Oct 06 Watch 3:01 The shame of addiction turned my life into a lie. Here’s what saved my family By PBS News Hour Keeping up appearances as a family hid the denial and shame Anita Devlin felt as her son struggled with an addiction to opioid painkillers. But when she finally shared their experience, it opened the door to healing and recovery. Devlin,… Continue watching
Oct 03 Watch 9:32 At an innovative high school, students get support battling their addictions while they learn By Mike Fritz, Frank Carlson, Pamela Kirkland Drug use among teenagers in the U.S. is down, but the mortality rate is rising. As part of our series “America Addicted,” the NewsHour’s Pamela Kirkland visited one so-called recovery school in Indianapolis that is giving new hope to students… Continue watching
Oct 03 Poll: Most Americans think Trump hasn’t done enough to fix opioid crisis By Laura Santhanam Only 2 percent of adults nationwide said the country’s opioid problem improved over the last year. Continue reading
Oct 02 Column: How to talk to your kids about opioids By Margie Skeer, Tufts University Chances are good that even young teenagers will have heard about opioids and overdose deaths at some point. But Margie Skeer from Tufts University warns that pretending that opioid use is not a problem – or thinking that a child… Continue reading
Aug 11 How a heroin addict tried to kick her habit in an opioid ‘treatment desert’ By Brian Rinker, Kaiser Health News When Heather Menzel arrived at the Bakersfield, California, bus station one day in February 2014, she hoped that the worst of her withdrawal was over and that a new life without heroin awaited. Continue reading
Aug 08 Watch 6:02 Nashville’s mayor lost her son to opioids. Here’s what she thinks will save families from that pain By PBS News Hour Continue watching
Jun 25 Two GOP senators wanted $45 billion in health care bill to battle opioid crisis. They got $2 billion By Lev Facher, STAT The health care bill unveiled by Senate Republicans on Thursday includes funding to help tackle the nation’s opioid crisis — but dramatically less than the amount sought by two GOP senators and recovery advocates. Continue reading
Jun 16 WATCH: Trump’s opioid commission launches new look at health crisis By Laura Santhanam https://youtu.be/dzg-WhYGSe4 New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says he never felt uncomfortable telling people about his mother’s lung cancer after she smoked cigarettes for decades. But he wonders if he would have been as open if she instead consumed heroin instead… Continue reading
May 06 How Virginia dramatically expanded treatment options for addiction (and skirted federal law) By Andrew Joseph, STAT A new type of “waiver” from federal rules has dramatically expanded options for Medicaid beneficiaries, and could help other states serve those in need. Continue reading
Apr 23 Nurse licensing laws block treatment for opioid addiction By Christine Vestal, Stateline 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. Continue reading