Matt Bivens

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Full-time ER doctor and former Russia-based foreign correspondent, newspaper editor and Chechnya war correspondent. Reluctant student of nuclear weapons.

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Opinion

The Villainous Marketing of Purdue Pharma

Matt Bivens / Truthdig Jan 9, 2026 The former opioid empire’s bankruptcy deal is delivering up 43 million documents that shed light on the company’s cold-blooded strategy to addict as many Americans as possible. Dig deeper ( 10 Min. Read )

Opinion

Washington Can Still End the War in Ukraine

Matt Bivens / Truthdig Oct 7, 2025 But doing so would involve recognizing we helped create and sustain this tragedy. Dig deeper ( 13 Min. Read )

Opinion

‘No Family More Evil’ Fights On

Matt Bivens / Truthdig Nov 27, 2024 Some members of the notorious Sackler family have returned to blaming doctors for the opioid crisis. Are they even wrong? Dig deeper ( 6 Min. Read )

Opinion

1,001 Days of War

Matt Bivens / Truthdig Nov 21, 2024 Ukraine could never "win." But Washington wanted to play. So, we vetoed peace deals, killed hundreds of thousands, wasted untold billions and risked a world-ending nuclear war that is closer than ever. Dig deeper ( 12 Min. Read )

Opinion

How Opioids Corrupted Organized Medicine

Matt Bivens / Truthdig Sep 7, 2024 The opioid epidemic would not have been possible without the cooperation of the House of Medicine, from journals to the AMA. Dig deeper ( 15 Min. Read )

TD Original

After 75 Years, What Is NATO Good for?

Matt Bivens / Truthdig Jul 9, 2024 A new book argues the Washington-led alliance is an obstruction to peace, not its guarantor. Dig deeper ( 6 Min. Read )

Wounds of War

U.S. Cluster Bombs Kill Russian Children at Beach

Matt Bivens / Truthdig Jun 26, 2024 The bombing severely escalates tensions for the U.S. in Russia, but it barely makes the news here at home. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Health & Wellness

How Dishonest Marketing Enabled the Opioid Crisis

Matt Bivens / Truthdig Jun 20, 2024 With five sentences, two researchers gamed the medical journals and confused a generation of doctors about the addiction potential of opioids. Dig deeper ( 11 Min. Read )

Health & Wellness

Big Pharma, Unmasked

Matt Bivens / Truthdig May 9, 2024 The University of California’s Opioid Industry Documents Archive opens new windows onto the institutional sociopathy behind the opioid crisis. Dig deeper ( 11 Min. Read )

Health & Wellness

The Truth Behind Pfizer’s Paxlovid™

Matt Bivens / Truthdig Apr 8, 2024 Our government spent billions of dollars on the drug based on Pfizer's say-so. But it was never clear that Paxlovid did anything useful at all. Dig deeper ( 7 Min. Read )

Military

Russian Roulette in Ukraine

Matt Bivens / Truthdig Mar 22, 2024 NATO and Russia are passing a revolver back and forth in a game where luck eventually runs out. Dig deeper ( 18 Min. Read )

Military

What Surgical Errors Teach Us About Nuclear Policy

Matt Bivens / Truthdig Jan 19, 2024 In the persistence of disastrous medical mistakes, an ER doctor sees a dire warning about human fallibility. Dig deeper ( 7 Min. Read )

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