Every six months, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) hosts the National Take-Back Initiative, an event to promote the safe disposal of prescription medications. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the...
Category: News
Dr. Elvis Francois Spreads Hope with His Singing
Since the coronavirus outbreak changed our lives, healthcare providers like doctors and nurses have been invaluable in the fight against it. Healthcare professionals are putting their lives on the line daily to...
Why Treatment is Essential During a Pandemic
By now, the majority of people in the United States are currently practicing some form of social distancing or self-quarantine. With the fast spread of COVID-19, all areas of life have been uprooted, making it ...
Spring Breakers Who Partied Despite COVID-19 Warnings
COVID-19 Party Drinkers: Addicted or Just Irresponsible? By now you’ve likely seen the viral videos of “spring breakers” partying during the COVID-19 pandemic despite recommendations from experts and of...
Recovery Unplugged’s Coronavirus Protocol
It is Recovery Unplugged’s policy to ensure the safety of clients and staff during the viral outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019, COVID-19. Recovery Unplugged will take all necessary precautions to keep ...
Celebrating Our Nurses for World Health Day
Every year, the World Health Organization (WHO) celebrates World Health Day. Like the WHO, Recovery Unplugged’s goal is to provide everyone we can with the care they need to live happy and healthy lives. With...
Celebrating World Day of Prayer at Recovery Unplugged
Faith is a personal struggle, and prayer is a reflection of that. Because of the different ways in which we can pray, celebrating World Day of Prayer is a very personal experience. Some people may pray to God...
Recovery Unplugged Celebrates Social Workers’ Month
Social Workers are the backbone of much of the work we do here at Recovery Unplugged. They are among the front lines of our staff, interacting with clients on a daily basis and helping guide them towards a life...
Opioid Addiction and the Black Community
Opioid addiction doesn’t discriminate based on sex, finances, or social status. It does, however, unfairly impact the black community in the United States. Drug abuse is a chronic disease that changes the c...
Fentanyl-Laced Cocaine Overdoses Rising Across the Country
Deaths from cocaine overdose are climbing in many parts of America. This increase in overdose fatality is due primarily to the presence of fentanyl in cocaine supplies across the country. Fentanyl is a powerful...
Thank You for Your (Lip) Service: Are We Doing Enough to Help Veterans with Addiction and Mental Health Issues?
Addiction and mental health issues continue to be a problem for our nation’s veterans. As we observe another Veterans Day, a 24-hour period when we celebrate the efforts, sacrifices and unmatched contribu...
Help Prevent Prescription Drug Addiction on DEA Take Back Day
This Saturday, October 26, marks the next National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) established this event in 2010 to curb prescription addiction across the country. Na...
Big Pharma Pays Hundreds of Millions in Ohio Opioid Addiction Settlement
Drug makers AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health, Teva and McKesson will pay a combined $260 million to Ohio’s Cuyahoga and Summit counties. The settlement is the latest in a series that have put drug makers on...
CNN’s This is Life with Lisa Ling Examines Benzo Crisis in the United States
Last night CNN’s This Is Life with Lisa Ling examined the scope, origins and impact of the benzodiazepine (benzo) crisis in America. The piece takes a raw an unflinching look at the benzo withdrawal experienc...
Tennessee Meth Addiction and Recovery Captured in Viral Photo
As overused as the phrase may be, there’s no denying that a picture really is worth a thousand words. This can be especially true for those in recovery whose lives have drastically changed from the circumstan...
Tennessee AG Weighs In on Purdue Bankruptcy Amid Escalating Opioid Addiction
Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery says he’s content with Purdue Pharma using Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to pay out a $10 billion settlement the company reached with his and 28 other states in a...
Vaping Deaths Rise as CDC Says Stop
Vaping deaths are on the rise as a lung disease that’s affected over 450 Americans claimed its fifth casualty this past Friday in California. The increase in fatalities is the latest in a series of developmen...
West Virginia Daycare for Babies with NAS is Making a Difference
The opioid epidemic has impacted millions of lives, affecting everyone from our nation’s senior citizens to its millions of children that have been displaced and subsequently put into foster care or the care ...
Oklahoma Opioid Lawsuit Verdict Sets New Standard for Drug Maker Culpability
Yesterday, in what has become the most notable opioid lawsuit in history, an Oklahoma judge ordered drug manufacturer, and Johnson & Johnson subsidiary, Janssen Pharmaceuticals to pay $572 million for what ...
Recovery Unplugged Featured on A&E’s Addiction Unplugged
The stigma against substance abuse and addiction has impacted those struggling with substance use disorder in innumerable ways. Although people in recovery ought to be applauded for the strength and initiative ...
Paul Pellinger Discusses Opioid Addiction Crisis in 610 WIOD Radio Interview
Recovery Unplugged Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer Paul Pellinger recently dropped by Miami’s 610 WIOD Radio to discuss how the opioid crisis is affecting new mothers, and the systemic issues that lead ...
