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The Trump administration is awarding more than $1 billion in grants to help states confront the opioid epidemic, with most of the money going to expand access to treatment and recovery services. Officials say more than $900 million comes from a grant program Congress approved this spring as part of a budget bill. Lawmakers are working on another bipartisan bill to address the opioid problem and hope to have final legislation to President Donald Trump by year's end. (9/19)

“Addressing the opioid crisis with all the resources possible and the best science we have is a top priority for President Trump and for everyone at HHS,” HHS Secretary Alex Azar said in a statement. “The more than $1 billion in additional funding that we provided this week will build on progress we have seen in tackling this epidemic through empowering communities and families on the frontlines.” (Sullivan, 9/19)

Washington state is set to receive $29.8 million in federal funding to fight opioid abuse, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said Wednesday. The award is the largest Washington has received from the federal government to combat the opioid epidemic, and builds on an $11 million grant the state received last year. Of the money slated for Washington, $21.6 million will go toward increasing access to drugs that treat opioid addiction in addition to prevention efforts. Another $8.2 million will fund community health centers, academic institutions and rural groups that provide services to people suffering from substance abuse and mental-health issues. (Cornwell, 9/19)

Massachusetts is to receive more than $50 million in federal funding for the treatment of opioid use disorder in the state as well as to expand access to substance use disorder and mental health services, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Wednesday. (Flynn, 9/19)

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has awarded more than $11 million to the state of New Mexico to help fight the opioid crisis. (Camacho, 9/19)

A University of Maryland medical research institute has been tapped to test a promising opioid addiction treatment that aims to curb the cravings that are often responsible for relapses but not controlled well by other common therapies. The Institute of Human Virology, a center in the school of medicine that normally focuses on infectious diseases, plans to announce today that it has won a $12 million federal grant to investigate the therapy over the next five or six years. (Cohn, 9/19)

Earlier this month, Dr. Jerome Adams marked one year as surgeon general — a position nicknamed “America’s doctor.” In that time, he’s worked with the Trump administration as it declared the opioid epidemic a public health emergency; traveled to 26 states, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands; and issued a rare advisory that has led to more Americans carrying naloxone. On Thursday, Adams also released a report containing the latest opioid data and recommendations for what people can do to stem the addiction crisis. (Joseph, 9/20)

The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday challenging a county jail’s policy of denying inmates access to the medications that treat addiction. The lawsuit asks the US District Court to require the Essex County House of Correction in Middleton to provide methadone to an Ipswich man who has relied on the medication to maintain his sobriety for nearly two years. (Freyer, 9/20)