Treating addiction

Brittney Melton, NPR  - Many of us have someone in our lives who struggles with a substance use disorder. One study found nearly one-third of Americans know someone who died from a fatal overdose.
But studies also show that many doctors, nurses and other clinicians actively avoid treating this vulnerable group of patients.

It’s not that they don’t have tools. There are low-cost, life-saving prescription medications, proven for decades to reduce cravings for alcohol and opioids in ways that save lives. Most American medical professionals simply don’t offer these treatments to their patients. 

Instead, research shows, many clinicians view people experiencing addiction with fear, distrust and hostility. … This kind of stigma among health workers remains widespread, and it affects decisions about how and when physicians care for patients.

…. Nearly a decade after President Trump declared opioids a national public health emergency, most U.S. medical schools still don’t teach addiction care as a core, normalized part of the profession.

New federal data released just last month shows that in 2025 — as Trump was extending the national opioid public health emergency — 80% of Americans facing addiction still received no treatment at all for their substance use.

I think about this a lot when I talk to people on the street experiencing severe addiction and when I interview family members grieving loved ones lost to alcohol and drugs.

What would their path have been like if the first doctor or nurse they encountered early in their illness said, “What you’re experiencing is treatable, we have good medications, and we can help.”