Latest News On Opioids

Latest KFF Health News Stories

Tribal Nations Invest Opioid Settlement Funds in Traditional Healing To Treat Addiction

KFF Health News Original

Hundreds of Native American tribes are getting money from settlements with companies that made or sold prescription painkillers. Some are investing it in sweat lodges, statistical models, and insurance-billing staffers.

Para frenar las muertes por fentanilo, reparten kits para revertir las sobredosis puerta por puerta

KFF Health News Original

En Philadelphia, funcionarios esperan que este enfoque proactivo transforme a la naloxona en un artículo que esté en los botiquines, para evitar que las personas mueran por sobredosis, especialmente los residentes negros.

To Stop Fentanyl Deaths in Philadelphia, Knocking on Doors and Handing Out Overdose Kits

KFF Health News Original

Facing widening racial disparities in overdose deaths, Philadelphia officials are sending workers and volunteers to knock on doors across the city, aiming to equip households with naloxone and other drug overdose prevention supplies. City officials hope a proactive approach will normalize naloxone as an everyday item in people’s medicine cabinets and prevent overdoses, especially among Black residents.

Why Opioid Settlement Money Is Paying County Employees’ Salaries

KFF Health News Original

More than $4.3 billion in opioid settlement money has landed in the hands of city, county and state officials to date — with billions more on the way. But instead of using the cash to add desperately needed treatment, recovery and prevention services, some places are using it to replace existing funding. Local officials say […]

A Paramedic Was Skeptical About This Rx for Stopping Repeat Opioid Overdoses. Then He Saw It Help.

KFF Health News Original

For years, addiction response teams have traveled around Florida to connect people who have overdosed with resources and recovery centers. Now, a handful have a new tool in their kit: buprenorphine, which can help prevent the cravings and withdrawal symptoms that lead to more drug use.

Statistical Models vs. Front-Line Workers: Who Knows Best How to Spend Opioid Settlement Cash?

KFF Health News Original

A mathematical model designed to direct spending of opioid settlement funds is at the center of a debate over whether to invest in technology to guide long-term decisions or focus on the immediate needs of people in addiction.

Records Show Publix Opioid Sales Grew Even as Addiction Crisis Prompted Other Chains’ Pullback

KFF Health News Original

As national prescription drug distributors and pharmacies restricted the flow of oxycodone and other painkillers in response to the growing opioid crisis, Florida’s most popular grocery store ramped up its sales and distribution of the highly addictive drugs, according to a Tampa Bay Times analysis of federal data.

Journalist Talks Distribution of Opioid Funds — And the Companies Angling for a Piece

KFF Health News Original

KFF Health News senior correspondent Aneri Pattani made the rounds on national and local media in the last two weeks to discuss the opioid settlement funds flowing to state and local governments and her reporting on the topic. Here’s a collection of her appearances.

The Year in Opioid Settlements: 5 Things You Need to Know

KFF Health News Original

In the past year, opioid settlement money has gone from an emerging funding stream for which people had lofty but uncertain aspirations to a coveted pot of billions being invested in remediation efforts. Here are some important and evolving factors to watch going forward.

‘They See a Cash Cow’: Corporations Could Consume $50 Billion of Opioid Settlements

KFF Health News Original

As opioid settlement dollars land in government coffers, a swarm of businesses are positioning themselves to profit from the windfall. But will their potential gains come at the expense of the settlements’ intended purpose — to remediate the effects of the opioid epidemic?