Lev Facher
I write about substance use and the drug overdose crisis for @statnews.com
statnews.com/staff/lev-facher/
- New: CDC data released today shows a 27% decrease in drug overdose deaths in 2024 compared to the year prior, as fentanyl deaths plummet but deaths involving stimulants like meth and cocaine increase www.statnews.com/2025/05/14/d...
- MAHA leader Casey Means is the new nominee to serve as U.S. Surgeon General, via @isabellacueto.bsky.social www.statnews.com/2025/05/07/t...
- New: Pam Bondi's exaggerated remarks on fentanyl interdiction in Trump's first 100 days "saving 258 million lives" are rooted in a long history of squishy law enforcement claims about drug busts www.statnews.com/2025/05/07/p...
- New: How medetomidine, a sedative commonly used in hospital and veterinary settings, is rapidly replacing xylazine in the drug supply — complicating overdose reversals and leaving users in excruciating, "life-threatening" withdrawal www.statnews.com/2025/05/01/m...
- President Trump's first 100 days of downsizing, dismantling, and derailing much of the American scientific enterprise — remarkable reporting from my STAT colleagues www.statnews.com/2025/04/25/t...
- New from Nashville: RFK navigates protests, jeers at Rx Summit, where he stuck to his personal story and didn't stray into politics or any ongoing HHS controversy www.statnews.com/2025/04/24/r...
- New: A federal judge has given the go-ahead to a class-action lawsuit targeting the Salvation Army's policy of denying spots in its rehab facilities to people who take methadone or buprenorphine — potentially a landmark case for access to addiction medications www.statnews.com/2025/04/16/a...
- The Trump administration has been offering laid-off HHS leadership roles working for the Indian Health Service in Alaska, Montana, and Oklahoma, among other regions: www.statnews.com/2025/04/01/h...
- Meet Sara Carter, a former Fox News contributor and conservative journalist with close ties to Tom Homan — she will soon serve as the nation's top drug policy official www.statnews.com/2025/03/28/t...
- Scoop: The NIH has placed Tara Schwetz, a deputy director and the official largely responsible for the creation of ARPA-H, on administrative leave — the third senior leader to depart the agency in ~2 months www.statnews.com/2025/03/26/t...
- NIDA Director Nora Volkow says of Trump changes to NIH policies: “They have increased my blood pressure and heart rate." Goes on to question RFK's views on 12-step recovery but gives credit to law enforcement's role in fentanyl interdiction, lower deaths www.statnews.com/2025/03/13/n...
- Excellent reporting on the chaos, staff reduction, and demoralization taking place across SAMHSA via @rosebroderick.bsky.social www.statnews.com/2025/03/12/s...
- Reposted by Lev Facher#Breaking - Federal judge extends restraining order on Trump administration’s cap on NIH indirect costs
- Reposted by Lev FacherLooking to talk with federal employees with disabilities who were terminated this weekend, especially folks hired through Schedule A or disabled veterans. Please boost! #disability #journorequest
- Despite MAHA/RFK claims, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are not among the top recipients of pharmaceutical industry campaign contributions (in fact, in the last decade they've received zero donations from pharma PACs/executives) www.statnews.com/2025/02/03/b...
- RFK says he supports methadone and buprenorphine — but majorly misrepresents a study that he claimed shows 12-step programs are more effective vs. opioid addiction (The study was exclusively about alcohol!) www.statnews.com/2025/01/30/r...
- STAT's staff is live-blogging the first of two Senate confirmation hearings being held this week for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: www.statnews.com/2025/01/29/r...
- Reposted by Lev Facher[Not loaded yet]
- Reposted by Lev FacherOn the eve of RRK Jr.’s confirmation hearings, his niece, a physician, shared a trove of private emails showing RFK Jr. making false claims about Covid-19 vaccines, linking vaccines to autism and raising doubts about the flu shots. W/ @rickberke.bsky.social www.statnews.com/2025/01/28/k...
- A surprise endorsement for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s views on addiction: His cousin, former congressman Patrick Kennedy www.statnews.com/2025/01/28/r...
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- NEW: Inside this week's chaos @ government science agencies -NIH study sections cancelled -ARPA-H "proposers' days" pivot to virtual-only then get cancelled outright -FDA scrubs DEI info — not just re: staff but about representation in clinical trials www.statnews.com/2025/01/24/t...
- A veteran NIAID researcher who challenged Anthony Fauci on vaccine mandates has been named the acting director of the National Institutes of Health: www.statnews.com/2025/01/24/t...
