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 )

Feds to Let States Tap Opioid Funds for Meth, Cocaine Surge

RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR / The Associated Press Jan 21, 2020 Pressed by constituents and state officials, lawmakers of both parties agree to broaden the scope of a $1.5 billion grant program. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Victims Gain a Voice to Help Guide Purdue Pharma Bankruptcy

CARLA K. JOHNSON and GEOFF MULVIHILL / The Associated Press Oct 6, 2019 Four people touched by addiction are on a bankruptcy committee that will help decide Purdue's fine and potentially, how that money will be spent. Dig deeper ( 5 Min. Read )

Catalysts of Destruction

Alexis Camins / Truthdig May 18, 2019 In her new novel, Lauren B. Davis homes in on the dark corners of the fairy tale "The Snow Queen" and substitutes the original curse with the addiction to a magical drug that brings blind, blissful euphoria. Dig deeper ( 11 Min. Read )

The Raging Crisis Hitting Trump’s Base the Hardest

Raj Menon / TomDispatch Feb 3, 2019 The real national emergency in America has nothing to do with building a wall. Dig deeper ( 12 Min. Read )

Recollections From Behind Bars: A Woman’s Tale

By Jamie Farthing Jan 8, 2019 Writer Jamie Farthing recounts a memorable meeting with a fellow inmate in a New Jersey prison. Dig deeper ( 11 Min. Read )

Opioids No Better Than Over-the-Counter Pain Meds, Study Finds

LINDSEY TANNER / The Associated Press Mar 6, 2018 A yearlong study—released just as a jump in opioid overdoses is reported—offers rigorous new evidence against using the prescription drugs for chronic pain. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Pentagon Watchdog Calls Out Two Military Commands for Financial Malfeasance

Nick Turse / TomDispatch Feb 9, 2018 The U.S. Africa Command and Central Command squanders $500 million fighting a drug war in a scandal that catches the essence of what may be the true opioid crisis of 21st-century America. Dig deeper ( 11 Min. Read )

Mexico’s Drug War Is Bloodier and Bloodier

Staff / Truthdig Jul 25, 2017 Homicide records are being broken in the United States' southern neighbor, and American hands are far from clean. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Drug Overdose Deaths Surged in 2016, Preliminary Report Shows

Emma Niles / Truthdig Jun 7, 2017 Data compiled by The New York Times suggests 2016 saw the largest annual increase in drug overdose deaths ever recorded in the U.S. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

John Oliver on How Opioid Addiction Is Creating a Massive Public Health Crisis (Video)

Natasha Hakimi Zapata / Truthdig Oct 24, 2016 The "Last Week Tonight" host delves into the painful truths behind the painkiller dependence that is ruining—and taking—many American lives. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Writer Chris Arnade: The Heroin Users I Know Suffered Nightmarish Childhoods

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Feb 29, 2016 What do many adults who use heroin have in common? “Their childhoods were spent dealing with problems that would break most adults,” explains Chris Arnade at The Guardian. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )