Addiction News Weekly by Rehab.com

A veterinary sedative called medetomidine is now turning up across the fentanyl supply in multiple U.S. cities, causing sedation and withdrawal that standard opioid medications are not equipped to treat. Rehab.com Medical Officer Dr. Sylvie Stacy breaks down the clinical picture, alongside new findings on gabapentin misuse in treatment settings and a global snapshot of where opioid treatment is, a...

New research shows alcohol-linked cancer deaths more than doubled between 1990 and 2023, affecting cancer types that most people never connect to drinking. Dr. Sylvie Stacy joins this week to explain what a large opioid treatment study reveals about methadone, buprenorphine-naloxone, and what happens when people leave treatment too soon. Sources: https://www.onclive.com/view/alcohol-linked-cancer-...

A new study in JAMA Network Open found that more than a quarter of patients stopped individual therapy after three sessions or fewer, a gap that mirrors early dropout patterns in addiction treatment. For National Recovery Month, Rehab.com Medical Officer Dr. Sylvie Stacy examines peer support specialists and what the evidence says about whether they help people stay. Source: ⁠⁠⁠ https://www.samhsa...

Three major legal and regulatory actions in one week: Meta agreed to pay up to $17 billion over teen social media harms, ten California treatment providers filed suit alleging Cigna paid only 16 cents on the dollar for addiction care, and the DEA moved three synthetic kratom compounds into Schedule I after dozens of overdose deaths. Dr. Sylvie Stacy, Rehab.com's Medical Officer and an addictio...

An NPR investigation found that most U.S. clinicians actively avoid prescribing FDA-approved addiction medications, a large randomized opioid tapering trial is being widely misread, and University of Pennsylvania researchers have built the first heart disease risk calculator designed for people who use cocaine or methamphetamine. Rehab.com Chief Medical Officer Dr. Sylvie Stacy explains why the ta...

A proposed federal rule would make cigarettes far less capable of creating addiction, a 9th Circuit ruling let more than 3,000 social media lawsuits move forward, and a new SAMHSA report details how physical illness routinely goes unrecognized inside existing addiction care. Rehab.com Chief Medical Officer Dr. Sylvie Stacy explains why nicotine dependence keeps getting left off the treatment plan,...

A JAMA review published August 4, 2026 documents that US deaths from alcohol-related liver disease nearly doubled between 1999 and 2022, a figure that complicates recent survey data showing declining alcohol use disorder rates. Rehab.com Chief Medical Officer Dr. Sylvie Stacy explains what the VA's new semaglutide trial actually represents, why three FDA-approved medications for alcohol use di...

SAMHSA's 2025 National Survey on Drug Use and Health finds that 21.4 million Americans used cannabis daily or near-daily last year, now surpassing the number who drink at the same frequency. Rehab.com Chief Medical Officer Dr. Sylvie Stacy explains what the absence of FDA-approved medications for cannabis use disorder means for people seeking care, and what the encouraging trends in youth data...

New workplace drug testing data puts close to one in five tested workers positive for drug use in 2025, a University of Pennsylvania study tracks how a first opioid prescription reshapes military careers, and a fast-moving cannabis policy debate is leaving employers without clear guidance on how to act. Rehab.com Chief Medical Officer Dr. Sylvie Stacy explains how opioid-related cognitive changes...

In this episode of Addiction News Weekly by Rehab.com, we look at new federal data showing fentanyl overdose deaths fell 22% between 2024 and 2025, new research that reframes what actually drives relapse, and an AI tool already cutting drug test turnaround times in clinical addiction programs. We break down what the numbers mean for people seeking treatment today, then hear from Rehab.com medical...

In this episode of Addiction News Weekly by Rehab.com, we cover three new developments in the fentanyl crisis. A UCLA-led study puts the first hard numbers on how much illicit fentanyl regular users are actually consuming each day, and the figures go well beyond what addiction treatment protocols were designed to handle. New nationally representative survey data shows that most eighth graders do n...

In this episode of Addiction News Weekly by Rehab.com, three new opioid studies land in the same week: the largest review of opioids for acute pain finds they work less than expected, brain scans reveal memory-related changes in people with opioid use disorder, and a major cohort study shows why serious mental illness makes staying in treatment harder. Rehab.com Medical Officer Dr. Sylvie Stacy br...

This week: a clinical trial in Nature Medicine finds an NIH-funded AI screening tool cut 30-day hospital readmissions for people with opioid use disorder by 47%, with an estimated $108,000 in savings over eight months at a single Wisconsin hospital. A new $3.5 million NIDA grant to WashU Medicine will study how prenatal opioid exposure shapes long-term brain development in mouse models, comparing...

This week: the CDC flags prescription stimulant misuse among college students as an overdose risk, not just an academic shortcut, as counterfeit pills increasingly carry lethal doses of fentanyl. A UC San Diego study of more than 175,000 California students finds teens rank cannabis as the least worrying substance they use, even as high-potency products flood the market and risk perception keeps d...

This week: SAMHSA announces $40 million in new behavioral health grants, but the money arrives as the agency faces its own staffing and budget questions. A University of Cincinnati study finds that training doctors to treat addiction inside primary care clinics builds confidence and could help close a treatment gap that leaves three out of four people with a substance use disorder without care. Dr...

In this episode of Addiction News Weekly by Rehab.com, we cover two major studies, both drawn from veteran health records, that are reshaping how we think about addiction treatment and long-term risk. First: could GLP-1 medications like semaglutide reduce the risk of developing a substance use disorder? Then: new research links opioid use disorder to a 56 percent higher risk of dementia, and what...

In this episode of Addiction News Weekly by Rehab.com, we look at new research suggesting a synthetic opioid may provide pain relief with a lower risk of addiction. But what does “less addictive” actually mean? We break down the study and what it shows, then hear from Rehab.com medical officer Dr. Sylvie Stacy on how these findings translate to real-world care, what people often misunderstand, and...

In this episode of Addiction News Weekly by Rehab.com, we break down the latest data showing a decline in U.S. overdose deaths, along with new concerns about an increasingly unpredictable drug supply. We also look at rising kratom-related poisonings and what’s driving the debate around regulation and safety. Sources: https://www.ama-assn.org/health-care-advocacy/advocacy-update/april-10-2026-natio...