Addiction Disorders | Penn Today

A medical professional consulting a patient.

Helping hospitalized patients address addiction with empathy

Certified recovery specialist Eric Ezzi brings compassionate care to for patients dealing with substance use, a role that is part Penn Medicine’s efforts to address the urgent drug addiction crisis.

A patient being wheeled in the hospital flanked by two medical professionals.

New Penn Medicine Nudge Unit pilots show simple questions can improve care

Experts at the Penn Medicine Center for Addiction Medicine and Policy have seen success in treatment after posing one question: “Why not treat alcohol use the same way we’ve been treating opioid use?”

Penn study finds ‘dramatic rise’ in patients with opioid addiction who leave hospitals early, against medical advice

Ashish Thakrar of the Perelman School of Medicine comments on his research into the increase in early discharge rates that is co-occurring with the rapid spread of fentanyl in street drug supplies in Philadelphia and across the country.

How family history influences your drinking

Henry Kranzler of the Perelman School of Medicine says that complete abstinence is an extreme solution for alcohol use disorder but is the one that works the best.

A person leaving the hospital at the end of a long corridor.

One in six patients with opioid use disorder leaving the hospital before completing treatment

A new Penn Medicine analysis shows that discharges too early for patients with opioid use disorder increased over 50% between 2016 and 2020.

Election offices are sent envelopes with fentanyl or other substances. Authorities are investigating

Jeanmarie Perrone of the Perelman School of Medicine says that studies simulating exposure from opening envelopes containing powders showed that very little, if any, of the powder becomes aerosolized to cause toxicity through inhalation.

The most exciting health breakthroughs of 2023

Bonnie Milas of the Perelman School of Medicine discusses the dangers of fentanyl and recommends keeping Narcan in household medicine chests.

Camden County launches virtual reality training program to teach people how to use Narcan for drug overdoses

The School of Nursing and the Annenberg School for Communication have partnered with New Jersey’s Camden County to create a virtual reality training video for administering the opioid-reversing drug Narcan.

NJ’s Camden County deploying virtual reality to teach students about naloxone

Penn partnered with New Jersey’s Camden County to create a virtual reality training video for administering the opioid-reversing drug Narcan.

Fentanyl plus stimulants drives ‘fourth wave’ of overdose epidemic in the U.S.

Anna Childress of the Perelman School of Medicine says that fentanyl was ripe for combination with other drugs when it first appeared, given the long trend of combining opioids and stimulants.

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