Fatal Drug Overdoses Decline for the First Time in 30 Years
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC reports that there were around 68,557 drug overdose fatalities in the United States in 2018. While it seems like the height of lunacy to regard this number as ...
Managing the Outcome of Florida’s Pill Mills
Anyone familiar with the current opioid crisis in the United States has heard of the impact that Florida’s “pill mills” have had in compounding the problem, but the reality is that not many understand the...
Children: Invisible Victims of the Opioid Epidemic
Children often bear the brunt of their parents’ mistakes, and we’re learning that the opioid addiction crisis is no exception to this reality. According to recent data from the Children Services Association...
Addiction in the Workplace: Industries with the Highest Rates of Substance Abuse
Anyone who has impacted by addiction, whether it’s in their own life or the life of a loved one, knows that the career and professional life are often one of the earliest casualties of substance use. Unfortun...
Beyond Pride Month: Preventing LGBTQ+Addiction Every Day
Another June is quickly passing and reality is that, for many, the support and advocacy shown to the LGBTQ+ community during Pride Month is passing right along with it. As well-intentioned as people may be in t...
Examining and Addressing Addiction among Millennials
Addiction among millennials has been on the rise for some time. This age group is more likely to die from drugs, alcohol, or suicide than any other age group, and reform in our healthcare is needed to cater to ...
Examining Addiction in the LGBTQ+ Community
As we continue to celebrate Pride Month, Recovery Unplugged wants to take a moment to examine some of the origins, sustaining factors and ramifications related to addiction in the LGBTQ+ community, as well as s...
Addressing High Rates of Mental Illness in Musicians
A just-released study from Swedish digital music distributor Record Union suggests that about three-quarters of independent musicians suffer from symptoms of mental illness, such as anxiety or depression. Furth...
CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta Explores the Healing Benefits of Music
This Saturday CNN’s Chasing Life with Dr. Sanjay Gupta reiterated what Recovery Unplugged has been saying for years: music saves lives, heals pain and improves health. The segment featured Dr. Gupta traveling...
Face the Music Foundation Teams Up with Major Recording Artists to Raise Addiction Awareness and Treatment Funds
What do Face the Music Foundation and recording artists Garbage, Richard Patrick and Jam Alker band have in common? Well…probably more than you think…but for the purposes of this announcement, it’s that t...
Examining Specific Workplace Issues Faced by Addiction Care Nurses
Nurses in every area of medical care face unique and extraordinary professional and personal challenges, many of which are due entirely to the nature of their field of specialization. These challenges can be es...
Maintaining Balanced Mental Health in the Nursing Profession
Few, if any, professions faces as many challenges as nursing and its adjacent career fields. The nature of nursing involves navigating difficult life events and engaging in critical decision-making on a daily b...
Addiction, Depression and the Future of America
The American teenager has long been dogged by a stereotype of moodiness and melancholy. Very often these characteristics are dismissed as age-related issues, and chalked up to “hormones” or “just a phase...
Drug Treatment Vs. Incarceration: Drug Courts Can Offer Second Chances
It’s no secret that American drug use and addiction has reached crisis proportions. In addition to year-after-year escalations in overdose fatality, drug abuse continues to negatively impact the American econ...
Joe Walsh and Ringo Starr Team Up to Address American Drug Addiction
We can all imagine a scenario in which we’re listening to a collaboration between Ringo Starr and Joe Walsh and saying, however hyperbolically, that the track “saved our lives”—the raw materials are cer...
UBH Lawsuit Verdict Strikes Important Blow to Stigma against Addiction
A federal court ruling in Northern California against the nation’s leading health insurance provider shines a light on the power of stigma against addiction, and how it can often prevent patients from getting...
Employers Feel Effects of Increased Marijuana and Opioid Use
Do you know someone at work from whom you can easily score marijuana or prescription painkillers? Have you seen someone die from overdose on the job from opioids? Have you witnessed someone noticeably impaired ...
The Disconnect: Can Better Cooperation between ERs and Treatment Centers Improve Odds for Drug Overdose Survivors?
So many have us have been there: it’s 3:30 in the morning and we get a frantic call or text telling us our loved one is in the hospital due to drug overdose. Maybe we even saw it happen right in front of us, ...
Sackler Family and Purdue Pharma Face Lawsuits Over Role in Opioid Crisis
In 2017, opioids killed over 47,600 Americans, a large portion of whom died from legally regulated prescription painkillers. For a long time, OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma has been at the center of this escalat...
THE PREVALENCE OF PAINKILLER ABUSE IN THE NFL
With Super Bowl Sunday just two days away, it’s important to keep in mind that every player on the field in feeling the pressure to perform well regardless of how their bodies might be feeling. Painkiller abu...
