Former physician Jeffrey Campbell has been sentenced to eight years in prison for unlawful distribution of controlled substances, including opioids, along with healthcare fraud, the Justice Department reported March 30. 

Opioid use disorder patients on Medicare had fewer fatal overdoses after moving to telehealth services, according to a study published March 29 in JAMA Psychiatry.

The Federal Trade Commission ordered Dalal Akoury, MD, and a set of companies she controls that operate as AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center, to pay $100,000 for allegedly making false claims about the treatment of addiction, cancer, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and other conditions.

The addiction treatment market is expected to grow by a 6.7 percent compound annual growth rate and reach a $50 million potential by 2032, according to a Fact.MR study.

The Federal Trade Commission is suing Dalal Akoury, MD, and a set of companies she controls that operate as AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center, for allegedly making false claims about the treatment of addiction, cancer, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and other conditions.

Honolulu-based Kline Welsh Behavioral Health Foundation, which operates Sand Island Treatment Center, has been ordered to pay $451,898 in back wages to 34 staff members.

Aliso Viejo, Calif.-based substance use and mental health care provider Laguna Treatment Hospital said multiple kinds of illicit drugs across the state are increasingly testing positive for xylazine, a veterinary anesthetic and dangerous drug additive.

Researchers have found that a person who has recently been released from prison is 10 times more at risk of a drug overdose in Oregon, the Journal of Substance Use and Addiction Treatment reported Feb. 21. 

San Diego County has installed a naloxone vending machine at McAlister South Bay Regional Recovery Center in Chula Vista, Calif., to help prevent opioid overdose deaths, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported March 9. 

Washington, D.C., anesthesiologist Robert Cao, MD, was sentenced to 15 months in prison, 3 years of supervised release and 100 hours of community service for charges including prescribing opioids to a patient who later died of an overdose, the Justice Department said March 8.

King of Prussia, Pa.-based Recovery Centers of America, a substance abuse treatment network, has acquired Bryn Mawr, Pa.-based Adolescent and Young Adult Advocates, an outpatient substance abuse program. 

The Healing Corner, a shuttered Milwaukee addiction center, must pay more than $2 million for allegedly defrauding Medicaid, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported March 3.

Providence, R.I.-based Recovery Connection Centers of America has closed its chain of 15 facilities across Rhode Island and Massachusetts after its founder was charged with healthcare fraud, WBUR reported March 2. 

Here are seven addiction treatment updates Becker's has reported on since Feb. 14:

The average salary for psychiatrists in the U.S. is $249,760, according to the most recent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational employment statistics survey.

New York City pharmacist Daniel Russo, PharmD, pleaded guilty to opioid distribution and tax charges, the Justice Department said Feb. 17.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the state is creating an Office of Opioid Recovery within the Department of Children and Families, Orlando Weekly reported Feb. 20.

The department of medicine at the University of Cincinnati will establish a faculty position focused on the research and treatment of substance misuse.

Cherokee Nation has unveiled its first in-house drug treatment center as part of a $100 million investment in mental health through the nation's Public Health and Wellness Fund Act. 

Jason Kirby, MD, chief medical officer of Landmark Recovery, a national addiction treatment provider, has been elected president of the Tennessee Society of Addiction Medicine.