Francie Diep is a staff writer at Pacific Standard, where she specializes in health and drug policy and the intersections of culture and science. Previously, she covered science, health, and science policy for Scientific American, Popular Science, and Smithsonian.
A quest through California to find which addiction and recovery centers aren't using medication-assisted treatment—our country's best bet for beating the opioid crisis.
A new study finds that older Americans with risk factors for harming themselves or others don't seem to be any less likely to have access to firearms than anyone else their age.
Many sober homes have made the news recently for egregious violations—but the latest federal effort to clean them up may not do much to help.
Legal evidence is needed to pin addiction and death on opioid manufacturers, but the science suggests that a large and ready supply of legal prescription painkillers led to many addictions.
But Republicans are far more likely to think that the United States' quality of care is among the best in the world.
One study suggests such bans are especially helpful to low-income women.
This is the biggest state opioid settlement yet, and lawyers and addiction patients' advocates are waiting eagerly to see what precedent it will set.
The Republican-controlled Senate on Tuesday held a hearing about extreme risk protection orders, which are supposed to prevent pre-planned mass violence and firearm suicides.
Many such prizes don't even come with award money, but they boost people's careers.
Last year, a government watchdog report found that about 13 million American children went to schools where officials discovered lead in their drinking water. Now, advocacy groups have graded states' school water policies.
A new major report finds that laws around medication for opioid addiction aren't based in science.
Bias in funding is an underappreciated barrier for women and underrepresented minorities in science.
The National Institutes of Health also released the numbers of scientists it has taken action against, in response to claims they harassed others.
Don't take it without corroboration.
During a hearing, the EPA's top official for enforcement defended the agency's low performance figures.
It would cost about $250 million to get an additional 650,000 low-income Americans to breastfeed as much as experts recommend, but it would save families and the health-care system $1.5 billion, a study finds.
Once most members could agree that climate change is real, they could start talking about the real question of what to do.
A Pacific Standard analysis reveals the only other time a new Congress has introduced so many gun-control bills was in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting.
Studies show that, in most cases, laws requiring doctors to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital are not necessary for the health and safety of women getting abortions.
Anything is possible, if you're willing to pay the price.
Advocates for stricter gun laws and gun-violence survivors showed up to the hearing in force to share their stories and their legislative demands.
The warmest morning temperature recorded in Minnesota on Wednesday was -17 degrees.
In a new book, White House staffer Cliff Sims recounts what the president wanted for White House-sponsored ads intended to discourage young Americans from abusing opioid painkillers.
Researchers say knowing where fatal police interactions occur can help community leaders target programs aimed at reducing those deaths.
The Green New Deal that some Democrats are now championing is unlike anything this country has ever done before. But scientists have been studying policies like these for decades, and their research can tell us a bit about what might happen should we pass this sweeping new vision for climate action and economic equality.
The presidential candidate has an interesting record of championing reform while working within political constraints.
The research on the consequences of Planned Parenthood losing public funding offers a sense of what may happen.
As acting administrator, Andrew Wheeler has worked to ease environmental regulation.
Overdoses on opioid drugs—including heroin, prescription painkillers, and certain street drugs—were the top cause of unintentional, preventable deaths in the United States in 2017.
Drugs enter through official ports and Border Patrol checkpoints, not through the open land where walls might be built.
Primetime Oval Office addresses are outdated, but may still be effective for Trump.
No one has ever shut down the government before over a single issue. Plus: What's special about this incoming class of congresspeople.
The Senate confirmed the president's picks to head the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Office of National Drug Control Policy, and the Census Bureau.
Ten additional states, and the District of Columbia, have joined lawsuits against the Trump administration, over allowing groups to opt out of covering birth control for their employees.
Some Americans feel government shutdowns more acutely than others.
The documents went back up two days after a newspaper reported their removal, and just 12 days before the close of the plan's public comment period.
Pacific Standard documented people's struggles and successes with big societal problems, across the country and the world.
NASA satellites are offering new insights into how glaciers in Antarctica and Asia are responding to warmer temperatures.
One webpage, now removed, touted the current policies' successes—and praised the bird's mating dances.
Mail-to-home abortion pills may be gaining in popularity, but the nationwide statistics we have only count clinic abortions.
Asked when scientists would know enough about climate change for people to take action, he compared time to a rubber band.
Several members of Congress are already eying legislation to require universities to report taxpayer-funded harassers to the government.
In a presentation about America's National Climate Assessment, their messages were sure and simple.
Will it be enough to save coal jobs?
The low number is part of a steep and steady drop that's been ongoing since 2007.
Sindo Ferry passengers have their passports checked and their luggage x-rayed before they board, but they are divided about how meaningful national boundaries are.
Activists are putting the pressure on the federal government to leverage its money against alleged sexual harassers.
A new report assesses the greenhouse gas emissions attributable to coal, oil, and gas on public lands.
In the wake of the recent mass shooting, college students in Ventura County attempt to call for action without alienating a conservative community.
The new, wide-ranging warning about romaine lettuce illustrates gaps in the government's ability to oversee food safety.
