One woman’s battle to obtain life-saving methadone

Every morning, Rebecca Smith, nursing a surgically repaired knee, carefully walks down the hallway of her brutalist brick apartment building, takes the elevator one floor to the lobby, and negotiates the sharply angled driveway outside. There, she waits for an Uber to take her to the last place she wants to go: her methadone clinic. It is her most despised ritual. Smith, 65, is a former medical assistant, a grandmother, and a widow. She has not used illegal drugs in over five years, thanks in large part to methadone, a common medication that is highly effective at treating opioid addiction. But methadone, which once promised Smith freedom from drugs, has made her a prisoner to the drug-treatment system. Like hundreds of thousands of other Americans, she spends each morning journeying to and from her clinic, all so she can wait in line to swallow a small cup’s worth of medication. Read the full story here: https://www.statnews.com/category/war... More from STAT: Become a subscriber: https://www.statnews.com/stat-plus/ Watch Full Episodes:    / @statnews   Newsletters: https://www.statnews.com/signup/ STAT events: https://www.statnews.com/stat-events/ Facebook:   / statnews   Twitter:   / statnews   Instagram:   / statnews   Flipboard: rb.gy/3xnsxr STAT Reports: https://rb.gy/rexfwj STAT eBooks: https://rb.gy/eme3h5 ABOUT STAT: Founded in 2015, STAT is a global digital media brand that focuses on delivering fast, deep, and tough-minded journalism about the life sciences industries to over six million monthly site visitors and an additional 20 million readers on the Apple News app. STAT takes you inside academic labs, biotech boardrooms, and political backrooms, casting a critical eye on scientific discoveries, scrutinizing corporate strategies, and chronicling the roiling battles for talent, money, and market share. With an award-winning newsroom, STAT provides indispensable insights and exclusive stories on the technologies, personalities, power brokers, and political forces driving massive changes in the life sciences industry — and a revolution in human health.