- Breaking news: Purdue Pharma has agreed in principle to a new $7.4 billion settlement that doesn't grant Sackler family members immunity from future lawsuits
- If your work has been impacted by the Trump administration's freeze on scientific meetings/comms or its executive actions targeting DEI programs, STAT wants to know more: www.statnews.com/2025/01/22/t...
- For those curious who's running addiction/drug policy in the early days of the new administration: Trump hasn't named ONDCP or SAMHSA acting directors ONDCP currently being run by Tom Rice, a career budget official SAMHSA's top career official is Tom Coderre, who was agency's no. 2 under Biden
- President Trump announces his intention to withdraw the U.S. from the World Health Organization, via @helenbranswell.bsky.social www.statnews.com/2025/01/20/t...
- The Biden administration is ending its term with a flurry of drug/addiction policy actions: -FDA endorsing higher buprenorphine doses -SAMHSA approving more $ for contingency management -DEA allowing continued buprenorphine prescribing via telehealth Recap here: www.statnews.com/2025/01/17/o...
- New: OnPoint NYC, the first U.S. organization to openly offer supervised consumption services, has reversed 1,700 overdoses since 2021 and upended narratives about people who use drugs. But under the new Trump administration, OnPoint's future and harm reduction more broadly face an uncertain future
- DEA unveils long-awaited rules for prescribing controlled substances, including buprenorphine, via telehealth www.statnews.com/2025/01/15/t...
- The Biden administration is raising the cap on incentive levels for contingency management — a form of addiction treatment where people receive financial rewards for reducing drug use. New SAMHSA grants allow $750/yr in payment, namely for stimulant use disorders www.statnews.com/2025/01/08/m...
- The War on Recovery, Part 6: Behind bars, pleas for addiction medications often go nowhere www.statnews.com/2024/12/18/o...
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- It's not yet clear what's causing the significant decrease in drug overdose deaths the last year or so — but Biden administration officials called a press briefing Wednesday to take credit for the decline. One advocate called it a 'victory lap' www.statnews.com/2024/12/11/o...
- New: RFK Jr.'s experience w/addiction, his public statements, + the people he featured in his addiction-focused documentary give some indication of how he'll approach drug policy as health secretary. In sum: 'Tough love,' i.e. more police and less harm reduction www.statnews.com/2024/12/11/r...
- Eli Lilly will soon start testing GLP-1 medications, typically used for diabetes and weight loss, as treatments for drug and alcohol addiction, via @elaineywchen.bsky.social www.statnews.com/2024/12/10/e...
- Re: Nick Florko: The guy has spent his career giving voice to incarcerated people dying of hep C, investigating the FDA, and documenting pharma influence in Washington. Anyone posting on here that he’s an out-of-touch status quo defender is trying to score cheap points, not engaging in good faith
- A Rhode Island nonprofit will hold a ribbon-cutting for its supervised consumption site next week, marking the first time the controversial harm-reduction service has been offered (officially, anyway) outside New York City www.statnews.com/2024/12/06/o...
- Reposted by Lev FacherNEW: UnitedHealth Group is paying many of its own physician practices significantly more than it pays other doctor groups in the same markets for similar services, undermining competition and driving up costs for consumers and businesses. www.statnews.com/2024/11/25/u...
- President-elect Trump has announced he'll nominate Mehmet Oz to serve as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services www.statnews.com/2024/11/19/d...
- U.S. overdose fatalies are on pace to fall below 100,000 in 2024, the first year with a death toll under six figures since 2020 www.statnews.com/2024/11/13/o...
- Trump taps RFK Jr. to run HHS, nominating vaccine skeptic for nation’s top health role
- "I would not be surprised if Narcotics Anonymous has caused more deaths than it has prevented.” www.statnews.com/2024/11/12/o...
- Reposted by Lev Facher[Not loaded yet]
- The War on Recovery, Part 5: Many of the institutions that claim to offer a refuge from opioid addiction, like Narcotics Anonymous and the Salvation Army, are among those most hostile to gold-standard addiction medications like methadone and buprenorphine: www.statnews.com/2024/11/12/o...
- Today STAT published the first installment of "The War on Recovery," an investigative series focused on America's systemic denial of lifesaving medications to people with opioid addiction. Please read, share, + stay tuned for future stories — pt. 2 coming next week www.statnews.com/2024/03/05/o...
