Latest News On Opioids

Latest KFF Health News Stories

Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ Live From D.C.: A Look Ahead At Health Policy In 2019

KFF Health News Original

Congress and President Donald Trump are starting to wrestle with health policy issues, and health is already a key debate point in the early run-up to the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries. Might any major health policy legislation be passed and signed this year? Joanne Kenen of Politico, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News and Kimberly Leonard of The Washington Examiner, along with special guest Tom Miller of the American Enterprise Institute, join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and take questions from a live studio audience.

Doctors Call California’s Probe Of Opioid Deaths A ‘Witch Hunt’

KFF Health News Original

In a unique crackdown on what it sees as “excessive prescribing,” the state medical board is investigating hundreds of doctors whose patients ultimately died of opioid overdoses — whether or not the doctors prescribed the fatal medications.

County By County, Researchers Link Opioid Deaths To Drugmakers’ Marketing

KFF Health News Original

A JAMA study looking at county-specific federal data finds that the more opioid-related marketing dollars spent in a county, the higher rates of doctors who prescribed those drugs, and ultimately, more overdose deaths.

Hep C And Drug Abuse Often Go Hand In Hand, But Screening For Infection Lags

KFF Health News Original

As the number of people who inject drugs has soared, the rate of hepatitis C infection has climbed steeply, too, because the disease can be tied to sharing needles. Yet many drug patients are not checked for the virus that can damage the liver.

Nurse Denied Life Insurance Because She Carries Naloxone

KFF Health News Original

The U.S. surgeon general has called on “bystanders” to be equipped with the opioid reversal drug to save lives. But when a nurse answered that call, her application for life insurance was denied. Why?

Overshadowed By Opioids, Meth Is Back And Hospitalizations Surge

KFF Health News Original

Hospital visits related to amphetamine use have spiked, with the biggest jumps in the West, new research shows. Experts say more attention needs be paid to the resurgence of methamphetamine.