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The Department of Health and Human Services has recommended a ban on the chemicals in kratom that would make the popular herbal supplement as illegal as heroin or LSD, according to documents obtained by STAT. HHS asserted in a letter to the Drug Enforcement Administration that two chemicals in kratom should be classified as Schedule I substances, meaning that the chemicals have “a high potential for abuse” and that there is “no currently accepted medical use” for them. The letter was accompanied by a supporting analysis. (Swetlitz, 11/9)

One tool to combat infection is giving users clean needles in exchange for used ones, says Gina Allende, health promotions manager at UMOS, a nonprofit group on the city’s south side. But there is heated debate — some of it politicized — over whether these programs work, and research in the U.S., at least, is mixed. (Mendez, 11/8)

The state’s Harm Reduction Commission recently held its first meeting to study the controversial proposal to open a place or places where people could inject illicit drugs under medical supervision. The commission, created by the opioid legislation signed into law in August, has until February to report to the Legislature on the risks and benefits of establishing “supervised injection facilities” or “safe injection sites.” (Freyer, 11/7)

Close to a third of Maryland workers who filed injury compensation claims in recent years continued to rely on highly addictive opioid painkillers three months after they were hurt, according to a recent study by University of Maryland School of Medicine researchers. Excessive use of painkillers such as OxyContin and Vicodin, along with use of the illegal opioids herion and fenantyl, has been cited in the opioid overdose crisis around the nation that has led to tens of thousands of deaths a year. (Cohn, 11/8)

Laura Perryman expected her medical company, Stimwave Technologies Inc, would have to wait several years for its painkilling device to win U.S. approval as a treatment for chronic migraines. She now thinks it could be done in months, thanks to a new initiative by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to use medical device-based treatments, diagnostic tests and mobile medical apps to address the country's opioid crisis. (11/9)

Another 11 physicians now face new "Death Certificate Project" accusations from the Medical Board of California, filed over the last month, because a patient for whom they had prescribed narcotics fatally overdosed years ago. That brings the total to 23 physicians who face new disciplinary actions. (Clark, 11/6)