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Some researchers and recovery advocates see the NET device as the latest in a series of products pitched as the solution to the addiction crisis that have been overhyped to capitalize on money from the opioid settlements.
Lifesaving or wasteful? Opinion is divided on the ways local communities are using opioid settlement funds. Survivors of the overdose crisis and families who’ve lost loved ones to it are raising alarms about what some perceive as wasteful spending.
Located in the Lower 9th Ward, this abandoned building has become a community sanctuary and resource.
The experiences of one doctor in Louisiana reveal the tensions around trying to get people to engage in addiction treatment, even if they’re not ready to stop using drugs.
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States, counties, and cities are receiving millions in opioid settlement money to address the addiction crisis. The ways they spent the dollars in 2024 sometimes drew criticism from advocates and at least one state official, who alleged misuse.
Local governments have received hundreds of millions of dollars from the opioid settlements to support addiction treatment, recovery, and prevention efforts. Their spending decisions in 2024 were sometimes surprising and even controversial. Our new database offers more than 10,500 examples.
Public health experts and advocates say the outbreak has been fueled by a confluence of local factors, including the sweeping of a homeless encampment and shuttering of a sterile-syringe program. But those issues may not remain local for long. The Trump administration is leading efforts to promote similar tactics nationwide.
In a Goliath-versus-David fight, UnitedHealth Group’s pharmacy benefit manager, Optum Rx, has filed lawsuits in five counties to stop them from including the company in national opioid litigation.
Billions in opioid settlement money was meant to be spent on treating and preventing addiction — but what happens if it’s misspent? Some advocates say attorneys general need to pay closer attention. If they don’t, a new tool might empower the public.
Efforts to decrease alarmingly high rates of suicide among construction workers and prevent burnout in health care workers are in jeopardy after the firing of hundreds of employees at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
Opioid manufacturers, distributors, and retailers have been paying billions of dollars to settle lawsuits over their role in the overdose epidemic. How to spend the money remains an open question.
President Donald Trump’s budget office says he’ll continue to fund the new 988 suicide prevention hotline, but documents sent to Congress offer clues — amid some mixed messages — about the administration’s approach to two pressing public health issues: mental health and addiction.
The administration is facing a May 12 deadline to declare if it will defend Biden-era regulations that aim to enforce laws requiring parity in insurance coverage of mental and physical health care.
In many cases, the money flowed to addiction recovery programs that help rebuild lives by driving people to medical appointments and court hearings, crafting résumés and training them for new jobs, finding them housing, and helping them build social connections unrelated to drugs.
Pharmaceutical companies accused of fueling the nation’s opioid crisis are paying state and local governments billions of dollars in legal settlements. But how much are victims who suffered addiction and overdoses getting?
Since the Trump administration began firing federal workers, they say they feel overwhelmed, have obtained or considered seeking psychiatric care and medication, and are anxious about paying their bills. And soon, their health insurance will run out.
Nevada’s budget debate highlights how uncertainty over funding for federal safety net programs may lead some officials to turn to opioid settlement dollars to make up the difference.
A decision about how to spend settlement funds in Carter County, Kentucky, which was hit hard by the opioid epidemic, offers a window into the choices that surround this windfall.
From addiction treatment to toy robot ambulances, we uncovered how billions in opioid settlement funds were used by state and local governments in 2022 and 2023. Find out where the money went.
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