Testing Strips to Prevent Fentanyl Overdose: Getting Smart or Giving Up?
Fentanyl overdose has been one of the primary contributors to the alarming and tragic uptick in overall drug-related deaths in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports tha...
In Case You Missed It: Three Stories from the Week that Address Addiction in the United States
It’s been quite a week: the government remains millimeters away from shutting down, President Trump has announced plans to pull out of Syria. The never-ending news blitz combined with the madness of the last-...
Recovery-Friendly Workplaces Make Finding a Job in Recovery Easier
Finding a job in recovery can be incredibly difficult. The stigma that the recovery community faces is often most apparent during the employment process. Many companies approach applicants in recovery with prej...
Opioid Addiction Leads to Decline in US Life Expectancy…Again
Around this time last year, Recovery Unplugged published a piece about a decline in life expectancy to the United States that was directly attributable to opioid addiction; we are saddened (but unfortunately no...
What Will Florida CVS and Walgreens Lawsuit Mean for Prescription Addiction?
Only days ago, Florida State Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office announced that they would be including CVS and Walgreens to the list of opioid distributors and manufacturers against whom the state of Florida...
Examining the Role of Kratom in the Opioid Crisis
The opioid overdose crisis has reached such epic proportions that it’s been declared a nationwide epidemic, with overdose and addiction rates ravaging the country. Due to the intensity of the deadliest drug c...
Dsuvia® Approval Meets with Mixed Reactions
In an extraordinarily controversial decision, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved the use of Dsuvia®, a powerful opioid ten times more potent than fentanyl. Despite opposition from four U....
ASAM Pushes for Increased Access to Medication-Assisted Treatment As Part of New Grading System
Last year drug overdose killed over 72,000 Americans according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Over 49,000 of these deaths were directly attributable to opioids like heroin, o...
WHO Study Reveals Grave New Realities of Alcohol-Related Death
We all know excessive drinking is bad, even those who continue to practice it on a daily basis; however, a recent, comprehensive study conducted and published by the World Health Organization has managed to ill...
99-1: Senate Passes Comprehensive Opioid Addiction Bill
In a political climate in which we find ourselves so viscerally divided; so entrenched in our ways of thinking; so immovable that we often can’t even make the most basic concessions, the United States Senate ...
Recovery Unplugged Featured on ABC News
Recovery Unplugged co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer Paul Pellinger recently spoke with ABC News about the Recovery Unplugged treatment process, and how we have helped clients all over the country overcom...
American Overdose Deaths Reach Another Record High in 2017
It’s the news no one wanted to hear but many knew was coming. Preliminary data on American overdose deaths has yielded a tragic and nauseating revelation regarding the state of drug use throughout the country...
Contaminated Molly Reinforces Dangers of Designer Drugs
Last Sunday, police in the UK issued a regional warning after a batch contaminated molly (MDMA) sent a group of teenage girls to the hospital. The incident is only the latest in a series of hospitalizations and...
Recovery Unplugged Featured on Austin’s KVUE TV
Last month, Austin ABC affiliate KVUE stopped by Recovery Unplugged Texas to learn more about our treatment process, success rates and unique and effective program. Our clients and staff were delighted to talk ...
Is Opioid Addiction in the United States Beginning to Decline?
A promising report from health insurance leader Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) saw a five percent drop in opioid addiction among their customers from 2013-2017. While the findings represent some encouraging news...
FDA Holds Meetings on Prescription Opioids for Chronic Pain
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner Scott Gottlieb issued a statement this morning reaffirming the agency’s endorsement of prescription opioids for chronic pain treatment. Gottlieb was careful to ...
HIV-Positive Recovering Meth Addict Shocks the World on Fox’s “The Four”
Off the heels of a heartbreaking story about Wynonna Judd’s daughter sentenced to years in prison for meth-related probation violation, television audiences were treated to an inspiring story of the ability t...
Meth Addiction Making A Comeback in Many American Communities
As communities across the United States are increasingly beset with escalating rates of opioid addiction and overdose, many are finding the substance abuse threats that face their residents compounded by an old...
Children’s Exposure to Buprenorphine Rises over 200 Percent
Just as the FDA has approved the first-ever generic form of Suboxone® (buprenorphine and naloxone), a new study has revealed that an often-unconsidered population is already at dangerous risk of exposure to th...
FDA Approves First Generic Versions of Suboxone® for Opioid Addiction Treatment
In a move that many are speculating will increase access to quality opioid addiction treatment, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first generic form of sublingual (under-the-tongue) bupren...
Nearly Every American Dealing with Drug Addiction in some form, Pew Report Says
It’s official: drug addiction now impacts practically every American in some way. We often say that drug abuse is everyone’s problem; a recent survey from the Pew Research Center has taken this assertion fr...
