Early data suggest the pandemic may be driving up overdoses. Author Barbara Andraka-Christou says the solution to the addiction crisis is right before us: Improve access to life-saving medication.
Sarah and Andy were in love and also advocates, determined to keep drug users from dying. But when his own addiction reemerged, Andy's fear of returning to prison kept him from the best treatment.
Methamphetamine addiction is growing fast, but there's no approved medication to treat it. Now, some clinicians and researchers are experimenting with a drug used for opioid and alcohol addiction.
Many jails and prisons refuse to offer medication for opioid addiction, even to inmates who had been in treatment before incarceration. A recent ruling in a federal court says that's not acceptable.
The National Sheriffs' Association has published a detailed guide to jail-based medication-assisted treatment. States hardest hit by opioids are moving fastest to get inmates the help needed to quit.
Thousands of Massachusetts residents have been committed to treatment for addiction against their will. Some families say locking up addicts in prison isn't treatment. Others say it saves lives.
While opioids get all the attention, rural communities struggle with substances like meth and alcohol too. One clinic is building up capacity to treat all of them, using both medicine and counseling.
In some countries, doctors prescribe medical-grade heroin to patients with long-term addiction. Could it ever happen the U.S.? A new report from RAND Corporation outlines the pros and cons.
An overdose is a wake-up call for many people with addiction. So why aren't patients being offered medications that could keep them from looking for the next dangerous hit of drugs?
Researchers say hospitals are missing an opportunity to help people with opioid addiction get into treatment by not doing enough when they show up in emergency rooms after an overdose.