Addiction

Data points to a nearly 75% increase in overdoses in Missouri since 2019, and last year was the second consecutive year that fentanyl accounted for over two-thirds of overdoses in Missouri.

Lately, it seems, sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll has been suffering an identity crisis. St Louis musicians celebrate success in the music industry after their personal triumphs over substance abuse.

Dr. Kanika Cunningham for years has worked as a primary care physician at a community health clinic in St. Louis. As St. Louis County's new health director, she wants to bring that experience addressing patients’ medical and other needs to her work.

The St. Louis Department of Health will soon hire 14 new staff members to create the bureau, which will address the lack of treatment options for drug addiction and mental health problems.

In the first three quarters of 2021, there were 780 overdose deaths in the St. Louis region, about the same as during the same period in 2020, according to the Missouri Institute of Mental Health at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. The St. Louis area accounted for nearly half of fatalities statewide.

St. Louis County is set to receive $45 million from the settlement with drugmakers and manufacturers, which will be paid out in portions over more than a decade. The county could use the money to upgrade the medical examiner's office, which is swamped with overdose victims, County Executive Sam Page said.

The rates of alcohol and drug abuse are higher within the food service industry than most other professions. And yet, restaurateur Katie Collier is a testament to the fact that you don’t need to leave the service industry to curb an addiction. After struggling with substance abuse for years, Collier is now celebrating a decade of sobriety.

St. Louis-based pharmaceutical company Mallinckrodt on Monday filed for bankruptcy after years of lawsuits alleging the drug company shared blame for the opioid epidemic. State, local and tribal governments have sued Mallinckrodt and other opioid manufacturers, saying the companies pushed the painkillers to patients despite knowing how addictive and dangerous they were.

The number of fatal opioid overdoses in St. Louis and St. Louis County in the first seven months of this year is 32% higher than in the same period in 2019. Black men in the region saw a 56% increase in the number of overdose deaths.

Two St. Louis addiction treatment advocates have opened a 24-hour clinic that treats addiction and mental health problems using the urgent-care model.