A study published in the Substance Use & Addiction Journal on August 14, 2026, put a number on something that families of people in treatment have described for years: when opioid withdrawal is left untreated, patients leave before their treatment is complete. The primary outcome the researchers measured was patient-directed discharge, the more current term for what has historically been called discharge against medical advice. The findings are striking.

On January 1, 2025, Florida law started explicitly protecting your right to housing, but discrimination against people taking life-saving medications remains a serious problem across the recovery community. As someone who has dedicated my career to protecting vulnerable individuals in the recovery system, I need to be direct: recovery house operators have no license to practice medicine and should not be deciding what medications a person needs for their recovery.