2024-06-03
41 分钟An update of our 2020 series, in which we spoke with physicians, researchers, and addicts about the root causes of the crisis — and the tension between abstinence and harm reduction.
Hey, there, it's Stephen Dubner.
We just finished a two part series that looked at the very long lasting opioid crisis.
It's horrible.
It's absolutely horrifying.
We learned why the opioid epidemic has endured, and we learned about the billions of dollars in settlement money and how that should be used.
Don't spend any money on anything.
Some other funding stream covers.
Today we wanted to play for you a bonus episode, an update of a piece we published in early 2020, a piece that was also about the opioid crisis.
As you will hear, the crisis seemed to be leveling off back then, but as it turned out, it wasn't.
It continued to worsen, especially during the pandemic, although there are signs that now it really is leveling off.
In this episode, we spoke with some University of Pennsylvania physicians about an addiction treatment that they thought should be universal.
They can get it as part of routine medical care, just like they might get their insulin for their diabetes or their blood pressure medicine.
So is this treatment now universal?
That's probably a no.
You'll also hear a bit more from Stephen Lloyd, the Tennessee physician who was featured in our new series.
And stick around to the end of this episode for an update on the team at Penn Medicine.
As always, thank you for listening.
This is Freakonomics Radio, the podcast that explores the hidden side of everything, with your host, Stephen Dubner.
Jean Marie Perrone is a professor in the department of emergency medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
I'm an emergency medicine physician and a medical toxicologist, which means I was trained in poisonings and overdoses.