Erin Fanning Madden, PhD, MPH
@efanningmadden.bsky.social
Substance use, stigma, & harm reduction researcher in Detroit. Also interested in qual methods, racism, immigration, & access to care. Sociologist working in a med school. Views are my own. She/her
Excellent succinct critique of the updated version of the Modernizing Opioid Treatment Access Act (MOTAA) introduced into the US senate. It still overregulates this lifesaving medication. We can do better.
Filter | harm reduction journalism@filtermag.bsky.social · yesterday"Would MOTAA 2.0 unlock access for everyone who needs it?" asks @helenredmond.bsky.social. "The answer is no. Nothing in the updated bill addresses the fundamental problems in the 2023 version."
"Some states are represented by a single county; others by up to nine counties. There’s no standardization in how many sampling sites each county included, or whether multiple sites were spread out versus concentrated in one area."
White House Shares First Data From Wastewater Drug-Testing Project - Filter
The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) has published its first report on wastewater-based drug testing, something that wasn’t ...
filtermag.org
Just submitted a comment on the HHS "Great American Recovery Initiative," which proposes to end federal support for harm reduction other than naloxone. If this sounds like a bad idea to you too, submit a comment! Comments will be accepted until 7/5. www.federalregister.gov/documents/20...
HHS Request for Comment on Chronic Disease of Addiction
Thanks to President Trump's leadership, since 2017, the country has made significant progress in addressing mental health and substance use. However, President Trump and HHS Secretary Kennedy realize ...
federalregister.gov
Methadone is one of the most effective treatments for opioid addiction, yet federal law still limits access by making people to go through through specialty clinics. A new bipartisan bill would allow physicians to prescribe methadone directly through pharmacies, expanding access to life-saving care.
Bipartisan bill seeks to allow direct prescribing of methadone for opioid addiction
Methadone for opioid addiction has been available only at specialty clinics. A bipartisan bill would greatly expand access.
statnews.com
OK, people. It takes 2 minutes to write a letter to Congress, a few extra if you personalize it. Russ Vought's attempt to take over ALL federal grant funding is anti-democratic and dangerous. We need MORE letters. Let's tip it over 2000 today. actionnetwork.org/letters/oppo...
Oppose OMB Proposal to Put ALL Federal Government Funding Decisions in the Hands of Political Appointees
On May 29, 2026, the Office of Management and Budget issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), OMB-2026-0034, Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance. The scope of this proposed regulation is...
actionnetwork.org
I got curious this year & asked my MPH students about their use of AI. A resounding "yuck" from all 20 students. One said she hates it but uses it because a prof said her writing was "too much like how she talks" and made her self conscious. Surely laziness drives use sometimes, but insecurity too!
Maia Szalavitz@maiasz.bsky.social · 2mo agoexcellent @alissaquart.bsky.social on AI and the banality of venal... www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
2 of many decisions that risk reversing our progress: "SAMHSA caution[ed] against the long-term use of methadone or buprenorphine... the Trump administration appointed Michael Stuart, a former WV state lawmaker best known for introducing legislation to ban methadone treatment, as the top HHS lawyer"
STAT@statnews.com · 2mo agoTrump administration guidance reignites debate over methadone and buprenorphine www.statnews.com/2026/06/10/m...
NEW from me in @pnas.org on the risks of data sharing with qualitative research: "Today, confidentiality risks are amplified by social media, surveillance, and AI tools, which make ample data about people publicly available, thus making deidentification less effective" www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
I'm all for providing scientific findings for free to the public, but my god clinicaltrials.gov is hell. I truly loathe reporting to it. There must be a better path than this. Can't we just make all scientific journals free and require empirical papers have a single 1-page lay summary of results?
📖 Read about my recent pilot trial that attempted (and sort of failed! 🙃) to create a substance use stigma reduction intervention with and for mental health clinicians. (1/4) authors.elsevier.com/a/1n7v4AUkM2...
Please wait whilst we redirect you
All content on this site: Copyright © 2026 Elsevier B.V., its licensors, and contributors. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies. For all open access content, the relevant licensing terms apply.
authors.elsevier.com
I now require students to add a hyperlink to the actual article. Journals should be requiring this as well.
Julia Lynch@jlynch13.bsky.social · 3mo agoI have 3 reviews sitting on my desk right now and I’ve been avoiding them bc of how long it’s going to take to look up every reference to see if it’s hallucinated. This is not sustainable.
The number of NIH competitive awards is down 50% from 2025, and down ~70% from prior years. Even if they catch up by the end of the year, only wealthy institutions can bridge these huge funding gaps.They're killing science-and violating the constitution-by weaponizing the bureaucracy
The Washington Post@washingtonpost.com · 4mo agoThrough March 31, the number of grants awarded by the National Institutes of Health is down by more than half compared with the same period last year, a Post analysis found. There are also fewer grants focused on women’s health, cancer and mental health, the analysis found. https://wapo.st/48dWJWX
PSA to my non-sociologists studying stigma: Please stop saying "stigma and discrimination." Stigma is by definition inclusive of both prejudice and discrimination. Adding "discrimination" implies stigma is only attitudinal, which is wrong. Thanks, a sociologist.
