Post written by : Stephen
FDA Calls for New Medication-Assisted Treatment Drugs
Despite recommendations from an opioid commission and the declaring opioid abuse a public emergency, the number of overdose deaths due to opioids continues to rise. On Monday the Food and … Continue reading
Demi Lovato’s Drug Overdose is a Teachable Moment
The pop singer, actor, and activist Demi Lovato has achieved fame from an early age, and has seemed to handle it better than many of her contemporaries, “seemed” being the operative word. In 2013 … Continue reading
Drug Rehab Medical Devices Won’t Work if No One Uses Them
We’re still in the midst of an opioid crisis (or an opioid epidemic, or opioid national emergency, depending upon with whom you speak). And while the US government has been criticized … Continue reading
Less than a Third of OD Patients Receive MAT
Many doctors, politicians and even patients overlook or resist one of the most effective treatments for drug abuse: medication-assisted treatment (MAT) with Suboxone (a tamper-resistant form of buprenorphine) or methadone. … Continue reading
Need to Treat, Not Just Prevent, Heroin Addiction
Last month the US House of Representatives, cognizant that all 435 members are up for re-election in November – with very little to show for it legislatively – passed more … Continue reading
Sober Fun for the Fourth of July
It’s Independence Day, and even though it has the temerity and bad timing to arrive mid-week – demolishing any hope of squeezing a three-day or even a four-day weekend out … Continue reading
Drug Smugglers, Addiction More of a Threat than Undocumented Workers
What’s the greater threat facing the United States from over the Mexican border: illicit drugs or undocumented immigrants? To the US executive branch, the answer seems to be both, because … Continue reading
Learning from Opioid Epidemic Missteps
The existentialist philosopher Soren Kierkegaard wrote, “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” Or maybe, as William James remembered it, “We live forwards but we … Continue reading
Punishing Drub Abuse Relapses Doesn’t Improve Outcomes
One of the many things hindering drug abuse treatment is that drug addiction isn’t considered just an involuntary mental condition, akin to a disease, but also a crime. If the … Continue reading
Addicts Need MAT, Harm Reduction to Beat Opioid Epidemic
One problem driving the opioid epidemic—aside from the carelessness or actual avarice of the pharmaceutical companies —is that it can be easier and cheaper (not safer) to continue to take opioids … Continue reading