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$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

Anxiety attack or panic attack: Both may have come from the brain

An attack can come crashing in like a storm on a clear spring day. In an instant, your heart pounds, sweat soaks you and you struggle to breathe.

29 Mar 2023

Study shows benefits of expanding the use of telehealth services for people with opioid use disorder

The expanded availability of opioid use disorder-related telehealth services and medications during the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with a lowered likelihood of fatal drug overdose among Medicare beneficiaries, according to a new study.

29 Mar 2023

Study reveals dramatic rise in drug overdose fatalities among older adults in the past two decades

Overdose mortality among people age 65 and older quadrupled over 20 years, suggesting the need for greater mental health and substance use disorder policies addressed at curbing the trend, a new research paper finds.

29 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

CBD-based compounds boost the effects of naloxone

There's been a recent push in the U.S. to make naloxone -; a fast-acting opioid antidote -; available without a prescription.

28 Mar 2023

Researchers secure $7.5 mllion from NIH HEAL initiative to tackle opioid and pain public health crises

Researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine have been awarded a five-year, $7.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health Helping End Addiction Long-term (HEAL) initiative.

24 Mar 2023

Common genetic signature may increase a person's risk of developing substance use disorders

A new study suggests that a common genetic signature may increase a person's risk of developing substance use disorders, regardless of whether the addiction is to alcohol, tobacco, cannabis or opioids.

22 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

California picks generic drug company Civica to produce low-cost insulin

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday announced the selection of Utah-based generic drug manufacturer Civica to produce low-cost insulin for California, an unprecedented move that makes good on his promise to put state government in direct competition with the brand-name drug companies that dominate the market.

19 Mar 2023

New CDC opioid guidelines: Too little, too late for chronic pain patients?

Jessica Layman estimates she has called more than 150 doctors in the past few years in her search for someone to prescribe opioids for her chronic pain.

15 Mar 2023

Reentry programs to help former prisoners obtain health care are often underused

When Matthew Boyd was released from a Georgia state prison in December 2020, officials sent him home without medicines he uses to manage chronic heart and lung conditions and high blood pressure, he said.

8 Mar 2023

Exploring biodistribution of cannabidiol nanoparticles and nanoemulsion after intrathecal administration

Researchers evaluated the biodistribution of cannabidiol (CBD) emulsion and nanoparticles in the central nervous system (CNS).

24 Feb 2023

Ketamine appears to hold promise in treating cocaine-use disorders

As cocaine use continues to climb across the United States, scientists have struggled to develop an effective pharmacological approach to treat the devastating disorder.

20 Feb 2023

Study finds fiftyfold increase in U.S. methamphetamine mortality rate between 1999 and 2021

The U.S. methamphetamine mortality rate increased fiftyfold between 1999 and 2021, with most of the added deaths also involving heroin or fentanyl, researchers report in the American Journal of Public Health.

20 Feb 2023

A call to action proposed for health providers to ensure widest distribution, easy availability of naloxone

In 2021, 100,306 Americans died from drug overdoses – a 28.5 percent increase from the prior year – with 75,673 attributed to opioids.

16 Feb 2023

As opioids mixed with animal tranquilizers arrive in Kensington, so do alarming health challenges

Many people living on the streets in Philadelphia's Kensington neighborhood — the largest open-air drug market on the East Coast — are in full-blown addiction, openly snorting, smoking, or injecting illicit drugs, hunched over crates or on stoops. Syringes litter sidewalks, and the stench of urine fouls the air.

15 Feb 2023

‘The country is watching’: California homeless crisis looms as Gov. Newsom eyes political future

Driving through the industrial outskirts of Sacramento, a stretch of warehouses, wholesale suppliers, truck centers, and auto repair shops northeast of downtown, it's hard to square California's $18 billion investment in homeless services with the roadside misery.

9 Feb 2023

Why two states remain holdouts on distracted driving laws

Max Herrick pulled over on the interstate near Harrisonville, Missouri, on a spring night in 2020 to offer antifreeze to a woman whose car had overheated.

6 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

Overdose News and Research

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

Anxiety attack or panic attack: Both may have come from the brain

Study shows benefits of expanding the use of telehealth services for people with opioid use disorder

Study reveals dramatic rise in drug overdose fatalities among older adults in the past two decades

New evidence: Fibromyalgia could worsen opioid use disorder

CBD-based compounds boost the effects of naloxone

Researchers secure $7.5 mllion from NIH HEAL initiative to tackle opioid and pain public health crises

Common genetic signature may increase a person's risk of developing substance use disorders

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

California picks generic drug company Civica to produce low-cost insulin

New CDC opioid guidelines: Too little, too late for chronic pain patients?

Reentry programs to help former prisoners obtain health care are often underused

Exploring biodistribution of cannabidiol nanoparticles and nanoemulsion after intrathecal administration

Ketamine appears to hold promise in treating cocaine-use disorders

Study finds fiftyfold increase in U.S. methamphetamine mortality rate between 1999 and 2021

A call to action proposed for health providers to ensure widest distribution, easy availability of naloxone

As opioids mixed with animal tranquilizers arrive in Kensington, so do alarming health challenges

‘The country is watching’: California homeless crisis looms as Gov. Newsom eyes political future

Why two states remain holdouts on distracted driving laws

Some addiction treatment centers turn big profits by scaling back care

Sensing a Healthier Future

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

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