"Medetomidine can be thought of as the direct successor to xylazine. It's not associated with soft-tissue infections, but has distinct side effects of its own, including a withdrawal process that can require intensive hospital care."
CDC and ONDCP Issue Health Alert for Medetomidine, an Unusual Move
Medetomidine is the direct successor to xylazine. It's not associated with soft-tissue infections, but has distinct side effects of its own.
filtermag.org
Any SF harm reductionists want to weigh in on this *interesting* claim?: "Treatment and recovery became secondary goals, if they were goals at all... Harm reduction providers did not want to push users into treatment, worried [it] could [scare clients] away. The approach was all carrot, no stick."
New York Times Opinion@nytopinion.nytimes.com · 4mo agoSan Francisco was a model of Democratic governance gone wrong, but under a new mayor with a new approach to drug policy, it seems to have turned a corner, writes German Lopez. “The transformation is in its early stages, but what I saw in San Francisco was promising.”
I don't sped much time on the CDC website, so maybe I'm late on this, but this disclaimer is psychotic.
Recall how much "how will you pay for that" hand wringing came from conservatives, centrists, and media folks when it involved student debt relief. www.npr.org/2022/09/27/1...
Joe Biden's student loan forgiveness plan will cost $400 billion, budget office says
The cost of the White House's student loan forgiveness plan is an estimate over a 30-year period and will add to the country's deficit, the Congressional Budget Office said in a report.
npr.org
ACLU@aclu.org · 5mo agoThe Pentagon is requesting the equivalent of $1,500 per American household to fund President Trump's unauthorized, unconstitutional, and unpopular war. Congress must say no.
Few of the things I work on at Science are purely fun, but the Dance your Ph.D contest is an exception. I'm always impressed by the creativity and enthusiasm of the entries. Graceful electrons and pole dancing analysis of pee? See this year's winners! www.science.org/content/arti...
And the winner of Science’s 2026 ‘Dance Your Ph.D.’ contest is …
A physicist and professional dancer takes home the grand prize, and Science awards its first trophy for an AI-assisted dance concept
science.org
Every time I have to go through the single IRB process as the relying (nonprimary) site it doesn’t really feel much shorter than having to go through a full IRB review. I thought the whole point of the single IRB model was to avoid multiple unnecessary IRB reviews?
NEW: For @theguardian.com, I spoke to people in their 20s, 30s, and 40s whose parents were deported under the Clinton, Bush, and Obama administrations about the long-term impacts of family separation:
They were teens when a parent was deported. They still feel the pain as adults
The Guardian spoke to adults now in their 20s, 30s, and 40s to reflect on the lasting impact of family separation in the US
theguardian.com
Our new photovoice paper draws on theories of haunted houses and emotional geographies to explore how settler colonialism, endemic gendered & racialized violence, and systemic neglect shape affective realities of living in single room occupancy housing. authors.elsevier.com/a/1mg0e-CmV9...
"Addiction vaccines" have been studied since the 1970s and attracted millions in federal government research dollars. Me and a fellow medical sociologist, Kristin Barker, take a deep dive on the promise and failures of this intervention. Read our 🌶️spicy take in SSM: doi.org/10.1016/j.so...
Redirecting
doi.org
I do want to shout-out my fellow sociologists, who have collectively created a discipline so woke that not a single one of our introductory textbooks can make it past Florida's censors. Great work everyone.
I am so sick of reading admissions essays written by AI. If you mentor undergrads, advise them when they’re applying to grad school that we can always tell. I am almost grateful for the shoddily written ones now because at least I know a human drafted them.
The U.S. government has lost more than 10,000 STEM Ph.D.s since Trump took office. A Science analysis reveals how many were fired, retired, or quit across 14 agencies. Read more: https://scim.ag/4boPkq8
U.S. government has lost more than 10,000 STEM Ph.D.s since Trump took office
A Science analysis reveals how many were fired, retired, or quit across 14 agencies
scim.ag
She was not alone. Immigration agents have shot at least 14 people over the past year. That includes: -3 people who were observing ICE. -5 people who were driving away. -4 people who’ve been killed. -5 people injured. www.thetrace.org/2025/12/immi...
Not only are the findings interesting (more evidence we don't need higher dose naloxone!), the mix of quantitative analysis and the experiential knowledge of on-the-ground harm reductionists is 🤌. Work by @nabarund.bsky.social and the UNC Street Drug Analysis Lab journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
Trends and characteristics during 17 years of naloxone distribution and administration through an overdose prevention program in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Objective Describe time trends during 17.5 years of community-based naloxone distribution Methods Analysis of administrative records from a harm reduction program in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, c...
journals.plos.org
