Oct 24 Watch 11:13 Trump signs opioid bill, father who lost son says we need a bigger ‘Band-aid’ On Wednesday, President Donald Trump signed a bill that will expand access to certain kinds of opioid treatment. Keith Humphreys, former drug policy advisor during the Obama and Bush administrations, and Gary Mendell, the CEO of an addiction recovery nonprofit,… Continue watching
Aug 14 Watch 9:17 A festering opioid crisis, worn-out families and ‘so much pain to process’ By Jeffrey Brown, Mike Fritz In “Dopesick,” journalist and author Beth Macy takes readers to the front lines of the opioid epidemic in Roanoke, Virginia, and other nearby communities, telling the story of grieving families, exhausted medical workers and convicted heroin dealers. Jeffrey Brown reports… Continue watching
May 08 Drug distributors missed suspicious opioid sales to West Virginia, lawmakers say By Alan Fram, Associated Press The responses by drug executives ranged from apologies to explanations to finger-pointing at the federal Drug Enforcement Administration for not doing enough in its role as overseer of sales of legally controlled substances. Continue reading
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
Apr 19 Americans filling far fewer opioid prescriptions, new data show By Linda A. Johnson, Associated Press Opioid prescriptions and daily doses rose steadily starting in the 1990s, fueled by factors including marketing of new opioid pills such as Oxycontin. The U.S. is estimated to consume roughly 30 percent of all opioids used worldwide. Continue reading
Mar 19 Watch 9:28 Will Trump’s focus on prosecution, not treatment, make a dent in opioid addiction? By PBS NewsHour President Trump announced his plan to combat nationwide opioid drug addiction at an event in New Hampshire on Monday, calling for aggressive prosecution for traffickers, including using the death penalty. William Brangham discusses these proposals with Sam Quinones, author of… Continue watching
Mar 12 Watch 6:49 To solve opioid epidemic, governors say there need to be federal dollars behind pledges By PBS NewsHour The governors of Maryland and Oregon are making an urgent call for greater federal help to deal with the opioid epidemic in their hard-hit states. Gov. Larry Hogan, R-Md., and Gov. Kate Brown, D-Ore., sit down with William Brangham to… Continue watching
Mar 07 Watch 5:58 ‘The Trade’ tells personal stories of far-reaching drug crisis By PBS NewsHour, Frank Carlson The new Showtime documentary series "The Trade" shows the pain and consequences of the nation's opioids epidemic by putting a human face on the crisis. Best known for the Oscar-nominated film "Cartel Land," director Matthew Heineman wanted to show just… Continue watching
Mar 06 Watch 4:30 States are seeing startling increases in opioid overdoses By PBS NewsHour The opioids crisis appears to be deepening across the country. That’s according to a stark new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that found that emergency room visits for suspected overdoses rose by an average of 30… Continue watching
Mar 06 Emergency department visits for opioid overdoses rise by 30 percent in a year By Laura Santhanam Emergency department visits linked to opioid overdoses are on the rise, and new data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Tuesday show virtually no sign of improvement across much of the U.S. Continue reading