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Some argue a need for more potent — and pricier — overdose reversal drugs; others frame that effort as drugmakers peddling fear. The wrong choice could cost lives.
Michigan must give its first responders additional tools to combat opioid overdoses amid the rise in fentanyl. That includes a longer-acting alternative to Narcan.
Michigan nurse Jordana Latozas began her career writing prescriptions for pain pills in “a different world.” Fourteen years later, she said, she’s trying to right the wrong that those pills caused.
Less than a quarter of the money Michigan’s state government has received to fight the opioid crisis has been spent, more than a year after the funds began flowing into state coffers.
Harm reduction is more than needle exchanges. At Grand Rapids-based Red Project, users can ask to have their drugs checked for additives, allowing the user to decide whether to discard or use them.
Michigan governments sharing in a $1.5 billion opioid crisis settlement must invest in housing, peer recovery staff and harm reduction programs like syringe exchanges, according to a new report.
Michigan is receiving $1.5 billion from an opioid settlement. Up North, experts worry that housing and worker shortages will make it hard to put the money to good use and help users.
Clinics that treat drug addiction say they’re confused about how to access money flowing into the state from a lawsuit settlement with opioid manufacturers and distributors.
The latest Lunch Break event featured expert panelists discussing the state’s drug crisis and how Michigan governments are spending the $1.5 billion in opioid settlement funds
In emotional testimony, the head of a group advising lawmakers on the drug crisis says state officials are thwarting its efforts. Transparency concerns follow complaints local governments aren’t moving fast enough.
On Feb. 28, Bridge reporters and experts will discuss the drug crisis and how Michigan governments are spending the $1.5 billion coming the state’s way.
New data confirms law enforcement suspicions about a surge in meth and cocaine. Michigan has spent millions to treat opioids, but treatments don’t work the same for meth.
The county moved with urgency to direct opioid settlement funds to help addicts. But subsequent disagreement highlights a tension between law enforcement and treatment that will likely be repeated statewide.
Advocates slam ‘abysmal’ transparency surrounding opiods settlement in Michigan. Unlike many other states, Michigan set up few controls over how cities, counties spend their 50% share of the money.
Local officials say there are ‘sharks in the water,’ as companies pitching everything from $7,400 vending machines to $200,000 body scanners seek contracts from the opioid settlement money coming to Michigan.
Michigan is receiving about $1.5 billion over 18 years, with about $725 million going to cities and counties. Some will receive a larger share of opioid settlement, based on how hard they’ve been hit by the crisis.
A landmark lawsuit settlement will pour $1.5 billion into Michigan, almost half of it directly to communities. But local governments have been slow to spend the money, and transparency questions dog efforts to fight the drug scourge.
The state spent $148,000 on a racial equity group to offer advice on how to spend hundreds of millions of dollars in opioid settlement funds. But after issuing recommendations, the group said it was ‘silenced.’