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Substance Use Treatment

It’s a common misconception among those entering treatment that their goal is to stop drinking or using. However, ending your substance use is the beginning of a much longer journey.
The Food and Drug Administration issued a new warning this week about mixing medication to treat opioid addiction with anti-anxiety drugs. Both types of drugs slow breathing and brain activity.
Google has announced it is restricting ads for addiction treatment. “We found a number of misleading experiences among rehabilitation treatment centers that led to our decision,” a company spokeswoman said.
Some insurance companies are restricting patients’ access to pain medicines with a lower risk of dependence or addiction, while making it easier to get generic opioid drugs, The New York Times reports.
The Food and Drug Administration has permitted marketing of the first mobile app to help treat substance use disorders. The app is designed to be prescribed by a doctor and used along with counseling, CNBC reports.
Finding the right treatment for yourself or a loved one can be an overwhelming process, so don’t be afraid to ask for help, explains Bradley F. Sorte, Executive Director, Caron Renaissance & Ocean Drive.
Using a 12-step strategy, similar to the one used by Alcoholics Anonymous, improves the effectiveness of substance use disorder treatment in teens, a new study finds.
Doctors are underprescribing the opioid addiction medicine buprenorphine, according to a new survey of addiction specialists.
Twenty Democratic senators are asking the Office of National Drug Control Policy to do more to combat the opioid epidemic, according to the Associated Press.
A bipartisan group of governors says Medicaid cuts could impact states’ efforts to fight the opioid crisis.
The U.S. Justice Department will crack down on drug addiction treatment centers that have filed bogus insurance claims, Bloomberg reports. The move is part of a major law enforcement action targeting healthcare fraud.
A new report finds spending on Medicaid-covered prescriptions for the treatment of opioid use disorder and opioid overdose increased dramatically between 2011 and 2016, according to NPR. The largest increase occurred after 2014.
The number of people covered by the health insurer Blue Cross Blue Shield who were diagnosed with an opioid addiction rose almost 500 percent from 2010 to 2016.
Some Republican senators from states hit hard by the opioid epidemic are opposing the Senate health care bill, which would slash Medicaid funding.
Inadequate access to opioid addiction treatment programs has led to a thriving black market for Suboxone, the drug that helps patients overcome their addiction, experts tell The Wall Street Journal.
Only 27 percent of youths treated for opioid addiction receive buprenorphine or naltrexone, known as medication-assisted treatment, a new study finds.
The Republican health care plan, which would roll back the Affordable Care Act and reduce or terminate health coverage for millions of Americans, will deepen the nation’s opioid crisis, addiction experts tell the Los Angeles Times.
Cuts to Medicaid proposed by Republicans in the U.S. House and Senate jeopardize addiction treatment, NPR reports.
Family members of young people who have struggled with or died from opioid addiction say President Trump’s budget proposal, which would reduce funding for addiction treatment, runs counter to his promises to help solve the problem, the Associated Press reports.
The National Institutes of Health will partner with drug companies to spur research on new treatments for opioid addiction and pain medications that are not addictive, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price’s description of medication-assisted treatment for addiction as "substituting one opioid for another" is inaccurate, according to addiction experts who have asked Price to “set the record straight.”
If the bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act is passed by the Senate and is signed into law, it could impact millions of people’s access to treatment for addiction, experts tell ABC News.
The Trump Administration will soon provide $485 million in grant money to states for prevention and treatment programs aimed at addressing the nation’s opioid crisis, the Associated Press reports.
A group of addiction treatment experts and insurance company executives have formed a task force that aims to impose standards on the addiction treatment field, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Sheriffs and police officers across the country who recognize the extent of the opioid epidemic are implementing innovative programs that focus on treatment of the underlying substance use disorder as a long-term solution.