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As opioid settlement funds hit state coffers, a marketing blitz begins

Jan 15, 2024
State and local officials are seeing the first wave of the $50 billion arrive. They're also seeing pitches for products to spend it on.
How to use opioid settlement funds has become part of the conversation around addiction. Above, Sen. John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican, holds up a bag of fentanyl at a hearing.
Kent Nishimura/Getty Images

Private equity investment is flooding into addiction treatment. Is that a good thing?

Jan 25, 2023
When a new operator took over an addiction treatment center in Nashville, former employees say they saw cutbacks.
Mitzi Dawn works in addiction treatment and spent part of her career as a songwriter. Her “Sing & Share” events were part of the offerings she says were cut when a private equity-backed company took over Nashville Recovery Center in 2021.
Blake Farmer/WPLN News

A $30 million gift to build an addiction treatment center. Then staffers had to run it.

Jan 19, 2023
The money was a one-time gift for infrastructure, but to stay running, the clinic is on its own.
Crossing Healthcare, an addiction treatment facility in Decatur, Illinois, received a $30 million grant to build the center, but had to fund staffing and programs by itself.
Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images