Opioid Addiction News and Research

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Research unveils crucial insights into the brain's potential ability to regulate fentanyl consumption

The opioid crisis continues to pose a grave public health concern, with synthetic opioids such as fentanyl posing a major risk for development of addiction and death due to overdose.

26 Jun 2023

California’s fentanyl problem is getting worse

California has allocated more than $1 billion in recent years to combat its opioid crisis. Much of the money has been used to distribute fentanyl test strips and the overdose reversal drug naloxone, as well as deliver medical care to people who are homeless.

23 May 2023

New Jersey's Medicaid reforms spurred increases in buprenorphine prescriptions to combat opioid addiction

Reforms to New Jersey's Medicaid program successfully spurred ongoing increases in buprenorphine prescriptions for the treatment of opioid addiction, according to a Rutgers analysis.

19 May 2023

A rural county’s choice: Use opioid funds to pay off debt, or pay them forward to curb crisis

Over the past two years, rural Greene County in northeastern Tennessee has collected more than $2.7 million from regional and national settlements with opioid manufacturers and distributors.

16 May 2023

Study assesses trends in buprenorphine initiation and retention in the United States

Treating opioid addiction should be much easier now than it was a few years ago, thanks to pandemic-era rule changes that aim to improve access to buprenorphine, a medicine proven to help in recovery.

25 Apr 2023

The Biden administration vowed to be a leading voice on opioid settlements but has gone quiet

Early in President Joe Biden's tenure, his administration promised to play a key role in ensuring opioid settlement funds went toward tackling the nation's addiction crisis.

21 Apr 2023

$50 billion in opioid settlement cash is on the way. We’re tracking how it’s spent.

More than $50 billion in settlement funds is being delivered to thousands of state and local governments from companies accused of flooding their communities with opioid painkillers that have left millions addicted or dead.

30 Mar 2023

New evidence: Fibromyalgia could worsen opioid use disorder

There is new evidence that fibromyalgia, and the chronic pain associated with it, could worsen opioid use disorder.

28 Mar 2023

Truly random drug testing: ADHD patients face uneven urine screens and, sometimes, stigma

Some adults who take prescription medication for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder are required to have their urine tested for drugs several times a year. Others never are tested.

28 Mar 2023

End of covid emergency will usher in changes across the US health system

The Biden administration's decision to end the covid-19 public health emergency in May will institute sweeping changes across the health care system that go far beyond many people having to pay more for covid tests.

22 Mar 2023

Feds move to rein in prior authorization, a system that harms and frustrates patients

When Paula Chestnut needed hip replacement surgery last year, a pre-operative X-ray found irregularities in her chest.

13 Mar 2023

Montana considers allowing physician assistants to practice independently

Megan Zawacki started working at St. Peter's Health in Helena, Montana, in 2020 as a physician assistant trained in treating addiction.

10 Feb 2023

Some addiction treatment centers turn big profits by scaling back care

Near the end of his scheduled three-month stay at a rehab center outside Austin, Texas, Daniel McKegney was forced to tell his father in North Carolina that he needed more time and more money, he recently recalled.

31 Jan 2023

Study shows benefits of decreasing opioid refills for hip and knee arthroplasty patients

Opioids are commonly prescribed to patients that are discharged after a total knee and hip arthroplasty. Patients are typically given larger prescriptions of opioids that can result in an excess of the medication in their home after recovery is over.

14 Dec 2022

Addiction treatment proponents urge rural clinicians to pitch in by prescribing medication

Andrea Storjohann is glad to see that she's becoming less of a rarity in rural America.

1 Dec 2022

Schools, sheriffs, and syringes: State plans vary for spending $26B in opioid settlement funds

With more than 200 Americans still dying of drug overdoses each day, states are beginning the high-stakes task of deciding how to spend billions of dollars in settlement funds from opioid manufacturers and distributors.

22 Nov 2022

New fentanyl vaccine could prevent deadly opioid from entering the brain

A research team led by the University of Houston has developed a vaccine targeting the dangerous synthetic opioid fentanyl that could block its ability to enter the brain, thus eliminating the drug's "high."

14 Nov 2022

UH PREMIER Center receives funding to fight the rising tide of opioid addiction and death

Fighting the rising tide of opioid addiction and death, the Prescription Drug Misuse Education and Research (PREMIER) Center at the University of Houston College of Pharmacy has been funded for the next two years by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission for an additional $3.34 million.

31 Oct 2022

Hospitals have been slow to bring on addiction specialists

In December, Marie, who lives in coastal Swampscott, Massachusetts, began having trouble breathing. Three days after Christmas, she woke up gasping for air and dialed 911.

11 Oct 2022

Omicron led to higher rates of death in rural America than urban areas

The omicron wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in late 2021 and early 2022 spread like a grass fire in America's densely populated cities but led to higher rates of death in rural counties where vaccinations are lagging.

14 Jun 2022