NIH Launches Harm Reduction Research Network to Prevent Overdose Fatalities

To address the overdose crisis in the United States, the National Institutes of Health has established a research network that will test harm reduction strategies in different community settings to inform efforts to help save lives. The harm reduction research network’s efforts build on existing...

To End the Drug Crisis, Bring Addiction Out of the Shadows

When I was six years old, as I was having dinner with my mother and three sisters, my mother received a telegram. She broke down crying as she read it. Her father - my grandfather - had died. In her grief, she locked herself in her room and would not let me console her. The memory of my inability...

Offering Buprenorphine Medication to People with Opioid Use Disorder in Jail May Reduce Rearrest and Reconviction

A study conducted in two rural Massachusetts jails found that people with opioid use disorder who were incarcerated and received a medication approved to treat opioid use disorder, known as buprenorphine, were less likely to face rearrest and reconviction after release than those who did not...

Making Addiction Treatment More Realistic and Pragmatic: The Perfect Should Not Be the Enemy of the Good

Last year saw drug overdose deaths in the U.S. surpass an unthinkable milestone: 100,000 deaths in a year. This is the highest number of drug overdoses in our country’s history, and the numbers are climbing every month. There is an urgent need for a nationwide, coordinated response that...

Buprenorphine Misuse Decreased Among U.S. Adults with Opioid Use Disorder From 2015-2019

Data from a nationally representative survey indicate that in 2019, nearly three-fourths of U.S. adults reporting buprenorphine use did not misuse the medication in the past 12 months. In addition, buprenorphine misuse among people with opioid use disorder trended downward between 2015-2019,...

HHS Leaders Call for Expanded Use of Medications to Combat Opioid Overdose Epidemic

A national response to the epidemic of prescription opioid overdose deaths was outlined in the New England Journal of Medicine by leaders of agencies in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The commentary calls upon health care providers to expand their use of medications to treat...