opioid addiciton

A liquid dose of methadone at the clinic in Rossville, Ga. The medication is only available at designated opioid treatment centers and that won't change. But more clinicians will be able to prescribe it.

With opioid deaths soaring, Biden administration will widen access to methadone

5:00am February 02, 2024

by Brian Mann

Bureaucratic hurdles mean just one-in-five people with opioid addiction get access to medication that could help them. The White House says new rules will help.

'I ain't found it yet.' No line this mother won't cross to save her addicted daughter

5:52pm December 12, 2023

by Martha Bebinger

Renae was so desperate to keep her child alive when so many others have died from overdose that she resorted to extreme measures — and extreme risks. She now supervises drug use in her own home.

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Public art in Altoona, Penn., one of many cities hit hard by the opioid epidemic. Marianne Sinisi organized the installation after her son died of an overdose. State and local governments have received about $3 billion so far out of $50 billion total in settlements from national lawsuits.

Opioid settlement payouts are now public — and we know how much local governments got

5:30am June 16, 2023

by Aneri Pattani

KFF Health News obtained documents showing the exact dollar amounts — down to the cent — that local governments have been paid in 2022 and 2023 in lawsuit settlements from the opioid crisis.

A bag of assorted pills and prescription drugs is dropped off for disposal during the Drug Enforcement Administration's National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on April 24, 2021 in Los Angeles.

New book chronicles how America's opioid industry operated like a drug cartel

12:37pm August 02, 2022

by Terry Gross

Two Washington Post journalists say pharmaceutical companies collaborated with each other — and with lawyers and lobbyists — to create laws to protect the industry. Their new book is American Cartel.

Suzanne and Jim Rybak, inside the craft room where their son, Jameson, would encourage Suzanne to make colorful beach bags, received a $4,928 medical bill months after it was supposedly resolved.

Never-ending costs: When resolved medical bills keep popping up

5:01am April 06, 2022

by Aneri Pattani | KAISER HEALTH NEWS

A family received a $4,928 bill that was settled with the health system 18 months earlier, resurrecting painful memories. Hospital billing experts say this distressing scenario occurs frequently.

Suboxone, a combination of buprenorphine and naloxone, helps many people addicted to opioids wean themselves from an escalating drug habit. But counseling and social support are key to successful treatment, too, experts say.

Health & Safety

Opioid Addiction Is 'A Disease Of Isolation,' So Pandemic Puts Recovery At Risk

10:05am March 27, 2020

by Martha Bebinger

People in recovery from opioid or alcohol addiction are weathering a new storm of depression, anxiety and isolation these days, as 12-step programs move online and detox centers close their doors.

A new book by anthropologist and physician Kimberly Sue tells the stories of women navigating opioid addiction during and after incarceration.

Opioid Addiction In Jails: An Anthropologist's Perspective

5:00am November 12, 2019

by Emily Vaughn

In Getting Wrecked: Women, Incarceration, and the American Opioid Crisis, a Rikers Island doctor says drug treatment in U.S. jails and prisons is often shaped by societal prejudice, not science.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that most new heroin addicts first became hooked on prescription painkillers, such as oxycodone, before graduating to heroin, which is cheaper.

Health & Safety

Tales Of Corporate Painkiller Pushing: 'The Death Rates Just Soared'

4:23pm August 22, 2019

by Dave Davies

Washington Post journalist Scott Higham says recently released evidence shows the drug industry purposely shipped big quantities of opioids to communities without regard for how they were being used.

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Richard Ost owns Philadelphia Pharmacy, in the city's Kensington neighborhood. He says he has stopped carrying Suboxone, for the most part, because the illegal market for the drug brought unwanted traffic to his store.

It's The Go-To Drug To Treat Opioid Addiction. Why Won't More Pharmacies Stock It?

1:27pm August 13, 2019

by Nina Feldman

It can be hard enough finding a doctor who prescribes buprenorphine, a medication used to treat opioid addiction. But patients also report difficulty with pharmacies that refuse to stock the drug.

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The best help for patients struggling with addiction, eating disorders or other mental health problems sometimes includes intensive therapy, the evidence shows. But many patients still have trouble getting their health insurers to cover needed mental heal

'Mental Health Parity' Is Still An Elusive Goal In U.S. Insurance Coverage

5:00am June 07, 2019

by Graison Dangor

The Affordable Care Act and other U.S. laws sought to put insurance coverage for mental health conditions on equal footing with coverage for physical conditions. But patients say that's not happening.