focus -WSS

focus

author：entertainment 2025-09-30 08:52:48 - browse：3

Methadone and buprenorphine, both FDA-approved drugs, are considered the gold standard for treating opioid use disorder. They are so effective, in fact, that they are considered nearly curative for people who use them as prescribed. But a multitude of social and physical barriers to access mean that only about 20% of people who could benefit from these medicines have access to them. Access is even harder for pregnant people, who face additional stigmas and challenges.

Arthur Robin Williams, an addiction psychiatrist, and Judith Cole, a nurse practitioner, join the podcast this week to speak about the challenges during pregnancy, including the reality that federal law makes it possible for child protective services to be called when people receiving legal effective treatments for addiction give birth. Despite medications like methadone being fully safe during pregnancy, they continue to carry a stigma that can result in trauma for both birth parents and newborns.

“What’s getting conflated here is a result on a drug test, for instance, with actual abuse or neglect,” said Williams.

Williams and Cole wrote about this issue in their recent First Opinion essay, “Mothers in treatment for opioid use disorder shouldn’t also have to fight child protective services.” You can read more about barriers to addiction treatment in STAT reporter Lev Facher’s series “The War on Recovery.”

Be sure to sign up for the weekly “First Opinion Podcast” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts. And don’t forget to sign up for the First Opinion newsletter to read each week’s best First Opinion essays.

Previous article： Novavax promises a turnaround & Lilly roils the obesity market
Next article： Why Talkspace is targeting Medicare, a tricky market

WSS

How a key Senate committee is planning to regulate PBMs

Medicare drug price negotiation hearing pits pharma v Biden admin

Families look for replacement for GSK asthma drug Flovent

'The Earth is screaming at us': Gov. Inslee calls for climate action amid record heat

Men with early prostate cancer can safely opt out of treatment

The public health thinking behind the CDC’s new Covid guidance

hotspot

focus

focus

George Santos makes 1st court appearance after pleading not guilty to 13 counts

A new approach to psychiatric drug development

Malaria cases in Florida and Texas: Here’s what you need to know

Hundreds of thousands march in Israel. Former security chiefs beg Netanyahu to halt legal overhaul

In Memoriam: Notable people who died in 2023

Change Healthcare: What is it, why does its cyberattack matter?

Drug repurposing or repositioning? The language matters

My chronic pain journey would have been easier knowing 5 things % STAT

Anesthesiologist group: stop taking Ozempic before surgery

Streamlined flu vaccines recommended by FDA advisory panel

leisure time

Clinic falsely told dozens they had Alzheimer's, suits say

Medicare drug price negotiation continues, as pharma counteroffers

Medicare drug price negotiation hearing pits pharma v Biden admin

Pregnant women don't need prenatal multivitamins, study concludes

My chronic pain journey would have been easier knowing 5 things % STAT

Doctors have an ethical obligation to be advocates

hotspot

focus

focus

leisure time