Kastalia Medrano

Kastalia is Filter‘s deputy editor. She previously worked at half a dozen mainstream digital media outlets and would not recommend the drug 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.

DEA Raises ADHD Med Production Quotas. It Could Just Fix the Shortage.

The Drug Enforcement Administration is allowing pharmaceutical companies to produce a higher volume of Vyvanse and its generic versions. The…

September 10, 2024

Triton Case: Briefs on “Poisonous” Vape Flavors Flood Supreme Court

On September 3, attorneys general representing 19 states and the District of Columbia filed an amicus brief with the Supreme…

September 4, 2024

NY Gov. Hochul Silent on Overdose Prevention Centers as Pressure Mounts

New York Governor Kathy Hochul has never been outspoken about overdose prevention centers (OPC). But since taking office in January…

August 29, 2024

Fentanyl Doomsday Prepping

On August 26, pharmaceutical manufacturer Indivior announced that it had begun supplying the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA)…

August 27, 2024

FCC Denies Securus Exemption From Price Caps on Calls From Prisons, Jails

On August 26, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued final rulings on multiple outstanding issues related to its recent order…

August 26, 2024

The Casualties of the “Passive Drug Exposure” Myth

In early August, 11 New York State corrections officers (COs) were at the scene of a medical emergency involving someone…

August 19, 2024

OK Prisons Privatize Mail, as “Digital Processing Centers” Expand Drug War

Beginning September 1, the Oklahoma Department of Corrections (ODOC) will no longer deliver physical mail to the nearly 23,000 people…

August 13, 2024

FDA Approves Risky Opioid Overdose Reversal Product From Purdue Pharma

On August 7 the Food and Drug Administration approved an opioid overdose antidote developed by Purdue Pharma that contains nalmefene,…

August 8, 2024

The Headlines Doing Fentanyl Math Will Always Be Wrong

Back when I was at the science desk at Newsweek, they used to bring in young reporters on $38,000 a…

August 6, 2024

SAMHSA’s National Drug Use Survey Still Has a Fentanyl Problem

On July 30, the Substance Use and Mental Health Services Administration released its annual survey on substance use, mental illness,…

July 31, 2024