K2 Part 2: Synthetic Marijuana Overdoses Making a Comeback
Last week more than 25 people were hospitalized in Brooklyn after they had apparently overdosed on K2, a form of synthetic marijuana that has been a persistent public health threat for the past few years. Polic...
What Does Approval of Lucemyra™ Mean for Future Opioid Withdrawal Treatment?
Last week the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first non-opioid drug to help patients manage severe opioid withdrawal syndrome. The move marks a significant step forward in helping patients overc...
Recovery Unplugged’s Joseph Gorordo Interviewed by FOX 7
Our very own director of outreach Joseph Gorordo recently spoke with FOX 7. The interview was part of a piece about a lawsuit filed against pharma giant Purdue by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Joseph discu...
Recovery Unplugged Drops by NBC’s Six in the Mix
Paul Pellinger continues to make the rounds and spread the Recovery Unplugged message of music-based healing. Our faithful CSO recently dropped by NBC Miami’s lifestyle and entertainment program Six in the Mi...
Catch Paul Pellinger at His Upcoming Book Signing at Nova Southeastern University
Join Recovery Unplugged Chief Strategy Officer Paul Pellinger at Nova Southeastern University as he discusses music-based addiction treatment and signs copies of his latest book Music Is Our Medicine. Released ...
Opioid Addiction Treatment Costs Increase for Large Employers
The toll of the opioid addiction epidemic continues to mount. The latest victim, according to data from the Kaiser Family Foundation, is the business community. Use of prescription painkillers by Americans with...
Lawmakers Prepare to Tackle Opioid Abuse in Texas
In the wake of escalating overdose rates and lack of access to quality treatment resources, legislators in the lone star state claim they’re more serious than ever in tackling opioid abuse in Texas. Last week...
Children: The Often-Forgotten Casualties of Drug Addiction in Texas
Each and every one of us who has dealt with addiction in our lives understands that it doesn’t just affect the user. This disease has the power to ruin the lives of users’ families and loved ones, as well a...
Opioid Overdoses Increase in 2018
In a bit of expected yet unwelcome news, opioid overdoses have risen in the United States. Despite all the hand wringing from stakeholders and the seemingly empty promises to get this public health issue under ...
Opioid Overdoses Rise…Again
In a bit of expected yet unwelcome news, opioid overdoses have risen in the United States. Despite all the hand wringing from stakeholders and the seemingly empty promises to get this public health issue under ...
Heroin(e) Documentary Takes Comprehensive Look at Opioid Addiction
Three days after the awards were presented, the political opinions were expressed and Frances McDormand’s statue was stolen and recovered, one of the most important stories from this year’s Oscars remains u...
FDA Expands Medication-Assisted Treatment for Opioids
In the current addiction treatment landscape, only about a third of all facilities offer medication-assisted treatment (MAT) as part of their care options; this number is about to change under new guidelines fr...
Examining Healthcare and Addiction Treatment in America
At the end of last month, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Brenda Fitzgerald resigned after it was discovered that she purchased stock in the tobacco industry; a clear conflict of inter...
A Look at the Relationship between Substance Use and the Olympics
Substance use and the Olympics have been closely linked practically since the beginning of the modern-day games, and perhaps even during their ancient-Greek forerunners. Between alcoholism in aging athletes, a ...
Jobs with High Rates of Substance Abuse and Addiction
We’re all familiar with the relationship between addiction and music; however, there is also a variety of everyday professions in which substance abuse and addiction are unfortunately common. Many of these hi...
Opioid Addiction in the United States Leads to Second Straight Decline in National Life Expectancy
There has never been a richer civilization than the United States of America. A nation in which anything is supposed to be possible, and citizens have access to every conceivable modern comfort and healthcare r...
Meth Abuse in Texas Is an Enduring Threat
While the nation understandably concerns itself and commits the bulk of its resources to addressing opioid abuse, other addiction threats continue to fester and grow. One of the most recent examples of this und...
New Bill Could Mean Progress in Fight against Fentanyl Abuse
New York Senator Chuck Schumer is urging President Trump to sign a bill into law that could strike a significant blow in the fight against fentanyl abuse in the United States. The legislation would pay for port...
What AG Sessions’ Ruling Means for Marijuana Use in the United States
In a week-long news cycle that has been dominated by other stories about the Trump Administration, it’s perfectly reasonable that one may have missed an item about Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ plans to r...
Read Our Story: Paul Pellinger Releases New Book on Music-Based Treatment and Recovery Unplugged
Recovery Unplugged Chief Strategy Officer Paul Pellinger has just released an illuminating and engaging book on the power of music-based addiction treatment and the origins of the Recovery Unplugged care proces...
Put Down the Glass: What New Blood Pressure Guidelines Mean for Alcoholism in Florida and the Rest of the United States
A third of the country just got diagnosed with high blood pressure. New guidelines from the American Heart Association have changed the rate that constitutes dangerously high blood pressure for adults from 140/...
