opioids

New rules should make methadone easier to get, but change is slow in many places

7:00am October 12, 2024

An effective treatment for opioid addiction is easier to get after the Biden administration changed rules. That's making a difference for some people battling opioid use disorder, but access is still limited.

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The Wake Forest University School of Medicine exterior.

Health & Safety

Wake Forest University School of Medicine receives NIH grant to study non-opioid migraine treatment

7:00am August 05, 2024

by Neal Charnoff

The Wake Forest University School of Medicine has received funding to study non-opioid treatments for migraines.

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8 things to know about the drug known as 'gas station heroin'

6:01am July 14, 2024

by Bill Chappell

For decades, tianeptine was used to treat depression, even though no one knew how it worked. But it turns out it's a type of opioid, and the U.S. is facing a spike in abuse of "gas station heroin."

Health & Safety

Medicaid expansion could help North Carolina stem overdose crisis

4:26pm December 04, 2023

by Paul Garber

There could be some relief coming to rural areas in North Carolina that continue to deal with the opioid crisis.

The number of overdoses that involve both fentanyl and stimulants like cocaine and meth is growing fast. One way people who use drugs can protect themselves is by using test strips to check for the presence of fentanyl in other drugs.

Fentanyl mixed with cocaine or meth is driving the '4th wave' of the overdose crisis

12:01am September 14, 2023

by Scott Maucione

A new study finds a 50-fold growth in deaths from combined use of stimulants and opioids. The toxic and contaminated drug supply is to blame.

Image shows a nurse treating a skin wound

Health & Safety

Veterinary sedative showing up in street drugs tested in NC

5:14pm July 26, 2023

by Paul Garber

State health officials are warning that a tranquilizer normally used for veterinary purposes is showing up in street drugs in the Piedmont.

Back and neck pain affect millions of Americans. New research suggests that opioids may not make sense for treating certain kinds of acute back pain.

Opioids are overrated for some common back pain, a study suggests

9:41pm June 28, 2023

by Will Stone

New research calls into question prescribing the drugs even for short-term pain relief – especially given the risk of addiction.

Harm reduction supplies displayed on table

Health & Safety

With $1.5 billion from opioid settlements, NC counties tasked with reversing epidemic

4:40pm June 26, 2023

by April Laissle and North Carolina Public Radio Collaborative

Since the start of the opioid epidemic, 3 million Americans have suffered with opioid use disorder in the United States.

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Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador during the press conference at the Intelligence Center of the Secretary of Public Security and Citizen Protection in Mexico City on March 9.

Mexico's leader denies his country's role in fentanyl crisis. Republicans are furious

5:04pm March 10, 2023

by Brian Mann

Republican lawmakers want Mexico to accept U.S. military aid to cripple drug cartels making and smuggling deadly fentanyl. López Obrador mocked the idea as a threat to his country's sovereignty.

State updates strategy to help dentists combat opioid misuse

11:14am November 29, 2022

by Neal Charnoff

An updated North Carolina Dental Opioid Action Plan was released this week by the state Department of Health and