Erin Fanning Madden, PhD, MPH
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efanningmadden.bsky.social
Erin Fanning Madden, PhD, MPH
@efanningmadden.bsky.social
Substance use, stigma, & harm reduction researcher in Detroit. Also interested in qual methods, racism, immigration, & access to care. Sociologist working in a med school. Views are my own. She/her
Reposted by Erin Fanning Madden, PhD, MPH
Research on "millionaire migration" shows that it rarely happens and that states could raise their top tax rates way higher.

www.asanet.org/wp-content/u...
June 10, 2025 at 4:05 PM
“the effort will include an “accountability center” for those with addictions.” They’re proposing these be involuntary. This is going to be a disaster.
Under Trump, the draconian future of homelessness policy is coming into focus: mass internment. Utah is building a 16-acre site to detain up to 1,300 homeless people inside locked "accountability centers." This is profoundly alarming.

Vital reporting from @ellenbarry.bsky.social and Jason DeParle:
In Utah, Trump’s Vision for Homelessness Begins to Take Shape
www.nytimes.com
October 29, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Any fellow substance use-focused people on here watching Real Housewives of Salt Lake City? I am continually impressed with how Mary is handling her son's substance use disorder. She's doing a pretty dang good job being nonjudgmental & supportive, despite being a pretty judgmental person overall.
October 2, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Reposted by Erin Fanning Madden, PhD, MPH
"In 2023, 557 teens died of opioid overdose, nearly threefold as many as in 2018, while adult opioid deaths only went up by 65% during this time, according to the study. Drug overdoses are now among the leading causes of death for US teenagers."
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Teen opioid addictions often untreated as youth overdose deaths rapidly rise in US – study
Drug overdoses are now a leading causes of death among US teens as fentanyl possibly drives surge, researchers warn
www.theguardian.com
September 26, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Aaron Fox & Sarah Wakeman wrote great responses to an op-ed in the @nytimes.com arguing for involuntary addiction treatment. It is not only logistically infeasible given service shortages, it also violates human rights and is often ineffective & even dangerous. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/20/o...
Opinion | A Loss of Faith in Forced Drug Treatment
www.nytimes.com
September 25, 2025 at 2:56 PM
A new crowdsourcing tool from @opioidpolicy.bsky.social for sharing/getting info on which pharmacies are dispensing buprenorphine (i.e., Suboxone): bupe.opioidpolicy.org
Please enter a ZIP code to find and report pharmacies with bupe near you.
bupe.opioidpolicy.org
September 6, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Reposted by Erin Fanning Madden, PhD, MPH
"'[R]age donations' have dried up."

"While [nonprofits] grapple with a decrease in donations, the price for abortion care is rising, creating a perfect storm."

"[C]an we actually keep this going?"
#Texas #USA #Healthcare
Abortion Funds See Dwindling Donations as Demand and Cost Rise
A flood of cash following Roe’s fall has dried up, leaving Texas nonprofits struggling to keep pace with the state’s abortion access crisis.
www.texasobserver.org
August 13, 2025 at 3:21 PM
This makes a lot of sense for many reasons, but one is the ability to afford vaccines. In Tunisia, the pediatric meningitis vaccine costs about a minimum wage worker’s monthly income. So most people don’t get it.
August 19, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Reposted by Erin Fanning Madden, PhD, MPH
The summary is that they are trying to criminalize every aspect of homelessness so they can arrest & forcibly commit unhoused people. Currently(/before), there are not enough mental health & substance use treatment beds/facilities, and this does not add anything, which only leaves imprisoning people
July 24, 2025 at 9:32 PM
Reposted by Erin Fanning Madden, PhD, MPH
NEW: In an unprecedented move, the NIH will soon disinvite dozens of scientists about to take positions on advisory councils that make final decisions on grant funding.

NIH staff were told to select others aligned with the Trump administration and told to expect placements by political appointees.
Exclusive: NIH to dismiss dozens of grant reviewers to align with Trump priorities
The move would undo years of work, leaving advisory councils understaffed, and without the full expertise needed for reviews.
www.nature.com
July 14, 2025 at 11:25 PM
I've been getting multiple daily invitations to review over the past month. I try to review 3 papers for every paper I submit as first or senior author. I have done much more than that this year already, and I really cannot do more. Is anyone else getting many more request than usual right now?
July 14, 2025 at 3:53 PM
⚠️New study⚠️: Stigma training lessens prejudice towards people who use drugs, but stigma is more than just attitudes! Training does 🚫not🚫 clearly improve stigmatizing workplace culture or plans to provide better care among healthcare professionals. Read here: authors.elsevier.com/a/1lNMWAUkM2...
Redirecting
doi.org
July 7, 2025 at 1:20 PM
I need a medical sociologist/anthropologist to do extensive fieldwork on detox centers. On the one hand, I get why people use detox as a place to stop methadone or bup after years of treatment. But I worry when people believe this is the best first treatment step for opioid use disorder.
June 26, 2025 at 8:45 PM
When we talk about problems of “administrative bloat” I’ve realized many people don’t know we’re specifically referring to deans/VPs/vice provosts/etc., and think we include the lower level university staff who keep the ship afloat in programs like academic advising and sponsored projects offices.
June 5, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Reposted by Erin Fanning Madden, PhD, MPH
It's the one year book-iversary of Holding It Together, and I think its message is more urgent than ever. Because the book is about how the US came to rely on women as its safety net. But that story is fundamentally a story of what happens when billionaires don't want to pay their fair share. 1/
Other countries have safety nets. The US has women.

