Five new opioid treatment programs are being added in the state's effort to combat the epidemic.

A new experiment is popping up in emergency departments across the country: Hospitals are hiring former addicts to connect patients with the support they need to get into treatment for addiction.

An investigation by NPR and WFYI's public health news service, Side Effects Public Media, found that in statehouses across the country, and in Congress, drugmaker Alkermes is pushing its addiction treatment drug, Vivitrol, while contributing to misconceptions and stigma about other medications used to treat opioid addiction.

A group of current and former inmates from Dearborn County Jail spoke at the Public Safety Coalition's first meeting Wednesday afternoon.

Hundreds attended the event sponsored the Indiana University Institute of Psychiatric Research and Mental Health America of Indiana.

Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, referred to medication-assisted treatment for addiction as "substituting one opioid for another."

The state's funding from the Health and Human Services is among $485 million the agency recently awarded to all 50 states and several U.S. territories.

The proposed pilots would require the State's Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services to contract with local health providers in Tippecanoe, Wayne and Marion counties to offer evidence-based treatment - inpatient, outpatient and residential - to addicted adults at serious risk of injury or death.

Critics argue the legislature is "backsliding" to previous, failed attempts to address the drug epidemic.

The law would not require Medicaid to cover mental health and substance use treatment.