drug overdose

woman walks down sidewalk with the help of a walker. She has chronic pain

A doctor’s tweet, a mother’s complaint, a loss for chronic pain patients.

March 10, 2020 by Taylor Knopf

A doctor’s tweet, a mother’s complaint, a loss for chronic pain patients. - North Carolina Health News

An outspoken doctor loses his ability to prescribe opioids after the state medical board launched an investigation into his practice, which only takes complex cases of chronic pain.

By Taylor Knopf For Courtney Cates, pain medication is the difference between taking short walks or staying in bed. It’s the difference between talking with her 8-year-old son or passing him notes. Cates, 37, suffers from chronic pain in her back, leg and jaw resulting from car accidents, failed surgeries and a painful jaw disease. […]

A person in a sports cap holding a needle box to be packed away and delivered to needle exchange participants. Dunlap says they meth use never went away in Haywood County.

Even as opioids ravage WNC, mountain folks say meth never went away

December 3, 2019 by Liora Engel-Smith

Even as opioids ravage WNC, mountain folks say meth never went away - North Carolina Health News

While the current conversation surrounding drug use is dominated by opioids, residents in North Carolina’s Appalachians say meth has always been there.

By Liora Engel-Smith Jesse-Lee Dunlap goes where not even the mail carrier does. The Haywood County resident, who works with the N.C. Harm Reduction Coalition, routinely navigates into dirt pathways so narrow they hardly count as roads. On a recent afternoon, Dunlap maneuvered a white rental van up one such trail, squeezing up a steep […]

Jail suicides are on the rise in North Carolina

NC jail suicide and overdose deaths on the rise

October 31, 2019 by Taylor Knopf

NC jail suicide and overdose deaths on the rise - North Carolina Health News

Advocates want to update old jail rules to help keep inmates safe, but sheriffs’ objections are slowing down the process.

By Taylor Knopf Suicide and drug overdose deaths are on the rise in North Carolina jails, according to a recent report released by Disability Rights NC. There have been 17 suicides so far this year, up from 12 in 2018. And the number of jail overdose deaths more than doubled from 2017 to 2018. About […]

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