The idea sounded fishy to Dr. Adriane Fugh-Berman. She was not about to put her name on a ghostwritten article for a medical journal. But she was curious, so she played along for a while. An associate professor at Georgetown University Medical Center, Fugh-Berman was contacted in 2004 by a medical communications firm working for drug maker AstraZeneca with a proposition: Would she like an author credit on a forthcoming article to be submitted to a journal?

Changing our attitudes toward addiction is crucial if we are to prevent opioid misuse and promote recovery of those who are addicted, according to U.S. Surgeon General Jerome M. Adams. In releasing a report, Facing Addiction in America: The Surgeon General's Spotlight on Opioids, Adams called for a cultural shift in the way Americans talk about the opioid crisis.

Massachusetts workers employed in construction and extraction have the highest rates of opioid overdose deaths, according to a CDC-funded study by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

Although the pharmaceutical industry contends that direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising is educational and motivating, a new analysis reported on in the Annals of Family Medicine finds that the educational value of those TV ads has decreased since 2007.

The nation’s largest professional psychological organization would like to see treatment emphasized over punishment when it comes to dealing with the opioid crisis. That view from the American Psychological Association (APA) contrasts with the plan this week unveiled by President Trump to address the opioid epidemic.

Data from emergency departments (EDs) show that the U.S. opioid overdose epidemic continues to worsen, according to the latest Vital Signs report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The opioid epidemic that is causing devastation in many communities in the U.S. may be being worsened by financial payments made by pharmaceutical companies to advocacy organizations that help people cope with chronic pain, according to a new report released by Missouri Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill. Fueling an Epidemic: Exposing the Financial Ties Between Opioid Manufacturers and Third Party Advocacy Groups exposes the cozy financial relationships between the pharmaceutical industry and groups that assist pain sufferers.

President Trump’s pick to head up the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is getting a nod of approval from the nation’s oldest public health organization – despite his ties to an industry implicated in the current opioid crisis.

Opioid prescribing has increased 471 percent from 1996 to 2012, according to a new Annals of Emergency Medicine study, “Emergency Department Contribution to the Prescription Opioid Epidemic.” But, emergency departments are not a major source of opioid prescriptions. In fact, their share of opioid prescribing is small and declining.

The amount of opioids prescribed in the United States peaked in 2010 and then decreased each year through 2015, but remains at high levels and varies from county to county in the U.S., according to the latest Vital Signs report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).