MedicalResearch.com Interview with: John W. Ayers, PhD MA Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration national helpline (1-800-662-HELP) is the only free, federally managed and endorsed US drug treatment referral service, helping callers find the best local services that match their needs. Are millions suffering simply because they are not aware that lifesaving help is a phone call away? In our new study, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, Mark Dredze, Alicia Nobles and I delved into Americans’ engagement with 1-800-662-HELP following singer Demi Lovato’s July 24, 2018 hospitalization for a reported overdose that on-the-scene investigators originally linked to heroin. Lovato has since recovered. (more…)