Latest News On Opioids

Latest KFF Health News Stories

Think ‘Medicare For All’ Is The Only Democratic Health Plan? Think Again

KFF Health News Original

The Democratic presidential candidates have hit hard on health care, but generally the debates have centered on what kind of system candidates propose. The candidates’ ideas on many other issues, such as mental health and gun safety, have attracted much less attention.

‘Crackhouse’ Or ‘Safehouse’? U.S. Officials Try To Block Philly’s Supervised Injection Site

KFF Health News Original

An average of three people a day died of opioid overdose in Philadelphia in 2018. But efforts to combat the crisis with a supervised injection site could be stymied by “the crackhouse statute,” a portion of federal law meant to protect neighborhoods during the crack epidemic of the 1980s.

KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Waiting For The Trump Health Plan

KFF Health News Original

President Donald Trump keeps promising a new health plan, but so far it’s nowhere to be seen. Meanwhile, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is proposing a plan to cancel billions of dollars in medical debt owed by patients. This week, Stephanie Armour of The Wall Street Journal, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico and Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Rovner also interviews KHN’s Rachel Bluth about the latest “Bill of the Month” feature. Plus, for “extra credit,” the panelists recommend their favorite health stories of the week.

Back To School 2019: Backpack, Lunchbox And A Drug Test

KFF Health News Original

As schools begin a new year, more districts will test students as young as 11 for illicit drug use even as other drug prevention efforts are scaled back. More than 1 in 3 school districts nationwide give students drug tests.

In India’s Slums, ‘Painkillers Are Part Of The Daily Routine’

KFF Health News Original

As the Indian government reluctantly loosens its prescription opioid laws after decades of lobbying by palliative care advocates desperate to ease their patients’ pain, the nation’s sprawling, cash-fed health care system is ripe for misuse.

Beset By Lawsuits And Criticism In U.S., Opioid Makers Eye New Market In India

KFF Health News Original

What began in India as a populist movement to bring inexpensive morphine to the diseased and dying poor has paved the way for a booming pain management industry. Now, new customers are being funneled to U.S. drugmakers bedeviled by a government crackdown back home.