| (BERNARD J. WOLFSON / KFF HEALTH NEWS) |
By Bernard J. Wolfson
The atmosphere inside the Allen House is easygoing as residents circulate freely through the hallways, meet in group sessions, or gather on a large outdoor patio that features a dirt volleyball court with an oversize net.
The 60-bed safety-net residential treatment center in Santa Fe Springs, run by Los Angeles Centers for Alcohol and Drug Abuse, has a dedicated detox room, on-site physicians and nurses, substance abuse counselors, licensed therapists, and other practitioners. It offers group counseling as well as individual and family therapy, and it endorses the use of medications for addiction treatment, such as buprenorphine and naltrexone, which are increasingly considered the gold standard.
Willard Sexton, a staff member and former Allen House patient, says the most important part of his job is speaking with each resident daily. Most of them, like him, came to treatment straight from jail or prison, and he knows as well as anybody how stressful it is to stop using.
"It's similar to grief and loss," says Sexton, 35. "The drug was their best friend for a long time." Interacting with them, he says, helps him in his own ongoing recovery.
At a time when drug use is among the nation's gravest public health crises, a visit to the Allen House offers key lessons: Addiction is a chronic illness requiring constant vigilance, there's no one-and-done solution, and relapses are part of the journey to recovery. Peer mentoring is an invaluable element of drug counseling, since people who have plodded the difficult path from dependence to sobriety understand the mindset of patients on a visceral level.
And most importantly for those who feel despair in the grip of addiction, there is hope. Read more here.
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Opioid Crisis
Opioid Settlement Payouts to Localities Made Public for First Time
By Aneri Pattani
KFF Health News obtained documents showing the exact dollar amounts — down to the cent — that local governments have been allocated in 2022 and 2023 to battle the ongoing opioid crisis.
Find Out How Much Opioid Settlement Cash Your Locality Received
By Aneri Pattani
You can use documents obtained by KFF Health News to see the exact dollar amounts that local governments in your state have been allocated in 2022 and 2023.
What You Need to Know About the Opioid Settlement Funds
By Aneri Pattani and Hannah Norman and Oona Tempest
States and localities are receiving more than $54 billion over nearly two decades.
Localize This: Public Reporting of Opioid Settlement Cash
By Aneri Pattani
KFF Health News' recent investigation offers a great opportunity for reporters to investigate an important issue of government accountability from a state or local angle.
California Confronts the Threat of 'Tranq' as Overdose Crisis Rages
By Brian Rinker
California officials are stepping up efforts to combat the spread of xylazine, a powerful animal sedative that's increasingly being used by people, often with devastating results. It's mostly been an East Coast phenomenon, but 'tranq,' as it is known, is beginning to appear in the Golden State.
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Drug Prices
Drugmakers Are Abandoning Cheap Generics, and Now US Cancer Patients Can't Get Meds
By Arthur Allen
A quality-control crisis at an Indian pharmaceutical factory has left doctors and their patients with impossible choices as cheap, effective, generic cancer drugs go out of stock.
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Prescribing Rules
The DEA Relaxed Online Prescribing Rules During Covid. Now It Wants to Rein Them In.
By Arielle Zionts
Supporters say the proposed rules would balance the goals of increasing access to health care and helping prevent medication misuse. Opponents say the rules would make it difficult for some patients — especially those in rural areas — to get care.
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Anti-Vax Movement
Tech Luminaries Give RFK Jr.'s Anti-Vaccine Message a Boost
By Darius Tahir
The views of the leader of a broad anti-vaccine movement who is now running for president are unchallenged in public forums run by several prominent Silicon Valley figures.
How the Mixed Messaging of Vaccine Skeptics Sows Seeds of Doubt
By Darius Tahir
Some GOP members of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic have two-stepped around vaccine skepticism, proclaiming themselves to be pro-vaccine while also validating the beliefs of people who oppose vaccine mandates. The result could have serious public health consequences.
Doctor Lands in the Doghouse After Giving Covid Vaccine Waivers Too Freely
By Brett Kelman
Richard Coble issued vaccine waivers to patients in at least three states without examining them. He was exposed by a Nashville TV station that bought a waiver for a Labrador retriever named Charlie.
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Vaping
E-Cigs Are Still Flooding the US, Addicting Teens With Higher Nicotine Doses
By Liz Szabo
The FDA, Justice Department, and White House have failed to act as vapes with kid-friendly flavors like cotton candy or gummy bears proliferate.
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Technology
What One Hospital's Slow Recovery From a Cyberattack Means for Patients
By Farah Yousry, Side Effects Public Media
U.S. hospitals have seen a record number of cyberattacks over the past few years. Getting hacked can cost a hospital millions of dollars, expose patient data, and even jeopardize patient care.
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