Connecting people with support services such as food and housing is a key step in curbing the opioid epidemic, Surgeon General Jerome Adams said this week.
Nurse practitioners and physician assistants will now be eligible to prescribe and dispense the opioid addiction treatment buprenorphine from their office, Reuters reports.
A new study will assess whether starting medication-assisted treatment in the emergency room within hours of an opioid overdose will prevent people from relapsing after they recover.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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