addiction

A woman lobbying Congress holds two versions of naloxone which can be used to reverse an opioid overdose.

Opioid Bill Reframes Addiction As A Health Problem, Not A Crime

12:33pm July 13, 2016

by Alison Kodjak

The Senate bill, an amalgam of more than a dozen proposals, will expand access to medication-assisted treatment. It also will encourage police to send drug users to treatment rather than to jail.

'Unbroken Brain' Explains Why 'Tough' Treatment Doesn't Help Drug Addicts

5:24pm July 07, 2016

"We have this idea that if we are just cruel enough and mean enough ... to people with addiction, that they will suddenly wake up and stop, and that is not the case," journalist Maia Szalavitz says.

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As many as 70,000 more people could get access to office-based treatment for opioid use now that the administration has raised the cap on the number of patients each doctor is allowed to treat.

Obama Administration Eases Restrictions On Doctors Who Treat Opioid Addiction

12:47pm July 06, 2016

by Alison Kodjak

The government is raising the limit on the number of patients a doctor can treat for opioid addiction using the drug buprenorphine to 275 from 100. The move expands office-based treatment options.

Jonathan McHugh/Ikon Images/Getty Images

Investors See Big Opportunities In Opioid Addiction Treatment

5:06pm June 10, 2016

by Alison Kodjak

Opioid addiction treatment is a growth market, and private equity firms are buying up treatment centers and chains. But it's too soon to say how this might affect access to care and quality.

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Human Interest

Commentary: My Brother's Heroin Addiction

5:23pm June 03, 2016

Radio 101 commentator, Ally O'Reilly, worries about losing her brother to his heroin addiction.

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The Probuphine implant delivers medication for six months. It helps reduce cravings for people with opioid use disorder.

Long-Acting Opioid Treatment Could Be Available In A Month

5:35pm May 27, 2016

by Martha Bebinger

The FDA has approved the Probuphine implant for medication-assisted therapy for opioid addiction. It lasts for six months, compared to daily pills. But it also will be more expensive.

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A man in Mt. Airy, Md., shakes Suboxone pills from a bottle in late March.

Treating Opioid Addiction With A Drug Raises Hope And Controversy

5:40pm May 17, 2016

by Andrea Hsu

Medication-assisted treatment uses one of several drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration to control cravings and reduce relapses. Despite the evidence, the approach is underused.

When Time Behind Bars Cuts Addiction Treatment Short

9:16am May 11, 2016

by Emily Corwin

Most inmates lose access to medication-assisted treatment for addiction once they're incarcerated. Among prisons and jails that do offer such treatment, it's often restricted to pregnant women.

We Found Joy: An Addict Struggles To Get Treatment

5:30pm May 05, 2016

by NPR Staff

A year ago, NPR's Kelly McEvers went to rural Indiana and talked with drug addicts at the center of an opioid and HIV epidemic. She returned and found Joy, a nurse who lost everything.

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Health & Safety

Does Addiction Treatment Require A Higher Power?

4:27am May 01, 2016

by Maia Szalavitz

Author Maia Szalavitz argues that it's impossible to destigmatize addiction while also rendering it the only diagnosis in medicine for which the treatment is explicitly moral.