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Study reveals low rate of opioid addiction medications after overdose

Medications proven to effectively treat opioid addiction are rarely given after emergency department visits for overdose, and who gets them varies, sometimes greatly, depending on race, ethnicity or geography, University of Michigan researchers say.

12 May 2025

Buprenorphine improves outcomes for pregnant women with opioid use disorder

Pregnant women living with opioid use disorder (OUD) and their infants had significantly better health outcomes when treated with buprenorphine, according to a new study at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health.

25 Apr 2025

New hospital program helps opioid patients stay in treatment after discharge

Offering hospitalized patients who are struggling with opioid use disorder a medication to treat their addiction makes it more likely that they will continue with follow-up care after they are discharged, a new study finds.

9 Apr 2025

Hit hard by opioid crisis, Black patients further hurt by barriers to care

Purple flags, representing the nearly 300 Mecklenburg County residents who died of opioid overdose in 2023, fluttered in the humid breeze last August in recognition of International Overdose Awareness Day on the city’s predominantly Black west side.

2 Apr 2025

Co-prescribing stimulants and opioids may fuel the twin epidemic of overdose

The combination of prescribed central nervous system stimulants, such as drugs that relieve ADHD symptoms, with prescribed opioid medications is associated with a pattern of escalating opioid intake, a new study has found.

22 Feb 2025

Low-dose initiation of buprenorphine for people using fentanyl fails to deliver expected results

During the COVID-19 pandemic, when fentanyl overdoses surged, doctors were desperate to find ways of helping their patients.

24 Jan 2025

Smartphone app enhances retention and reduces opioid use in patients

Patients with opioid use disorder can reduce their days of opioid use and stay in treatment longer when using a smartphone app as supportive therapy in combination with medication, a new study by The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio) shows.

30 Dec 2024

How are states spending opioid settlement cash? We built a database of answers

In the past few years, state and local governments across the U.S. have begun spending billions in opioid settlements paid by companies accused of fueling the overdose crisis. But where is that money going, who is getting it, and is it doing any good?

16 Dec 2024

Structural and functional brain changes found in individuals with opioid use disorder

Researchers at the Yale School of Medicine found structural and functional alterations in specific brain regions of individuals with opioid use disorder.

10 Dec 2024

Canadian guideline expands treatment options for opioid use disorder

An updated evidence-based guideline aimed at helping clinicians and other health care providers manage patients with opioid use disorder recommends buprenorphine and methadone as first-line treatments.

12 Nov 2024

Study: Medicaid waivers have limited impact on opioid overdose crisis

For generations, the federal government has largely refrained from paying for mental health and substance use treatment in large residential facilities.

4 Nov 2024

For people with opioid addiction, Medicaid ‘unwinding’ raises the stakes

It was hard enough for Stephanie to get methadone treatment when she moved to Florida from Indiana last year. The nearest clinic was almost an hour's drive away and she couldn't drive herself. But at least she didn't have to worry about the cost of care.

30 Oct 2024

Mothering over meds: Docs say common treatment for opioid-exposed babies isn’t necessary

On learning last year she was pregnant with her second child, Cailyn Morreale was overcome with fear and trepidation.

22 Oct 2024

Methadone more effective than buprenorphine in reducing treatment discontinuation

People with opioid use disorder in British Columbia who received methadone had a 37–40 per cent lower rate of treatment discontinuation compared with those who received buprenorphine/naloxone.

21 Oct 2024

Heat map reveals state-by-state landscape of opioid dependence

Today FAIR Health released the Opioid Tracker, a free, interactive tool tracking opioid abuse and dependence state by state. A brief released simultaneously offers a user's guide to the Opioid Tracker.

26 Sep 2024

Study reveals limited access to opioid treatment in US jails

A new look into addiction treatment availability in the U.S. criminal justice system reveals that fewer than half (43.8%) of 1,028 jails surveyed across the nation offered any form of medication for opioid use disorder, and only 12.8% made these available to anyone with the disorder.

24 Sep 2024

Low-dose ketamine eases fentanyl withdrawal symptoms

Drug overdose is the leading cause of injury deaths in young adults in the United States, with fentanyl causing over 70,000 deaths annually.

17 Sep 2024

Study reveals significant increase in drug overdoses in Colombia among young women

Overdose rates in Colombia involving illegal opioids, hallucinogens, stimulants and sedative psychotropic medication increased greatly during 2018-2021, mainly caused by overdoses in young women, according to a study at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.

12 Sep 2024

North Carolina's residential opioid treatment services lack evidence-based approaches

A new study of organizations that claim to provide residential opioid substance use services in North Carolina found that only 12% of the organizations were licensed by the state to provide residential substance use treatment. What's more, only about a quarter of the organizations even allowed patients to access the only treatment for opioid use disorder proven to reduce overdose deaths.

29 Aug 2024

New implantable device could revolutionize opioid overdose response

A swine model to demonstrate the potential of an implantable system for opioid safety (iSOS).

19 Aug 2024