The Treatment Gap: A Look at Why So Many People Aren’t Getting Help for Opioid Addiction in the US
Last year marked another landmark year for opioid fatalities. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that over 50,000 people died from opioid addiction in the US in 2016, accounting for an overw...
What One International Study Can Mean for Vivitrol Treatment in Texas
In a study believed to be the first that directly compares the two medications, researchers found that once-a-month Vivitrol treatment is just as effective as daily buprenorphine treatment. The Norwegian study,...
Expert Panel Paints Grim Picture of Florida Opioid Addiction Crisis for Senate Committee
On Monday, in a state that can arguably be characterized as Ground Zero for the national opioid epidemic, a committee of clinicians, law enforcement officials and various other stakeholders forecasted a grim fu...
Recovery Unplugged CSO Paul Pellinger to Speak at Major Northeast Opioid Conference
On October 11th, addiction treatment veteran and RU’s very own Chief Strategy Officer Paul Pellinger will be speaking at the Sullivan County Public Health Conference. The event, which will be held at the site...
Is an Anti-Opioid Abuse Vaccine on the Horizon?
It may sound like science fiction; however, as opioid abuse continues to ravage the United States, clinicians and stakeholders are working harder than ever to come up with solutions to the problem. To that end,...
Settlement from Drug Distributor Suits to Be Used to Fund Opioid Addiction Treatment
In response to the rampant and ongoing opioid addiction epidemic claiming more and more of its citizens, West Virginia has passed a landmark piece of legislation aptly named the Ryan Brown Addiction Prevention ...
Popular Energy Drinks Linked to Drug and Alcohol Addiction in New Study
The next time you think about chugging a Red Bull to get through the second half of the work day or taking down a Monster before going to the gym, consider these new findings from the University of Maryland. Re...
JAMA Study: One in Eight Americans Suffers from Alcohol Addiction
The relationships between Americans and drinking has always been, for the most part, a close one. According to a new study published by JAMA Psychiatry, the bond between Americans and their alcohol has only got...
Nashville Mayor Mourns Son after Drug Overdose Death
Last month Nashville Mayor Megan Barry lost her son, Max to drug overdose. In the weeks since suffering this incomprehensible tragedy, she has emerged with renewed ambition to prevent her son’s death from def...
Meth Addiction High among West Texas Oil Workers
While national attention has shifted toward opioid abuse due to the large body count these drugs are creating, a decades-old substance abuse threat continues to flourish in West Texas and many other parts of th...
CDC Reports Opioid Prescribing Rates Down Consistently Since 2010…Really?
There is a strange new conversation to be had among addiction treatment professionals, lawmakers, prevention advocates and anyone else with a stake in the opioid epidemic currently consuming the United States. ...
Drug Overdose Now the Leading Cause of Death for Americans Under 50
The Office of the Attorney General reports that fatal drug overdose rates hit a new high in 2016. They also report that this year’s spike represents the largest single-year increase in American history. In 20...
Drug Overdose Deaths Expected to Hit Record Highs for Third Straight Year
In 2014, over 47,000 Americans died from drug overdose. This shocking and tragic figure dealt a hard blow to the morale of the prevention movement; however, it also created an increased sense of urgency and mob...
Recovery Unplugged in the Sun-Sentinel
Treatment center helps beat addiction with music. In a Fort Lauderdale office building, pop singer Kendra Ericka stands on a dimly lit stage at Recovery Unplugged. About 30 millennials who are fighting drug and...
Recovery Unplugged Attends NIH and Kennedy Center “Sound Health” Event
This past weekend, the National Institutes of Health and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts joined forces to present a first-of-its-kind exploration of the relationship between music and positive overal...
Is Jeff Sessions’ New War on Drugs Threatening Addiction Treatment?
There have been numerous recent political developments that both directly and indirectly affect those struggling with drug addiction. For one thing, the House of Representatives made a successful last-ditch eff...
Opioid Addiction Prevention Funding Quadruples in National Budget
If you’re like many busy Americans, you probably haven’t had the time to comb through the many intricacies and fine points of the latest national budget to notice that it has dramatically increased funding ...
Make It Count: What Happens after Narcan Deployment?
Narcan saves lives and that’s really all there is too it…or is it? It’s true that the widely used anti-overdose drug has saved thousands of lives since its introduction into the opioid and heroin treatmen...
Will Fentanyl Dealers Start Seeing More Accountability for Overdose Deaths?
A Rhode Island woman was recently sentenced to 20 years in prison for second-degree murder after she sold another woman fentanyl causing her to overdose almost immediately after the transaction. The woman who d...
