Apr 30 Watch 7:40 How an opioid addiction can eat your heart alive By Kay Colby, ideastream The pathway to deadly heart infections for people addicted to opioids often begins with a dirty needle or polluted drug. Special correspondent Kay Colby of Ideastream reports on a little-known problem with big consequences for patients and society as a… Continue watching
Mar 03 This scientist is testing a marijuana ingredient as a way to prevent relapse. It’s a daunting task By Megan Thielking, STAT A neurobiologist at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York thinks cannabidiol -- one of the two main compounds plucked from the marijuana plant -- might hold the potential to curb cravings for heroin and other opioids. Continue reading
Dec 04 Deaths during opioid-driven hospital stays have quadrupled By Laura Santhanam The rate of hospitalization among white patients also doubled between 2007 and 2013 -- the “largest and fastest-growing share of hospitalizations” in recent years, according to the study published Monday in the journal Health Affairs. Continue reading
Nov 29 Watch 9:13 For this doctor, a son’s recent death by overdose inspires his mission to rescue others By Miles O'Brien Dr. Jim Baker dreaded getting that call for years: his son had fatally overdosed from opioids. He had watched Max go through the downward spiral of addiction, then recover and get sober, but a hospitalization for a car crash made… Continue watching
Nov 19 Long-awaited study finds monthly Vivitrol as effective as daily pill for opioid addiction By Max Blau, STAT The finding from the largest head-to-head study to date between two leading drugs to treat opioid addiction could dramatically change prescribing habits. Continue reading
Nov 18 FDA clears electronic earpiece to block opioid withdrawal symptoms By Max Blau, STAT A wearable device claiming to block the pain of opioid withdrawal has been cleared by the Food and Drug Administration under a new expedited review process. Continue reading
Oct 11 Twitter chat: The realities of opioid addiction and recovery By Lora Strum What does addiction really look like, and what does it mean to recover? Join us for a #NewsHourChats and hear from our guests. Continue reading
Oct 09 Watch 10:06 How one group of doctors drastically decreased opioid prescriptions By Cat Wise, Jason Kane With addictions and overdoses surging over the past two decades, recent CDC guidelines urge doctors to avoid or dramatically limit the use of legal painkillers. In Southern California, a group of Kaiser Permanente doctors has been helping chronic pain patients… Continue watching
Oct 08 Watch 9:47 In Kentucky, jail is becoming an addict’s last-resort rehab By Melanie Saltzman, Megan Thompson Despite high levels of drug abuse among the jail population nationwide, few facilities offer drug treatment programs. They don’t have the funds or the physical space. But the Kentucky Department of Corrections reports that statewide, half the people who went… Continue watching
Oct 06 Watch 12:09 Former drug users work on the front lines of the opioid crisis in Rhode Island By William Brangham, Mike Fritz, Frank Carlson They visit overdose victims in the hospital. They hand out lifesaving drugs on the streets and educate their peers about their own relapses. In Rhode Island, former drug addicts are the most valuable fighters on the front lines of the… Continue watching