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Study uncovers overlooked crisis of paternal deaths after childbirth

It took the better part of a century for maternal mortality to be recognized, forgotten and finally recognized again as an urgent public health crisis in the United States.

4 May 2026

NIH awards $3.9 million grant to develop a non-opioid pain treatment

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has awarded a $3.9 million grant to a multi-institutional team led by scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute to develop a non-opioid pain therapeutic and advance it into a Phase 1 clinical trial.

4 May 2026

TikTok chatter could help predict where the opioid crisis is heading next

A large-scale analysis of 569,581 TikTok comments found that opioid-related discussions may help track and forecast synthetic opioid overdose mortality in the US. Recovery, harm reduction, drug use, drug sourcing, and loss-related conversations provided near-real-time signals that improved 6-month forecasting accuracy.

28 Apr 2026

New clinical guidelines significantly reduce opioid prescriptions after ear surgery

A new retrospective study published in OTO Open, the open-access journal of the American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery Foundation (AAO-HNSF), demonstrates that the Clinical Practice Guideline (CPG) Opioid Prescribing for Analgesia After Common Otolaryngology Operations has had a measurable and sustained impact on prescribing practices following parotidectomy, which a surgical procedure to remove the parotid gland.

28 Apr 2026

U.S. dentists still prescribe opioids at higher rates globally

People getting their teeth pulled or drilled by dentists in the United States are still much more likely to get powerful opioid medications than dental patients in other developed countries or even the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, a new study finds.

23 Apr 2026

Study highlights gaps in opioid use disorder care during pregnancy

Opioid use disorder during pregnancy remains a critical yet under-addressed public health issue in the U.S., according to a new study at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.

23 Apr 2026

Standard naloxone doses may not reverse newer synthetic opioid overdoses

A new study exposes challenges in reversing opioid overdoses with naloxone when potent synthetic drugs like fentanyl and sufentanil are involved, according to a study in the May 2026 issue of Anesthesiology, the peer-reviewed medical journal of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA).

13 Apr 2026

Apparent drug overdose spike in 2025 driven by flawed modeling

Last June, several mainstream media outlets reported a surge in U.S. drug overdose deaths in early 2025 that was based on data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

8 Apr 2026

Expanded Medicaid improved access to buprenorphine for opioid use disorder

Medicaid insurance expansions between 2017 and 2023 sharply increased access to medication treatment for opioid use disorder in a period when fatal overdoses continued to climb, according to Rutgers Health researchers.

6 Apr 2026

Many US jails lack nearby access to opioid treatment programs, study shows

A new study led by researchers at Brown University School of Public Health found that more than half of U.S. jails are located at least a 30-minute drive from the nearest opioid treatment program - a distance that may make it harder for incarcerated people to receive methadone, a key medication for opioid addiction.

2 Apr 2026

Highly potent opioid shows potential as therapy for pain and opioid use disorder

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have identified a novel, highly potent opioid that shows potential as a therapy for both pain and opioid use disorder.

1 Apr 2026

Maker of device to treat addiction withdrawal seeks counties’ opioid settlement cash

In the early 2000s, Michelle Warfield worked at a factory, hauling heavy seats for Ford trucks on and off an assembly line. To suppress daily aches in her back and hips, her doctor prescribed opioid painkillers.

18 Mar 2026

Study links smokable drug use to heightened incidence of severe burns

A new analysis in Oregon reveals a heightened incidence of severe burns requiring hospital-level care as illicit drug use has shifted nationwide from injection to smoking.

16 Mar 2026

Weekly buprenorphine injections improve opioid abstinence during pregnancy

In a clinical trial supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a research team found that administering weekly injectable extended-release buprenorphine for treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD) during pregnancy led to higher rates of abstinence from illicit opioids than buprenorphine given daily under the tongue (sublingual), one of the standard methods of treatment.

16 Mar 2026

Study reveals why US life expectancy gains stalled after decades of progress

A PNAS study analyzing US mortality from 1979 to 2023 reveals that life expectancy stagnation reflects both worsening outcomes in post-1950 birth cohorts and a broad mortality deterioration beginning around 2010. Cardiovascular mortality slowdowns, rising external causes, and cohort-specific patterns help explain the persistent decline in longevity gains.

10 Mar 2026

Could GLP-1 drugs help curb addiction? Large veteran study points to potential benefit

A large cohort study of more than 600,000 US veterans with type 2 diabetes found that initiating GLP-1 receptor agonists was associated with lower risks of developing substance use disorders compared with SGLT-2 inhibitors. Among veterans with existing substance use disorders, GLP-1 receptor agonist use was also linked to fewer overdose events, hospitalizations, and suicide-related outcomes.

8 Mar 2026

State bans on prior authorization show limited impact on buprenorphine treatment retention

State laws that ban insurance prior authorization for buprenorphine-a leading medication for opioid use disorder-may not help more patients stay in treatment for the recommended minimum of 180 days, Weill Cornell Medicine researchers report.

6 Mar 2026

GLP-1 drugs may be effective at treating and preventing substance use disorders

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis show in a new study that GLP-1 medications may be effective at treating and preventing substance use disorders across all major addictive substances studied, suggesting these drugs target a common biological pathway underlying addiction.

4 Mar 2026

Study finds around six nightclub deaths occur annually in the UK

Around 6 deaths a year are linked to clubbing in the UK, finds a 15 year retrospective study published online in Emergency Medicine Journal.

4 Mar 2026

Study finds sharp drop in benzodiazepine use among older adults

Benzodiazepine treatment declined among U.S. adults between 2018 and 2022, with the steepest drop among adults ages 56 and older, according to a new study by researchers at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

25 Feb 2026