Northern Kentucky Officials Taking Addiction Prevention into their Own Hands
Every so often, we’re reminded of the power of communities to mobilize and improve conditions for their citizens and outlying neighborhoods. Whether it’s an issue with drug trafficking, relations with law e...
Is It Time To Adopt A State-by-State Approach to Addiction Treatment?
Yesterday it was announced that the American Addiction Treatment Association launched new industry regulations for addiction care facilities in the state of Michigan. Michigan is the ninth state in which AATA m...
What Does the Republican Obamacare Alternative Mean for Addiction Treatment?
After weeks of promising a plan that would successfully replace the Affordable Care Act and bring quality health insurance options to every American, the republican-led legislature finally unveiled their vision...
Misinformation Plays Significant Role in Texas Drug Epidemic
It’s, frankly, little surprise that many healthcare organizations and state agencies would have a hard time keeping up with the glut of addiction-related fatalities consuming the United States. The reality is...
Aetna Loosens Restrictions on Addiction Treatment Coverage
And now a bit of good news for addicts and their families who are concerned about treatment access in this uncertain healthcare climate. Leading health insurance provider Aetna recently announced plans to remov...
What Impact Will China’s Fentanyl Ban Have?
In a move that could have a significant positive impact right here in the United States, China has announced plans to ban the sale and manufacture of four popular and powerful types of the synthetic opioid fent...
Venezuela VP Named as Drug Trafficker by Treasury
Venezuela and the United States have, for a long time, had a difficult and contentious relationship. Going back decades, even before the inflammatory back-and-forth between the Bush and Chavez Administrations, ...
Opioid Addiction: The New American Reality
Officials in Louisville. Kentucky recently reported a significant spike in opioid-related drug overdoses, citing 52 incidents in a 32-hour period, a considerable increase from the average of 22 per day that Lou...
Kroger to Sell Narcan at Pharmacies in 105 East Texas Locations
With the state of Texas battling a fierce and pervasive heroin and opioid problem, lawmakers, police, recovery advocates and ordinary residents alike are banding together to come up with more and more solutions...
UT Austin-Led Coalition Seeks Better Pharmaceutical Treatment for Alcoholism
Are there better clinical ways to treat alcohol addiction? The National Institutes of Health seem to think so and they’re giving nearly $30 million to an organization led by the University of Texas at Austin...
Are Regulatory Roadblocks Impeding Quality Addiction Treatment?
Let’s start with some statistics. The National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that there were over 54,000 overdose deaths in 2015, easily eclipsing the record-setting number of roughly 47,000 the prior year....
Addiction Treatment Figures Prominently in Heated HHS Confirmation Hearings
Yesterday Georgia Congressman Tom Price faced questions from his democrat counterparts in his bid to ascend to the post of Secretary of Health and Human Services. Aside from some looming questions regarding eth...
The Voice of Experience: Recovering Addict Warns of Escalating Meth Problem in Texas
Earlier this week, authorities in East Texas seized guns and drugs from two locations in the latest battle in the war to curb trafficking, distribution and subsequent addiction within the region. The raid drew ...
Retired Football Player’s Story Highlights Painkiller Abuse in Sports
The widespread culture of prescription opioid abuse in the NFL has been well documented. In a recent example, more than 1,500 players have joined a lawsuit alleging their lives were irreparably harmed due to th...
Senator Paul Strauss meets with Recovery Unplugged to discuss drug rehab innovations
On Wednesday, October 8, 2014 Mr.Paul Pellinger got invited by Sen. Paul Strauss of the district of Columbia and Mr. Dalen Harris associate director to the office of inter governmental public liaison to discuss...
The Escalating Impact of Fentanyl
It’s a drug that many believe will be the dominant substance abuse threat of 2017. It has already contributed to a prodigious rise in the already staggering rates of heroin and opioid overdose in the United S...
What Does 2017 Hold for Addiction Treatment?
As we begin to settle into another year, it can be overwhelming to contemplate how quickly time passes, and to think about what we failed to accomplish the year prior. The passage of time can be even more overw...
The Current State of Florida’s Struggle with Alcoholism
Though national attention has understandably shifted toward opioid and heroin addiction, a problem that continues to take thousands of lives each year, alcohol abuse and addiction remain one of the most dominan...
Benzos: The Lesser-Discussed Prescription Addiction Threat
As more and more Americans either die or transition to heroin as a result of opioid addiction, an increasing amount of attention and institutional resources are being directed toward prevention and treatment. T...
The Long-Term Impact of Florida’s Pill Mills
A few years ago, it seemed like Floridians couldn’t look in any direction without spotting a pill mill. These fly-by-night “pain management clinics” where addicts could get pills from doctors looking to c...
In Observance of World AIDS Day
Last year 18, 303 Americans were diagnosed with the AIDS virus infection, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The agency also reports that there were 12,333 deaths (due to any cau...
