Kastalia Medrano

    Kastalia is Filter‘s deputy editor. She previously worked at half a dozen mainstream digital media outlets and does not recommend the drug war coverage at any of them. For a while she was a syringe program peer worker in NYC, where she did outreach hep C testing and navigated participants through treatment. She also writes with Jon Kirkpatrick.

    Supreme Court Blocks Alabama Bid to Proceed With Banned Nitrogen Execution

    On June 11 the Supreme Court received, and subsequently rejected, a request from the ...

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    Kastalia Medrano

    HHS Wants Input on Which Kinds of Treatment and Recovery to Fund

    The Department of Health and Human Services is asking the public to weigh in ...

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    Kastalia Medrano

    FDA Greenlights First Human Trial of Kratom to Treat Opioid Use Disorder

    The Food and Drug Administration has approved an Investigational New Drug Application (IND) to ...

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    Kastalia Medrano

    Cychlorphine Is Not the Problem

    Over the course of 2026 a growing number of headlines have invited the public ...

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    Kastalia Medrano

    CVS, Walgreens and Walmart Beat Rx Opioid Racketeering Lawsuit

    A legal battle between Florida hospitals and the nation’s biggest pharmacy chains came to ...

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    Kastalia Medrano

    Louisiana Urges More Oversight When Giving Opioid Funds Directly to Cops

    Louisiana, one of only two states that distributes opioid settlement funding directly to law ...

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    Kastalia Medrano

    NIDA Explains Link Between Drugs and HIV, Without Mentioning Syringes

    On May 18, National Institute on Drug Abuse Director Nora Volkow published a blog ...

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    Kastalia Medrano

    TrumpRx Now Features Generic Meds, Still Doesn’t Lower Drug Prices

    President Donald Trump’s direct-to-consumer website for pharmaceutical discounts is expanding significantly. On May 18, ...

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    Kastalia Medrano

    DHS Releases Questionable Synthetic Opioid Guidance for First Responders

    The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has released new guidance on synthetic opioids, intended ...

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    Kastalia Medrano

    Nationally, Overdose Is Still Going Down. In the West, It’s Going Back Up.

    The latest overdose mortality data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show ...

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    Kastalia Medrano