We have the tools we need to create a world where addiction is just one aspect of people’s lives instead of a dark portal to despair and early death.
Black patients with opioid use disorder were far less likely to fill prescriptions for the most effective addiction treatments than white patients. But strikingly few patients of all races got the medicine.
The Biden administration is asking states to use Medicaid funds to cover opioid addiction treatment in correctional facilities, where many people suffer intense cravings and withdrawal.
The federal government loosened regulations for buprenorphine, but health experts warn that entrenched problems around training and access could stall efforts to get people the medication.