US Prisons Using Vivitrol to Curb Post-Release Opioid Addiction among Inmates
Addiction and incarceration have been closely linked for decades. One of the primary critics of this country’s current drug laws is that they disproportionately punish non-violent offenders, needlessly crowdi...
State Medicaid Funding Changes to Encourage Addiction Counseling
Those who are in need of more intensive counseling as part of their drug or alcohol treatment program may soon get their wish. Maryland is just one state whose Medicaid program is being altered to encourage mor...
Population of Addicted Homeless Rises Dramatically in Austin
If you live in the Austin area, and have noticed a dramatic increase in the region’s homeless population, you’re not imagining things. A recent survey conducted by Ending Community Homelessness Coalition (E...
Supervised Injection Sites: Compassion or Complacency?
A recent study conducted by NYU regarding the use of heroin in New York City’s public bathrooms is further reinforcing calls for a new, and arguably radical anti-overdose tool: supervised injection centers. A...
Holding Them Accountable: Find Out Where Your Candidates Stand on Addiction Treatment
As coverage of the 2016 presidential election dominates virtually every media outlet in the country, far less attention is being paid to the down-ballot races that will be decided on the same day. We’ve only ...
Insurance Giant Ends Pre-Authorization Requirement for Buprenorphine
The battle against nationwide drug addiction and overdose may have just gained a powerful new ally. Connecticut-based insurance provider Cigna Corp. is ending the requirement that patients clear difficult admin...
A Lesser-Discussed Threat: Synthetic Drugs and Their Impact
By now we’re all aware of the widespread devastation caused by heroin and prescription opioids. If we haven’t experienced it in our own personal lives, we’ve heard second-hand accounts of people whose liv...
Recovery Unplugged Talks with Premier Guitar Magazine
In an article that illustrates the healing power of music in multiple mental health issues, Premier Guitar Magazine recently spoke with Recovery Unplugged co-founder and CEO Paul Pellinger. Paul had a chance to...
Recovery RockFest 2016 Invades Wilmington
This past Saturday, hundreds in the recovery community gathered at Wilmington, North Carolina’s Hugh McRae Park to hear great music and exchange support during the 2016 Recovery RockFest. The event was hosted...
Heartbreaking Overdose Video Further Humanizes Opiate Addiction Epidemic
Less than two weeks ago, photos of an Ohio couple in the throes of a heroin overdose went viral, putting an unavoidably human face on the American opioid and heroin epidemic. The photo showed the couple unconsc...
Dr. David Kramer Releases White Paper on The Effects of Music in Treatment
In an effort to further illustrate the profound healing powers of music and the modernity and innovation of the Recovery Unplugged treatment model, our very own resident psychiatrist, Dr. David Kramer, has rele...
How Much Will the First Presidential Debate Focus on Addiction?
On Monday, an estimated 150 million viewers (approximately half the country) will tune in to see the first debate of what can safely be described as one of the most unusual presidential elections in American hi...
What Election Day Means for Recreational Marijuana Use
There is a political sea change coming any way you slice it. In what can be charitably described as one of the most unorthodox presidential campaigns in American history, a variety of policy issues stand to und...
Recovery Unplugged Medical Director Featured in TMA Article
Earlier this month, Recovery Unplugged Texas’ very own Dr. Carlos Tirado weighed on the availability and accessibility of naloxone (Narcan) in an article published by the Texas Medical Association. The piece ...
Recovery Unplugged Celebrates National Recovery Month
A day after recognizing International Awareness Day, Recovery Unplugged is now fittingly observer another important event within the recovery community. This September marks the 27th annual National Recovery...
Recovery Unplugged Observes International Overdose Awareness Day
On this day, August 31, 2016, Recovery Unplugged would like to recognize the countless victims of drug overdose as well as their loved ones by observing International Overdose Awareness Day. We invite all to pa...
Kentucky Hospital Uses Music Therapy to Wean Babies Off of Opiate Addiction
The power of music to heal addiction is being taken a step further at a hospital in Louisville, Kentucky. Physicians at Cosair Children’s Hospital are using music therapy to treat newborns suffering from neon...
Heroin Laced with Elephant Sedatives Invading Cities in the United States
There’s no longer any need to engage in hyperbole regarding the United States heroin epidemic. No alarmist rhetoric can match the sickening and urgent realities of the situation. In what has become the most d...
Stanford Bans (Some) Alcohol at On-Campus Parties
Shortly after a high-profile sexual assault on its campus, in which convicted offender and former university swimmer Brock Turner was given what many are calling a “slap on the wrist,” Stanford University h...
Opioid Addiction Highlighted at First Night of 2016 DNC
Although the world is likely to remember the first night of the 2016 Democratic National Convention for the speeches made by Michelle Obama and Bernie Sanders, there was one speaker that resonated heavily with ...
