West Virginia
West Virginia's new drug czar was once addicted to opioids himself
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia’s new drug czar has a very personal reason for wanting to end the state’s opioid crisis: He was once addicted to prescription painkillers himself.
Dr. Stephen Loyd, who has been treating patients with substance use disorder since he got sober two decades ago, says combating opioid addiction in the state with the highest rate of overdose deaths isn’t just his job. It’s an integral part of his healing.
“I really feel like it’s been the biggest driver of my own personal recovery,” says Loyd, who became the director of West Virginia’s Office of Drug Control Policy last month. “I feel that the longer I do this, the more I don’t mind the guy I see in the mirror every morning.”
Loyd is no stranger to talking about his addiction. He has told his story to lawmakers and was an inspiration for the character played by Michael Keaton in the Hulu series, “Dopesick.” Keaton plays a mining community doctor who becomes addicted to prescription drugs. Loyd was also an expert witness in a case leading to Tennessee’s first conviction of a pill mill doctor in 2005, and has testified against opioid manufacturers and distributors in trials spelling out their culpability in the U.S. opioid crisis, resulting in massive settlements nationwide.
West Virginia was awarded nearly $1 billion in settlement money, and a private foundation has been working with the state to send checks to affected communities to support addiction treatment, recovery and prevention programs.
Loyd says he is ready to help advise the foundation on how to distribute that money, saying the state has a “moral and ethical responsibility” to spend it wisely.
The doctor started misusing painkillers when he was chief resident at East Tennessee State University hospital. He was given a handful of hydrocodone pills — opioid painkillers — after a dental procedure. He says he threw the pills in his glove compartment and forgot about them until he was stopped at a red light, driving home after a particularly hard day at work.
Anxious and depressed, he was struggling to cope with his more than 100-hour-a-week hospital schedule.
“I thought, ‘My patients take these things all the time,’” he says. “And I broke one in half and took it. By the time I got home, all my ills were cured. My job wasn’t as bad, my home life was better. And I wasn’t as worried.”
Within four years, he went from taking half a 5-milligram hydrocodone pill to taking 500 milligrams of oxycodone — another opiate — in a single day.
He understands the shame many feel about their addiction. To fuel his addiction, he stole pills from family members and bought them off a former patient.
“Back then, would I steal from you? Yes,” he says. “I would do whatever I needed to do to get the thing I thought I would die without.”
But he didn’t understand he was addicted until the first time he felt the intense sickness associated with opiate withdrawal. He thought he had come down with the flu.
“And then the next day, when I got my hands on pills and I took the first one, and I got better in about 10 minutes,” he says. “I realized I couldn’t stop or I’d get sick.”
It was a “pretty devastating moment” that he says he can never forget.
A family intervention ended with Loyd going to the detox unit at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in July 2004. After five days, he joined a treatment program and, he says, he has been sober ever since.
In recovery, Loyd threw himself into addiction medicine with a focus on pregnant heroin users who often face judgment and stigma. He said his own experience enabled him to see these vulnerable women in a different light.
“I couldn’t believe that somebody could just keep sticking a needle in their arm — what are they doing? — until it happened to me,” he says.
It was when he was in the detox unit that Loyd first noticed disparities in addiction treatment. There were 24 people on his floor, and the then-37-year-old doctor was the only one who was referred for treatment. The rest were simply released.
“I get a pass because I have MD after my name, and I’ve known that for a long time,” he says. “And it’s not fair.”
He calls this “the two systems of care” for substance use disorder: A robust and compassionate system for people with money and another, less effective model “basically for everybody else.”
He’s intent on changing that.
He says he also wants to expand access to prescription drugs such as methadone and suboxone, which can help wean people with substance use disorder off opioids. Loyd says he was never offered either medication when he was detoxing 20 years ago “and it kind of makes me angry that I suffered unnecessarily.”
One of Loyd’s priorities will be working out how to measure meaningful outcomes — something he says happens in every field of medicine except addiction medicine.
A cardiologist can tell a patient with heart disease about their course of treatment and estimate their chances of a recovery or of being pain free in a year or 18 months, he says.
“In addiction, we don’t have that. We look at outcomes differently,” Loyd says.
