The American Civil Liberties Union said it had reached a settlement with a federal prison in Kansas that had denied buprenorphine, an opioid addiction medication, to an inmate who the group said would “inevitably suffer and possibly die” without it. The inmate, Leaman Crews, is set to receive the medication Wednesday night, Lauren Bonds, legal director of the A.C.L.U. of … [Read more...] about Kansas Inmate Will Be Allowed Opioid Addiction Drugs
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In Opioid Fight, City Expands Access to Crucial Medication-Assisted Treatment
New York City is showing modest progress in the fight to curb the explosion in drug overdoses, with the health department reporting 38 fewer deaths last year compared to 2017, after a concerted $60-million effort focused on substance abuse prevention, treatment, and education, especially with regard to opioids. Medication-assisted treatment involves prescribing and … [Read more...] about In Opioid Fight, City Expands Access to Crucial Medication-Assisted Treatment
Settlement Money Won’t Restore Ohio City Upended by Opioids
The tentative settlement involving the opioid crisis and the maker of OxyContin could mean that thousands of local governments will one day be paid back for some of the costs of responding to the epidemic. But for public officials in Akron, no amount of money will restore the families and institutions that were upended by prescription painkillers, heroin and … [Read more...] about Settlement Money Won’t Restore Ohio City Upended by Opioids
In Cherokee Country, Opioid Crisis Seen as Existential Threat
Here in the foothills of the lush Ozark Mountains, where the Cherokee Nation re-formed its government after U.S. soldiers marched members of the tribe out of the South in the 1830s, people say the removal of children from their Native homes is the most troubling part of the opioid crisis. The earliest evidence that the opioid epidemic had seeped into Indian Country came in … [Read more...] about In Cherokee Country, Opioid Crisis Seen as Existential Threat
Continuing to Help Those With the Disease of Addiction
When it comes to drug overdoses, many people have a preconceived idea of who the typical overdose death victim is. I strongly reject that stereotyping. The faces of this crisis include a young adult who became addicted because he was injured while playing pickup basketball and was prescribed opioids to deal with the pain. They include the grandmother who was prescribed … [Read more...] about Continuing to Help Those With the Disease of Addiction
