Breaking the cycle of drug and alcohol addiction is a challenge made even tougher once the criminal justice system gets involved. A new program is helping those recovering find refuge in their own homes.
Addiction
New guidelines announced Tuesday mean doctors and other health workers will no longer need extra hours of training to prescribe buprenorphine, a gold standard medicine that helps with cravings.
Purdue Pharma will plead guilty to three federal criminal charges as part of a settlement of more than $8 billion, Justice Department officials told The Associated Press.
The impact of the coronavirus is being felt in nearly every aspect of daily life, but it’s not the only health crisis people are facing. “Addiction can kill you as well,” said Aaron Weiner, a local addiction services director.
State promises budget boost for programs
Before the COVID-19 outbreak, gambling in Illinois was spreading like wildfire, with more places to make a bet than Nevada. But is the state upholding its promise to provide addiction services at the same pace it expands gambling?
Chicago could become the largest city in the nation to decriminalize natural psychedelics like mushrooms and peyote.
Taking a break from alcohol after the holidays has become known as the “dry January” trend. But now that January is over, some people are extending their sobriety, trying out a social life that’s not dependent on alcohol.
As part of federal efforts to combat the opioid epidemic, the National Health Service Corps has awarded $80 million in student loan repayments to clinicians working to treat addiction, including 41 in Illinois.
As health officials deal with a mysterious vaping illness, they’re urging people to stop using e-cigarette products. We get advice and tips for quitting from a University of Chicago psychology professor who says “the main thing is you get started.”
Do you have old prescription medicines in your cabinet? Don’t flush them down the toilet or throw them in the trash. Instead, dispose of them Saturday, no questions asked, at DEA-sponsored sites.
The Illinois Attorney General’s Office is seeking to add Irish pharmaceutical company Mallinckrodt to its lawsuit against opioid manufacturers and distributors for their role in the nation’s opioid epidemic.
Illinois residents open up about their experiences with addiction and recovery in a new statewide video campaign that seeks to connect people who use drugs with services.
He was a fast-rising Republican politician whose career came crashing to a halt last year. Now sober, Aaron Lawlor says he has given up politics but regained his life – and he’s eager to tell his story.
Opioid manufacturers carried out unfair and deceptive marketing campaigns while distributors flooded Illinois with opioids, according to a lawsuit filed this week by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul.
A newly launched website seeks to convey the seriousness of the opioid epidemic locally while providing resources and honoring those who have died, says Dr. Kiran Joshi of the Cook County Department of Public Health.
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said the goal is to make it easier to share a patient’s drug treatment history with doctors treating that person for other problems.
