For people who study the opioid epidemic, 2025 marks a grim anniversary: It has been 30 years since the Food and Drug Administration approved the opioid OxyContin for the treatment of chronic pain.

Making drugs illegal simply perpetuates the spiral of shame, stigma and isolation that makes addiction so damaging, says Jan ...

For most of my career as an internal medicine physician and hospice specialist, I have been in the business of treating pain. Over time, the field has grown more sophisticated, but one truth has ...