Their labor creates the illusion of a DIY society, making it seem like we don't need a net.

Writing HOLDING IT TOGETHER was a labor of love and fury and I'm so grateful to share it with you all #PubDay

www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/697130...
June 4, 2025 at 11:15 AM
Reposted by Erin Fanning Madden, PhD, MPH
🚨 A new rule would let career scientists like NSF/NIH program officers be replaced by political appointees

Already 14,000+ public comments, deadline is Friday

📣 Comments can be short. Courts consider them—and scientists with NSF/NIH experience are especially impactful

Speak up! shorturl.at/WKuBj
May 21, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Reposted by Erin Fanning Madden, PhD, MPH
HHS is further withholding funds by not releasing new grant awards; vastly delayed processes in routine carry forward requests; and intermittently removing the capacity for routine no cost extensions

HHS is withholding money for lifesaving research
Today in Congress, HHS Sec RFK Jr insisted that "We are not withholding money for lifesaving research."

The @nytimes.com described the interaction as a "clash".

Yes, between facts and talking points.

Fact: HHS is withholding money for lifesaving research.

www.nytimes.com/2025/05/14/u...
Kennedy Clashes With Top Democrat Who Accused Him of ‘Destroying’ Health Agencies
www.nytimes.com
May 14, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Reposted by Erin Fanning Madden, PhD, MPH
New from me: Everything feels overwhelming. But here is a tangible thing you can do: write a comment to oppose Trump's plan to convert 50,000 career civil servants into political appointees. Deadline is May 23. Please share!
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/here-is-a-...
Here is a specific thing you can do to fight Trump's politicization of public services
Plus: what I wrote in Science about the revised Schedule F
donmoynihan.substack.com
May 9, 2025 at 12:33 PM
Reposted by Erin Fanning Madden, PhD, MPH
LOVING this Daily Show clip exposing how Trump and DOGE “streamlined” the federal workforce by firing true American patriots.

Also...we’re not mad about the savage Musk hairline callout at 2:41.
👉 www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPeb...
Meet the DOGE Layoff Victims That Elon Musk Deemed Wasteful | The Daily Show
YouTube video by The Daily Show
www.youtube.com
April 30, 2025 at 5:47 PM
R01 not discussed and a paper rejected. Today is also the 20th anniversary of my childhood best friend's death. I'm glad to be here even for the crappier days like today. Wish she could have been too.
April 30, 2025 at 5:41 PM
"Though Kennedy previously praised interventions like [naloxone] as critical to saving lives, he now frames the crisis as one requiring deeper, spiritual & societal change rather than relying solely on "nuts and bolts" medical solutions." 1/3
www.latintimes.com/rfk-jr-end-g...
RFK Jr. to End 'Godsend' Narcan Program That Helped Reduce Overdose Deaths Despite His Past Heroin Addiction
Despite overcoming heroin addiction himself, RFK Jr. is backing plans to cut a critical Narcan program that helped reduce overdose deaths.
www.latintimes.com
April 30, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Reposted by Erin Fanning Madden, PhD, MPH
There are few things as cost effective as Narcan, especially in a country where (entirely preventable) opioid overdoses have been a leading cause of death for years. For every 6 kits distributed 1 OD is prevented. The $56M in this grant trained >66K people and distributed >282,500 kits in 2024 alone
RFK Jr. to End 'Godsend' Narcan Program That Helped Reduce Overdose Deaths Despite His Past Heroin Addiction
Despite overcoming heroin addiction himself, RFK Jr. is backing plans to cut a critical Narcan program that helped reduce overdose deaths.
www.latintimes.com
April 30, 2025 at 12:22 AM
Great article by @ethanbrooks.bsky.social about the underutilization of buprenorphine. Mallory's story highlights the benefits of this treatment for opioid addiction, while her brother's illustrates our failures in the treatment sector.
www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...
Why Has America Ignored Its Best Addiction Treatment?
Buprenorphine can stop cravings for opioids, yet its uptake in the U.S. has stagnated.
www.theatlantic.com
April 29, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Uploading my proposal reviews for the third time because of multiple externally-imposed rules/changes/whatevers affecting NIH and a review meeting that should have happened months ago. SO much efficiency!
April 29, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Excellent succinct takedown of bad science. I will be using this in my public health research methods class that starts next week. Perfect example of "🗑️ in, 🗑️ out" and why data quality and study design matter.
Public health & political science:

Shoddy scientific methods
on politically controversial subjects have consequences.

A poorly designed systematic review claims a link between water fluoridation & IQ. Re-analysis reveals it’s based on very bad original studies.

A fail for the editors.
The Research on Fluoride and IQ
Robert F.
open.substack.com
April 29, 2025 at 2:35 PM