RU Co-Founder Paul Pellinger Appears on New York’s Thunder 102 Radio
Ahead of his recent presentation at a Rural Health Network opioid addiction event in Sullivan County, Recovery Unplugged co-founder and chief strategy officer Paul Pellinger took to Liberty, NY’s Thunder 102 ...
Senate to Vote on Landmark Opioid Prevention Package
This is a potential game-changer in the way the United States will fight the spread of opioid addiction going forward. The Senate is set to vote on a package of measures aimed at, among other things, increasing...
Nearly $1 Billion in Medicare Fraud Sheds Light on Addiction among Senior Citizens
Things seem to just keep getting worse for the medical community, and arguably the patients for whom it cares. Last week a study revealed that a free meal paid for by pharmaceutical companies can sway many doct...
Remembering Our Addicted Veterans on Memorial Day
As we endeavor to observe another Memorial Day this weekend, Recovery Unplugged feels it appropriate and necessary to observe the widespread addiction and mental health issues plaguing our servicemen and women....
Recovery Unplugged Partners with Broward County Bar Association in New “Drink Responsibly” Campaign
Recovery Unplugged is proud and delighted to announce our new partnership with Broward County Bar Association in promoting safe and responsible alcohol consumption. The Drink Responsibly Campaign is a collabora...
Inhalants: Not a Drug of the Past
It seems like a long time ago that our news broadcasts were filled with stories of teens getting in trouble for ‘huffing’ permanent markers and spray paint. Unfortunately, while these stories may not inunda...
Fentanyl Rapidly Becoming Nation’s Most Urgent Drug Threat
It’s a drug that many believe will be the dominant substance abuse threat of 2017. It has already contributed to a prodigious rise in the already staggering rates of opioid overdose in the United States. It...
Substance Abuse Study by Surgeon General
Big Shout out to the Dr Vivek Murthy the U.S. Surgeon General for planning to release the first-ever “substance use, addiction and health” report next year. He revealed strategies for this at this past wee...
Candidates in New Hampshire Grilled About Addiction
As we have stated again and again the heroin epidemic is worse than ever. Bringing this conversation to the forefront right now is the state of New Hampshire. With politics buzzing around the state as it is t...
Too Little, Too Late For Drug Offenders?
“These men and women were not hardened criminals,” Obama said in his Facebook Video “but the overwhelming majority had been sentenced to at least 20 years—14 of them had been sentenced to life—for non...
CDC Releases Frightening Numbers about Heroin
Most of us have lost someone close to us through addiction. Our passion (just like most drug rehab centers) to help others fuels our fire to help those afflicted with addiction. That is why we are so afraid ...
Suboxone – Is it Obsolete?
Last week Recovery Unplugged spoke about Vivitrol and how it is helping many people in their recovery from substances. In the not so distant past there was a medication that promised the very same thing: Suboxo...
The Drug Czar and Forward Thinking
“Locking people up for minor drug offenses, and especially people with substance-use disorders, is not the answer,” Mr. Botticelli said. “It’s cruel. It’s costly. And it doesn’t make the public any ...
What is Flakka?
If you are here in South Florida all anyone is talking about is the new street drug that is sweeping the streets of South Florida called Falkka. Flakka’s technical name is- Alpha Pyrrolidinopentiophene (A-PV...
Recovery Unplugged – Raising The Bar
On Friday, April 17 the Family Law Section of BCBA held another sold-out full day seminar & reception event called Raising the Bar. Recovery Unplugged Treatment Center is a full year sponsor of the Broward Coun...
Face The Music Day
We at Recovery Unplugged have something to celebrate today. As you know, we are all excited about sponsoring the Face the Music Family Day but March 8 isn't just about the Family Day anymore. According to W...
Face The Music Family Festival
We are sponsoring an amazing event put together by The Face the Music Foundation. The Family Festival event will be filled with live music, art projects, and family fun to raise awareness for substance abuse. A...
Recovery Unplugged’s NCAD 15 Plenary Speaker
It was announced yesterday that Richie Supa, Recovery Unplugged Treatment Center’s (a Florida drug rehab) Director of Creative Recovery, will be the Opening Plenary Speaker for the 2015 National Conference ...
Recovery Unplugged Attends White House Substance Abuse Forum
Scarlet Gleeson, Director of Business Development at Recovery Unplugged, attended a meeting at the White House on January 21, 2015, hosted by the ONDCP (Office of the National Drug Control Policy) and SAMHSA (S...
Pellinger testifies in high profile case involving alcoholism
For those of us struggling with the disease of addiction it is painfully obvious that the disease does not discriminate, affecting people of all races, ages, social and economic statuses, etc. There is sometime...
Molly: Not the girl next door
Molly. It sounds extremely harmless and reminiscent of a childhood friend or the girl next door. Unfortunately this couldn’t be further from the truth as “Molly” is sweeping through college campuses aroun...