Latest News On Opioids

Latest Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½Ò•îl Health News Stories

Stimulant Users Are Caught in Fatal ‘Fourth Wave’ of Opioid Epidemic

Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½Ò•îl Health News Original

The migration of fentanyl into illicit stimulants such as cocaine is especially dangerous for people who are not regular opioid users. That’s because they have a low tolerance for opioids, putting them at greater risk of an overdose. They also often don’t take precautions — such as not using alone and carrying the opioid reversal medication naloxone — so they’re unprepared if they overdose.

Are States Keeping Their Promises on Opioid Settlement Transparency?

Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½Ò•îl Health News Original

It’s been about two years since most states began receiving millions of dollars in opioid settlement payments from companies that made or distributed prescription painkillers. But whether you can track how that windfall has been spent depends largely on where you live. That’s because there is no federal standard dictating the information that must be […]

For People With Opioid Addiction, Medicaid ‘Unwinding’ Raises the Stakes

Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½Ò•îl Health News Original

Medications such as methadone can cut the risk of a fatal opioid overdose in half. Medicaid covers the medication. But as state Medicaid programs reevaluated coverage of each enrollee following a pause in disenrollments during the covid-19 pandemic, some patients lost a crucial pillar of their sobriety.

Long-Term Care Facilities Must Provide Addiction Care, Advocates Say

Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½Ò•îl Health News Original

When you think about the opioid crisis, the image of adults in their 20s, 30s, even sometimes those who are middle-aged, may come to mind. Rightly so, since most overdose deaths occur in people between ages 25 and 64. But did you know older adults are increasingly at risk of overdosing from opioids, too? In fact, from 2021 […]

A Call to Action Reignites Debate Over Opioid Settlements

Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½Ò•îl Health News Original

State and local governments have received more than $7.5 billion in opioid settlement funds to date, and everyone’s lining up to have their say in how it’s spent. Of course, that means there’s also plenty of controversy. The latest development comes this morning, as a coalition of 192 recovery and harm reduction organizations across dozens […]