Health May 16 It’s not just opioids. Deaths from cocaine and meth are surging. The same lethal drug that has been driving the nation’s spiraling opioid epidemic is also causing an historic surge in overdose deaths among cocaine users.
Health May 01 Desperate to prevent opioid overdoses, states urge greater prescription of naloxone In an effort to reduce opioid overdoses, a handful of states are requiring doctors to give, or at least offer, a prescription for naloxone to patients taking high doses of opioid painkillers. Naloxone saves lives by reversing the effects of…
Health Aug 15 The year after childbirth is the deadliest for addicted women Growing evidence suggests that women should receive continuous medical attention during what is now called the “fourth trimester” — a period lasting at least a year after childbirth.
Health Feb 22 Opioid overdose deaths dropped in these 14 states, prompting cautious optimism In an opioid epidemic that began in the late 1990s, drug deaths have been climbing steadily every year, in nearly every state. A break in that trend, even if limited to just 14 states, has prompted cautious optimism among some…
Health Nov 14 This app tracks drug overdoses in real time In an opioid overdose epidemic that killed more than 53,000 Americans last year and shows no signs of relenting, nearly every community in the nation is fortifying its public health, emergency medical and law enforcement response. But with limited resources,…
Politics Jul 25 How states are fighting over women’s access to health care As Washington moved to reduce federal funding for women’s health this year, adversaries in the war over affordable birth control and other women’s health services shifted the battleground to state capitals — resulting in a spate of new laws that…
Health May 08 As fentanyl death toll spikes, states step up their interventions With the advent of fentanyl and other highly potent synthetic drugs, many states are amplifying those policies and adding new programs to protect drug users from deadly contaminants in heroin, cocaine and other illicit drugs.
Health Apr 23 Nurse licensing laws block treatment for opioid addiction Congress has paved the way to letting nurse practitioners and physician assistants prescribe anti-addiction medication. But laws in many states stand in the way.
Health Apr 05 This obscure Medicaid waiver opens up more beds for opioid treatment An estimated 22 million Americans have a drug or alcohol addiction that needs treatment, yet only one in 10 receive it.
Health Mar 13 As marijuana becomes legal, doctors worry about teen addiction As marijuana legalization sweeps the nation, physicians and public health officials are sounding alarms about its potentially harmful effects on young people.