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...
Tag: opioid addiction
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...
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...
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 ...
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 ...
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...
Lisa Marie Presley Discloses Battle with Opioid Addiction in Forward for New Book
Lisa Marie Presley is no stranger to opioid addiction, the only woman who can be simultaneously described as the Princess of Rock and Roll (by birth) and the Princess of Pop (by marriage to Michael Jackson), th...
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...
Lil Xan to Enter Rehab for Opioid Addiction
The death of hip-hop artist Mac Miller from fentanyl continues to send shockwaves through the music community and resonate heavily with some of his fellow artists; the most recent example of this comes as rapp...
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...
What Mac Miller’s Death Says about the Rise of Fentanyl Abuse
Recently, the LA County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner released the toxicology report that confirmed the cause of Mac Miller’s death as accidental overdose on a mixture of fentanyl, cocaine, and alcoh...
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 ...
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...
Common Signs of Opiate Addiction
Opiate addiction has been sweeping the nation in the past twenty years and has officially been declared a public health epidemic. The latest data from the National Health Interview Survey reported that in 2017 ...
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 ...
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...
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...
Is The Perception of Addiction Changing?
Most people would like to consider themselves as enlightened, progressive and deeply in tune with the inner workings of just about everything; but when push comes to shove, we all have our inherent biases, incl...
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...
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...
Dealing with Health Issues from Opioid Addiction
By the time opioid addiction takes of us or the people we love, there is a five-alarm urgency to get into treatment and immediately start reversing the course of this deadly and debilitating illness. All we can...
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...
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...
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...
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 ...
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. ...
Is Probuphine Treatment Right for Me?
In May of 2016, the Food and Drug Administration approved the first-ever six-month buprenorphine injectable implant in the hopes of helping patients successfully recover from long-term opioid dependency. Since ...
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 ...
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...
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...
Can Gene Variants Create More Targeted Opioid Addiction Treatment?
It is now generally accepted philosophy in the addiction treatment community that customized treatment plans that address each patient’s individual substance abuse history are crucial for success. A new study...
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...
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...
How Vivitrol Helps Families after Treatment
Those of us who have helped our loved ones manage addiction know how difficult it can be. Even after the best treatment and the most positive and encouraging signs of progress, the path can still be difficult. ...
An Important Message from Recovery Unplugged Medical Director Dr. David Kramer
I’ve treated thousands of patients over my 20-year career as a doctor on the front lines of substance abuse and psychiatric illness. Recently, however, I had a heartrending experience that I feel must be shar...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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 ...
The Relationship between Physicians and Big Pharma
The prescription painkiller and corresponding heroin epidemic is officially the worst substance abuse threat this country has ever seen. With thousands dying each year from prescription opioids like OxyContin, ...
What You Need to Know About Medication-Assisted Treatment
Over the past few decades, numerous medications have been introduced in the addiction and chemical dependency treatment landscapes. These powerful, and sometimes controversial drugs have been enormously effecti...
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...
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...