addiction

Louise Vincent has used street drugs since she was 13. She has emerged as a leading voice trying to humanize and help people who use drugs as they face the most devastating overdose crisis in U.S. history.

One woman's controversial fight to make America accept drug users for who they are

7:53am November 19, 2023

by Brian Mann

Louise Vincent has used drugs since she was 13. Research shows millions of Americans like her aren't ready or able to stop. Vincent believes it's time people accept that.

Matthew Perry Foundation launched to help people with drug addiction

6:06pm November 04, 2023

by Chloe Veltman

The Matthew Perry Foundation was launched Friday in honor of the late Friends actor, who struggled with unhealthy substance use for decades.

LaShonda Jefferson (left), a community health educator, talks with a woman who drops off used needles into a bin on the van.

Health & Safety

Caring for people with fentanyl addiction often means treating terrible wounds

9:50am August 13, 2023

by Scott Maucione

The fentanyl-additive Xylazine causes open wounds, making the illegal drug supply even more dangerous and treatment more complicated

Nick Barrera says stigma from the medical system has kept him from accessing critical health care.

Few are tackling stigma in addiction care. Some in Seattle want to change that

7:05pm June 07, 2023

by Katia Riddle

A program in Seattle is helping people in drug and alcohol recovery overcome barriers to medical care in an effort to keep them off the street. A key piece is battling stigma from medical providers.

The settlement deal with Indivior, which makes an addiction treatment medication called Suboxone, ends a legal battle with 41 states and the District of Columbia.

Health & Safety

Addiction drug maker will pay more than $102 million fine for stifling competition

3:15pm June 02, 2023

by Brian Mann

Indivior was accused of using illegal strategies to keep generic versions of the opioid-treatment medication Suboxone off the market. The company denies wrongdoing.

Autumn Hendry moved into the Nesting Place maternity home after she became pregnant, but she wasn't allowed to stay after she began using meth and alcohol again.

Maternity homes provide support in a post-Roe world, but not without conditions

4:07pm May 09, 2023

by Katia Riddle

A crisis pregnancy center in Idaho opened a maternity home in the months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The residents have more complicated stories than the home's founders expected.

Registered nurse Jamie Simmons speaks with a patient during an appointment at the Greater New Bedford Community Health Center in Massachusetts. The patient, whose first name is Kim, says buprenorphine has helped her stay off heroin and avoid an overdose for nearly 20 years.

Health & Safety

A roadblock to life-saving addiction treatment is gone. Now what?

4:37pm March 09, 2023

by Martha Bebinger

Federal restrictions seemed to explain why many doctors weren't prescribing medication for opioid addiction. But some caution that removing those rules isn't enough to overcome hesitancy and stigma.

Queue Listen Now

A sign calling attention to drug overdoses is posted in a gas station on the White Earth reservation in Ogema, Minn.. A new study shows that early deaths due to addiction and suicide have impacted American Indian and Alaska Native communities far more than white communities.

Native Americans left out of 'deaths of despair' research

5:00am February 01, 2023

by Rhitu Chatterjee

During the time that deaths from addiction and suicide among white Americans rose by about 9%, deaths among Native Americans shot up by about 30%, a new study shows.

Queue Listen Now

Health & Safety

CDC weighs new opioid prescribing guidelines amid controversy over old ones

11:01am April 09, 2022

by Will Stone

Many blame the agency's earlier guidance for suffering and even suicide risk among chronic pain patients. Critics say the updated advice may not fix the problem.

Queue Listen Now

A heroin user in a South Bronx neighborhood which is experiencing an epidemic in drug use, especially heroin and other opioid based drugs.

Health & Safety

Black Americans are now dying from drug overdoses at a higher rate than whites

2:15pm March 02, 2022

by Brian Mann

New research shows drug overdose deaths continue to surge among Black Americans. For the first time since 1999, Black Americans are dying at a higher rate per capita than white Americans.