U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams, MD, MPH, visited Vanderbilt University Medical Center last week to speak at the spring Health Policy Grand Rounds at Langford Auditorium. The event was dedicated to combatting America’s opioid crisis, and Adams emphasized the importance of the overdose-reversal drug naloxone.

In the United States, one infant is born every 15 minutes with withdrawal symptoms after being exposed to opioids before birth, according to a new study published in the journal Pediatrics.

Former U.S. Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy advocated for better treatment of mental health issues and spoke candidly about his struggles during a Chancellor's Lecture Series discussion on Tuesday.

Stephen Patrick, MD, MPH, MS, assistant professor of Pediatrics and Health Policy in the Division of Neonatology at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, testified before Congress recently about the rise and impact of drug withdrawal symptoms in newborns, also known as neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS).

Opioid users have a significantly increased risk of infections severe enough to require treatment at the hospital, such as pneumonia and meningitis, as compared to people who don’t use opioids.

Kristin Archer, PhD, DPT, associate professor and vice chair of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation, will serve as principal investigator at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) for a clinical trial that is examining strategies for reducing opioid use among patients with chronic pain.

Prescription opioid abuse is at epidemic levels, and Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Shriji Patel, M.D., assistant professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, wanted to find out what part, if any, his colleagues play in the crisis.