When people are referred for treatment, the metrics are not the same. How many showed up? How many engaged in the program and graduated? How many continued to recover and progressed in their lives?
“We don’t know how effective we’ve been at spending our money because I don’t think that we’ve really talked a lot about looking at meaningful outcomes,” he says.
As for his own measurable outcomes, Loyd said there have been a few, including walking his daughter down the aisle and serving as his son’s best man.
And on his phone he has a folder of baby pictures and photographs celebrating recovery milestones, sent to him by former patients.
“It’s what drives me,” he said. “The great paradox is you get to keep something by giving it away. And I get to do that.”
West Virginia
West Virginia Lottery results: See winning numbers for Daily 3, Daily 4 on Jan. 8, 2026
Are you looking to win big? The West Virginia Lottery offers a variety of games if you think it’s your lucky day.
Lottery players in West Virginia can choose from popular national games like the Powerball and Mega Millions, which are available in the vast majority of states. Other games include Lotto America, Daily 3, Daily 4 and Cash 25.
Big lottery wins around the U.S. include a lucky lottery ticketholder in California who won a $1.27 billion Mega Millions jackpot in December 2024. See more big winners here. And if you do end up cashing a jackpot, here’s what experts say to do first.
Here’s a look at Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026 results for each game:
Winning Daily 3 numbers from Jan. 8 drawing
8-1-9
Check Daily 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Daily 4 numbers from Jan. 8 drawing
9-6-6-7
Check Daily 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Cash 25 numbers from Jan. 8 drawing
02-05-06-11-12-17
Check Cash 25 payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
When are the West Virginia Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 11 p.m. ET on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 10:59 p.m. ET Tuesday and Friday.
- Lotto America: 10:15 p.m. ET on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Daily 3, 4: 6:59 p.m. ET Monday through Saturday.
- Cash 25: 6:59 p.m. ET Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.
Winning lottery numbers are sponsored by Jackpocket, the official digital lottery courier of the USA TODAY Network.
Where can you buy lottery tickets?
Tickets can be purchased in person at gas stations, convenience stores and grocery stores. Some airport terminals may also sell lottery tickets.
You can also order tickets online through Jackpocket, the official digital lottery courier of the USA TODAY Network, in these U.S. states and territories: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Washington D.C., and West Virginia. The Jackpocket app allows you to pick your lottery game and numbers, place your order, see your ticket and collect your winnings all using your phone or home computer.
Jackpocket is the official digital lottery courier of the USA TODAY Network. Gannett may earn revenue for audience referrals to Jackpocket services. GAMBLING PROBLEM? CALL 1-800-GAMBLER, Call 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY). 18+ (19+ in NE, 21+ in AZ). Physically present where Jackpocket operates. Jackpocket is not affiliated with any State Lottery. Eligibility Restrictions apply. Void where prohibited. Terms: jackpocket.com/tos.
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Wisconsin has added a transfer portal commitment from former West Virginia defensive lineman Hammond Russell.
Russell played in 36 games for the Mountaineers during his career. As a senior, the 6-foot-3, 315-pound lineman posted 13.0 tackles and 2.0 sacks. For his career, Hammond has 40.0 tackles and 5.5 sacks. Russell is expected to get a redshirt for his 2022 season, in which he missed the entirety of due to a broken foot and a concussion.
A three-star recruit coming out of Dublin, Ohio, Russell chose WVU over Indiana, Iowa State, Michigan State, Pittsburgh, Minnesota, Illinois, Cincinnati, Kentucky, Purdue, and more.
During his transfer portal recruitment, Russell also visited Kansas.
Russell joins a Wisconsin defensive line that’s set to return junior Charles Perkins and sophomore Dillan Johnson, among others. The Badgers also signed Junior Poyser out of Buffalo this week.
Russell is currently unranked as a transfer prospect, according to On3. He will have one year of eligibility remaining.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The third quarter of Wednesday’s contest against 17th-ranked Texas Tech was among West Virginia’s best this season from an offensive standpoint.
What followed in the fourth, however, was perhaps the worst 10-minute stretch on that end through 16 contests. The Mountaineers missed numerous decent looks and shot 3 for 19 from the field and 6 for 12 on free throws in the final frame, while squandering a six-point advantage with inside 8 minutes remaining and falling to the unbeaten Red Raiders, 71-66.
