California invests millions to try and curtail drug overdoses

Dec 28, 2021
The program's approach includes an emphasis on medically-assisted treatment, using drugs to help ease withdrawal symptoms and cravings.
California Bridge regional director Joshua Luftig, right, and program coordinator Christian Hailozian at the Bridge Substance Use Program at Highland Hospital in Oakland
Beth LaBerge/KQED

What tiny Estonia can teach the U.S. about opioids

May 31, 2019
The Baltic nation has reduced opioid-related death rates. But how?
A heroin user reads an alert on fentanyl in New York City.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Drug summit looks at ways to prevent overdose deaths

Apr 23, 2019
President Trump expected to address the summit Wednesday.
Oxycodone pills prescribed for a patient lie on display on March 23, 2016 in Norwich, CT. 
John Moore/Getty Images

Opioids made it impossible to run his family business, so he became an undercover cop

Apr 3, 2019
Bucky Culbertson's career has followed the booms and busts of Wise County, up to his current job fighting the opioid epidemic.
Bucky Culbertson in his office, January 2019.
Ben Hethcoat/Marketplace

In the midst of a massive opioid crisis, hospitals are experiencing an opioid shortage

May 14, 2018
Drug shortages are nothing new in U.S. hospitals.
Illustration by Emily Judem/WGBH News. Photos courtesy of Benjamin Pennell and Massachusetts General Hospital.

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Lawmakers to grill drug wholesalers over opioid epidemic

May 8, 2018
Prescription drug wholesalers, who sit between pharmaceutical manufacturers and health care providers, are expected to get an earful about their role in the opioid epidemic Tuesday. Executives from five companies will testify in front of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Click the above audio player to hear the full story.

Trump plans to fight opioid epidemic online, in ads

Mar 19, 2018
Congressional hearings on more than a dozen opioid bills start on Wednesday. Today President Donald Trump unveiled his plan to tackle the epidemic … including a multimillion dollar media blitz that he promises will keep kids from getting hooked on prescription painkillers and heroin. Click the audio player above to hear the full story. 

How one sentence helped set off the opioid crisis

Dec 13, 2017
Recently unsealed documents shed light on how the maker of OxyContin seems to have relied more on focus groups than on scientific studies to create an aggressive and misleading marketing campaign that helped fuel the national opioid epidemic.
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