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News Articles: addiction crisis

Local representatives gather in Beckley, W.Va., to select a regional representative for the nonprofit council that will be responsible for distributing funds from the state's opioid settlement. Around the country, state councils like this will decide how to spend $50 billion in opioid settlement funds.

Tagged as: 

  • Health

Here's who controls the $50 billion opioid settlement funds in each state

As money is funneled to states, opioid councils wield significant power in determining how it gets spent. They face concerns about conflicts of interest and lack of representation by affected groups.

July 10, 2023
|
By:
  • Aneri Pattani
Patricia Hopkins is superintendent of a rural school district in Maine's Kennebec County, which signed on to a lawsuit against opioid companies. She hopes the settlement funds will allow her to hire more social workers to help children whose families have been affected by the opioid crisis.

Tagged as: 

  • Health

States differ on how best to spend $26B from settlement in opioid cases

The cash represents an unprecedented opportunity to derail the opioid epidemic. But with countless groups advocating for a share of the pie, the impact could depend heavily on geography and politics.

November 24, 2022
|
By:
  • Aneri Pattani
A person walks into a mental health clinic.

Tagged as: 

  • Mental Health

Mental health advocates in Georgia say a lack of access to care is what leads to crises

The 2022 unified vision for transforming mental health and substance use care in Georgia is part of a multiyear legislative process. Last year, they called for better access to mental health care as the state tackled effects from the COVID-19 pandemic.

This year, the group is asking for more funding of behavioral health programs that have proven effective.

August 12, 2022
|
By:
  • Ellen Eldridge
A heroin user in a South Bronx neighborhood which is experiencing an epidemic in drug use, especially heroin and other opioid based drugs.

Tagged as: 

  • Health

Black Americans are now dying from drug overdoses at a higher rate than whites

New research shows drug overdose deaths continue to surge among Black Americans. For the first time since 1999, Black Americans are dying at a higher rate per capita than white Americans.

March 02, 2022
|
By:
  • Brian Mann
Sue Howland, right, and Larrecsa Cox walk past addiction-themed graffiti

Tagged as: 

  • Health

CDC Reports Overdose Deaths In Georgia Rose At Least 38% During Pandemic

In Georgia, more than 1,900 people died of drug-related causes in the 12-month period ending January 2021, which is a 38.8% increase over data from the previous year.

August 11, 2021
|
By:
  • Ellen Eldridge
Bags of heroin, some laced with fentanyl, are displayed before a press conference regarding a major drug bust, at the office of the New York attorney general in New York City on Sept. 23, 2016.

Tagged as: 

  • Opinion

Opinion: 2020's Other Medical Crisis

Scott Simon notes the 30 percent increase of drug overdose deaths in the U.S. during the first year of the pandemic.

July 17, 2021
|
By:
  • Scott Simon
OxyContin pills arranged for a photo at a pharmacy in Montpelier, Vt. The global business consulting firm McKinsey & Company has agreed to a $573 million settlement over its role in the opioid crisis.

Tagged as: 

  • National

Consulting Giant McKinsey To Settle States' Opioid Claims For $573 Million

McKinsey is the latest major American corporation to face legal, financial and public relations peril stemming from its role in the nation's deadly opioid epidemic.

February 04, 2021
|
By:
  • Brian Mann
President Biden speaks about the coronavirus pandemic in the State Dining Room of the White House on Tuesday.

Tagged as: 

  • National

With Biden Team Focused On Other Crises, Experts Say Drug Epidemic Is Exploding

The Biden administration had Day 1 plans for the pandemic, economy and climate change. Experts say they haven't yet seen that same focus on the addiction crisis, which is killing 220 people a day.

January 29, 2021
|
By:
  • Brian Mann
Police are "responding to nonviolent, noncriminal calls for service for people whose needs are largely social, behavioral or mental. And that's just not right," says San Francisco Fire Capt. Simon Pang, who's helping to spearhead efforts to create new mobile crisis teams for the city.

Removing Cops From Behavioral Crisis Calls: 'We Need To Change The Model'

San Francisco will soon launch the nation's largest experiment that diverts most nonviolent mental health and behavioral crisis calls away from police and to specially trained mobile units.

October 19, 2020
|
By:
  • Eric Westervelt

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