“We took one bad shot that I didn’t like at all and had a bad turnover late, but we got 19 shots off in the fourth quarter and most were pretty good looks,” WVU head coach Mark Kellogg said. “We just didn’t convert. The defensive end concerns me as much as the offensive end. Giving up 40 points in the second half is way too many.”
Of WVU’s three fourth-quarter buckets, only one within the first 9:34 — a layup from Kierra ‘MeMe’ Wheeler with 7:10 remaining that left the home team with a 58-53 lead and came directly after Texas Tech’s Bailey Maupin had made a three-pointer.
Despite the offensive struggles, WVU dug in enough defensively to maintain a 61-57 advantage with inside 2 minutes remaining before the game turned in the visitors’ favor over a 7-second stretch.
Snudda Collins scored on a drive to the basket, while being fouled by Carter McCray in the process. With 1:59 left, Collins stepped to the free-throw line but was unable to convert the three-point play. Tech’s Jalynn Bristow came up with a pivotal offensive rebound, and found Maupin on the perimeter, who drained her fourth and final triple to give the Red Raiders (17-0, 4-0) a 62-61 lead at the 1:52 mark.
“They’re really good in the third quarter and I would venture to say we’re really good in the fourth quarter from previous games,” Red Raiders’ head coach Krista Gerlich said. “I’m not real sure fatigue played a factor in it as much as our kids just kind of locked down, really tried to defend and we got better on the glass. They missed a lot of easy shots early in the fourth quarter and that maybe played toward fatigue, but our kids did a good job on the glass and limiting second-chance opportunities, and we quit fouling a bit.”
Jordan Harrison missed a pair of threes on WVU’s ensuing trip, before Maupin made two free throws for a three-point advantage with 38 seconds left.
“What a basketball game. We knew coming in this was going to be a huge challenge and I’m super proud of our kids for being resilient for four quarters,” Gerlich said.
Harrison scored from close range 13 seconds later, but the Red Raiders continued to excel from the free-throw line and Collins made a pair for a 66-63 lead with 20 seconds to play.
Maupin then stole a Gia Cooke pass and made 1-of-2 free throws to make it a two-possession game, before another Mountaineer turnover all but ended any hope of late heroics for the home team.
“We made a lot of mistakes. They sped us up a little bit, but the mistakes we made were on us,” Harrison said. “When we go back and watch the film, we’ll see there was an easier way to score — slow down and read the defense.”
The third period was a far different story as WVU (13-3, 3-1) overcame a 31-28 halftime deficit by making 10-of-13 shots in what amounted to a 25-point frame. Harrison was the catalyst for the success, scoring 11 points on 4-for-4 shooting and dishing out three assists, while McCray continued to be a presence inside and scored seven points on 3-for-3 shooting.
But Texas Tech managed 19 points in the third to stay well within striking distance, with the Red Raiders making half of their six three-point attempts in that quarter, including both from Denae Fritz.
“You’re up six in the fourth, you’re supposed to find a way to win that game,” Kellogg said.
The entirety of the game was played within six points, with Tech’s largest lead coming at 29-23 after a Collins triple.
McCray and Harrison combined for the next five points, before Maupin capped the first-half scoring with a pair of free throws. She scored 11 of her game-high 27 points through two quarters and 13 more in the fourth.
“No basketball game is all ups and no basketball game is all downs,” Maupin said. “It’s finding a balance between your highs and lows and managing that to be able to come out with a win.”
Collins scored 19 points to help her team finish with a 25-2 advantage in bench points.
Tech finished with a 37-33 rebounding edge, and despite having 16 offensive boards to WVU’s 18, the Red Raiders accounted for 20 of the game’s 28 second-chance points.
“We got a lot of offensive rebounds and didn’t convert very many of them,” Kellogg said.
Harrison led four WVU double-figure scorers with 22 points and added five rebounds and five assists.
McCray added 15 points and Wheeler scored 11 to go with a team-best nine boards. Sydney Shaw scored 10 but shot 4 for 14, while Cooke was held to six points on 2-for-9 shooting.
The Mountaineers forced 20 turnovers, but managed only four steals.
“We had too many things go wrong that we had control of,” McCray said, “and that led to our detriment in the end.”
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