treacherous. Illicit drugs killed more than 107,000…
Buprenorphine treatment for veterans with opioid use disorder increased as care shifted to telehealth during Covid, study finds
Drug treatment of veterans with opioid use disorder increased during the first year of the…
Drugmaker Teva latest to settle opioid lawsuits nationally
Drugmaker Teva announced Tuesday that it has agreed to contribute more than $4.3 billion in…
Opinion: Demanding more impact from impact litigation: lessons to be learned from multi-state opioid settlements
In the 1990s, state Attorneys General learned how to leverage their resources when they retained…
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Two deadly days in St. Louis: An overdose cluster kills 8 Black people — and shows the new shape of the addiction crisis
ST. LOUIS — The calls for help poured in throughout the day: Overdose after overdose…
As overdose deaths exploded during the pandemic, racial disparities widened, CDC report shows
As U.S. overdose deaths soared to devastating new heights in the first year of the…
Relaxed methadone rules appear safe, researchers find
As the coronavirus pandemic shut down the nation in March of 2020, the U.S. government…
Opinion: Opioid-pushing executives should get jail time, not fines
The first time I heard the word “Oxy” was President’s Day, 2001, as my 18-year-old…
Supreme Court rules that doctors need to knowingly misprescribe opioids for it to be a crime
The Supreme Court on Monday unanimously ruled that prosecutors need to prove that doctors knowingly…
STAT+: The American Medical Association is fighting an otherwise popular bill to require training doctors about opioid use disorder
WASHINGTON — The American Medical Association wants doctors to have more training on treating people…
U.S. overdose deaths hit record 107,000 in 2021, CDC says
NEW YORK — More than 107,000 Americans died of drug overdoses last year, setting another…
Opinion: Listen: How should doctors treat chronic pain in the wake of the opioid crisis?
Clinicians walk a tightrope when trying to help their patients with chronic pain. They want…
Opinion: HHS needs to step up so CDC’s new guidelines won’t be ‘a bridge to nowhere’ for most Americans living with chronic pain
To update its controversial 2016 guidelines for how to treat the millions of Americans living…
STAT+: Pharmalittle: Amgen faces $7B IRS back-tax bill and fine; McKinsey exec apologizes for opioid work during hearing
Rise and shine. Another busy day is on the way. Indeed, the official to-do list…
STAT+: Endo wins a reprieve in an opioid lawsuit in Tennessee as appeals court overturns sanctions
Endo International won a key battle over its role in the opioid crisis in Tennessee…
Opinion: Medicine needs to do right by patients prescribed opioids
As a medical student, the prism of pain helped me begin seeing patients as people…
Driven by fentanyl, rates of fatal teen overdoses doubled in 2020
After staying flat for a decade, the overdose death rate among U.S. adolescents nearly doubled…
Opinion: As a pain specialist, I may have caused more harm by underprescribing opioids
A reporter recently asked me about what harm I may have caused as a pain…
STAT+: Pharmalittle: Advisory panel narrowly votes down ALS drug; Vertex looks to advance experimental pain drug
Good morning. Elizabeth Cooney here, borrowing the virtual Pharmalittle chair while Ed Silverman takes Manhattan…
STAT+: CVS, Teva, and Allergan reach massive deal with Florida over the opioid crisis
On the eve of a trial, the state of Florida has reached a massive settlement…
Opinion: The case for decriminalizing the street sale of buprenorphine
Isolation and anxiety caused by the Covid-19 pandemic has fueled an already out of control…
STAT+: Teva and Allergan reach $107 million deal with Rhode Island over opioid crisis
Just as a trial was getting underway, AbbVie and Teva Pharmaceutical reached a settlement worth…
Opinion: Emergency response systems must not overlook people with substance use disorders
When the storm unofficially known as Winter Storm Uri barreled across much of North America…
With overdoses at record highs, a veterinary tranquilizer spreading through the U.S. drug supply poses new threats
It was in the mid-2010s, the researchers heard, when “tranq dope” took off in Philadelphia….
‘Scum of the earth’: Opioid crisis victims face Purdue Pharma owners
NEW YORK — Releasing years of anguish and anger, victims of opioid abuse and those…
STAT+: Dozens of towns and counties object to ‘hush money’ tied to Purdue opioid settlement
Ahead of a bankruptcy court hearing to approve a $6 billion settlement with Purdue Pharma…