Democrats and Republicans Just Worked Together (!) to Make Progress on the Opioid Epidemic
President Trump signs the INTERDICT Act/White House Looking for news you can trust?Subscribe to our free newsletters. On Wednesday evening, President Donald Trump signed bipartisan legislation that will appropriate funds to buy machines that identify packages containing fentanyl, an opioid up to 100 times more powerful than morphine that is driving the overdose epidemic. The…
As Diet-Related Illnesses Surge, a New Kind of Pharmacy Dispenses Fruit and Vegetables
Looking for news you can trust?Subscribe to our free newsletters. Thomas FuchsSix years ago, James Stancil, 62, a former long-haul trucker, decided to move from Iowa back to his hometown of San Francisco to live with his aging mother. There was just one problem: His enlarged heart, high blood pressure, and diabetes made his body so…
When Using Heroin With a Friend Gets You Charged With Murder
iStock/Getty Images Looking for news you can trust?Subscribe to our free newsletters. In early August 2013, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, police arrested Jarret McCasland, then 24, ostensibly for a minor traffic violation. But at the station, they began questioning him about the death of his girlfriend, Flavia Cardenas. “Why are you treating me like this?” he…
A Brief, Blood-Boiling History of the Opioid Epidemic
A Maryland cop counts pill capsules suspected to contain heroin.Lexey Swall/Grain Images Looking for news you can trust?Subscribe to our free newsletters. The scale of the overdose epidemic is hard to fathom. In 2016, overdoses claimed 64,000 lives—more than the US military casualties in Vietnam and Iraq combined. The origins of today’s crisis, a perfect…
A Hospital Charged $1,877 to Pierce a 5-Year-Old’s Ears. This Is Why Health Care Costs So Much.
knape/Getty Looking for news you can trust?Subscribe to our free newsletters. Two years ago, Margaret O’Neill brought her 5-year-old daughter to Children’s Hospital Colorado because the band of tissue that connected her tongue to the floor of her mouth was too tight. The condition, literally called being “tongue-tied,” made it hard for the girl to…
Kellyanne Conway Has Zero Experience In Drug Policy But Is Running the White House Opioid Response
Kellyanne Conway is spearheading the Trump Administration’s efforts to combat the opioid epidemic, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said at a press conference Wednesday. Conway will “coordinate and lead the effort from the White House,” according to Sessions. “I think her appointment represents a very significant commitment from the president and his White House team.” Conway has “zero background” on drug…