Addiction Disorders

Two hands wearing latex gloves wrapping a bandage on a wound.

The new U.S. plan to target xylazine-laced fentanyl

Researchers from Penn LDI, in conjunction with the Center for Health Economics of Treatment Interventions for Substance Use Disorder, analyze the plan and raise the question of whether it goes far enough.

‘I didn’t have it in my bag before’: Incoming Penn students say carrying Narcan is shaping their outlook on medicine

Penn Medicine welcomed a new class of 157 first-year medical students with a hands-on orientation for administering naloxone, a life-saving medication used to help reverse opioid overdoses.

Gruesome photos reveal horrors of ‘zombie’ drug fentanyl additive

A study by Jessica O’Neil and Steven Kovach of the Perelman School of Medicine reveals the dangerous impact of xylazine, a fentanyl additive, on the human body.

Prescribed stimulants for ADHD and the risk of addiction

Russell Ramsay of the Perelman School of Medicine writes about stimulants as a treatment for ADHD.

Could new weight-loss drugs like Ozempic treat addiction?

Heath Schmidt of the School of Nursing explains how addictive drugs such as cocaine and opioids are generally thought to “hijack” the brain’s natural reward pathways and why semaglutide is complicated in relation to addiction.

White House announces plan to cut ‘tranq dope’ in illicit drug supply

Jeanmarie Perrone of the Perelman School of Medicine says that to know if xylazine causes dependence and withdrawal syndrome would be a very important thing to solve.

Tranq increasingly found in opioid overdose deaths, two CDC reports show

Jeanmarie Perrone of the Perelman School of Medicine says that wounds from chronic xylazine use can occur regardless of whether the drug was snorted, smoked, or injected.

Person in scrubs wheeling gurney into a hospital

Auto-nudges increase emergency department treatment of opioid use disorder

A Penn Medicine study finds assessment for opioid withdrawal doubles when a triage screening question is paired with electronic health record automated prompts.

Minorities hit hardest by alcohol-related deaths during first years of COVID-19

Henry Kranzler of the Perelman School of Medicine says that stressors from the pandemic contributed to higher alcohol consumption, which can be followed by increased fatalities.

Dear future mayor: In the fight against opioids, be bold

In an opinion article, Margaret Lowenstein of the Perelman School of Medicine and Shoshana Aronowitz of the School of Nursing, both senior fellows at the Leonard Davis Institute, write about the need for bold action in the fight against opioids in Philadelphia.

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