Shelby Fleig covers health care and environment for Medill News Service in Washington, D.C., and is a current breaking news intern at USA Today. Shelby is a Masters of Science in Journalism candidate at Northwestern University and previously studied journalism at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She's been published in Fast Company, the Chicago Tribune, USA Today, and the Omaha World-Herald.
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House Subcommittee Hears Personal Stories of the Opioid Epidemic
Witnesses who lost children to opiod addicition or are former addicts speak to the House subcommittee on health April 19, 2018. Photo by Shelby Fleig
Brian Mendell committed suicide at age 25 because he was ashamed of his opioid addiction, despite not having used drugs in more than a year, his father told a House subcommittee Thursday as he demanded that Congress pass laws to fight the epidemic. Mendell is one of the hundreds of Americans who die every day as result of substance abuse.