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 News Hour 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 News Hour 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 News Hour, 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 News Hour 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
Jan 30 Watch 5:11 To stop overdose deaths, this response team brings treatment options to your doorstep By PBS News Hour Local law enforcement in Chillicothe, Ohio, have found their own way to respond to a slew of fatal opioid overdoses in their community. The Post Overdose Response Team (PORT) sets out each week to find every person in their county… Continue watching
Dec 21 The opioid crisis is driving down U.S. life expectancy, new data shows By Laura Santhanam Life expectancy fell in the United States for a second straight year -- something that hasn't happened since the 1960s. 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