July 15, 2019
In the first trial aimed at holding drug companies accountable for the opioid crisis, Oklahoma earlier this year reeled in more than $350 million in settlement payments from drugmakers Purdue Pharma and Teva.
May 13, 2019
Most states are keeping a close eye on opioid overdose deaths, but they may need to start focusing on cocaine and other stimulants as well. It turns out that the same lethal drug that has been driving the nation’s spiraling opioid epidemic is also causing an historic surge in overdose deaths among cocaine users.
May 28, 2019
On the eve of today’s opioid trial in Oklahoma, a second drugmaker has settled with the state. Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter announced an $85 million settlement agreement with Israeli-based Teva Pharmaceuticals for its alleged part in the state’s opioid crisis.
May 24, 2019
As tornadoes circled this quiet college town earlier this month, dozens of attorneys sharpened their strategies inside a modestly appointed courtroom that will host what is expected to be the longest and highest-stakes trial in Oklahoma history.
May 21, 2019
To stem the opioid epidemic, U.S. doctors cut prescriptions of medications such as OxyContin, Vicodin and Percocet by at least a quarter over the last five years. But the reduction in prescriptions came at a cost to some pain patients.
May 1, 2019
It’s increasingly likely that someone you know has the opioid overdose rescue drug naloxone in their pocket or medicine cabinet. In fact, a new mobile app, NaloxoFind, will tell you whether anyone nearby is carrying the lifesaving drug.
April 18, 2019
Drugged driving is a growing concern as more states legalize marijuana and the opioid epidemic rages on. To fight it, more communities are training police officers to draw drivers’ blood at police stations or in vans.
April 15, 2019
In the Bible Belt, many Southerners who held conservative views often criticized harm reduction as something that encouraged — not ended — the use of drugs. Those practices, in many states, were banned outright.
April 11, 2019
It’s long been suspected that the nation’s unprecedented drug overdose epidemic and sharply rising suicide rates are linked.
April 9, 2019
Babies and toddlers are entering the foster care system at a higher rate, a trend that some child welfare experts fear is correlated to the opioid and methamphetamine epidemics wreaking havoc across the country.
April 4, 2019
After securing a hefty financial settlement from Purdue Pharma last month, Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter is training the state’s legal armaments on a much bigger pharmaceutical player: Johnson & Johnson.
March 26, 2019
Purdue Pharma, the manufacturer of OxyContin, has agreed to pay Oklahoma close to $275 million to settle a landmark opioid lawsuit. The company’s owners, the Sackler family, agreed to pay an additional $75 million..
February 26, 2019
Some of the communities hit hardest by the opioid epidemic and a related methamphetamine spike also are facing another health crisis: a steep rise in syphilis. It isn’t a coincidence.
February 14, 2019
In the legal battle to hold drug companies responsible for the country’s raging opioid epidemic, media attention largely has focused on a national lawsuit set for a late October trial in federal court in Cleveland, Ohio. But it may be upstaged by a lesser-known opioid case: Oklahoma v. Purdue Pharma, scheduled for trial in May in the Cleveland County Courthouse in Norman, Oklahoma.
January 30, 2019
Dozens of doctors, nurses and researchers here at the Medical University of South Carolina are working on new opioid treatment projects many say they never dreamed possible.
January 7, 2019
Ever since the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl started showing up in the U.S. illicit drug supply eight years ago, experts have surmised that drug traffickers were using the inexpensive white powder to boost the potency of heroin, sometimes adding too much and inadvertently killing their customers.
October 4, 2018
In a rare bipartisan effort, Congress approved sprawling legislation — the Opioid Crisis Response Act of 2018 — designed to make it easier for states to expand access to addiction treatment. President Donald Trump has promised to sign the bill.
September 21, 2018
Despite a raging drug overdose epidemic that is killing nearly 200 Americans every day and sending thousands more to emergency rooms, the vast majority of the nation’s more than 5,500 hospitals have so far avoided offering any form of addiction medicine to emergency patients.
August 14, 2018
Sleep deprivation, dramatic hormonal shifts and the day-to-day realities of caring for an infant create enormous stress for all women, but especially for those who are struggling to stay in recovery from drug use.
May 10, 2018
Doctors who are cutting back on prescribing opioids increasingly are opting for gabapentin, a safer, non-narcotic drug recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
November 14, 2017
As opioid overdoses spiral, first responders and public health agencies are adopting a smartphone application that tracks both deaths and rescues as they happen.
November 6, 2017
In a high-stress profession, doctors succumb to drug addiction at a higher rate than the general population. A state-sponsored confidential treatment program helps them get back to work.
August 28, 2017
A rise in injection drug use is fueling a spike in hepatitis C among young opioid and heroin users.
August 14, 2017
A town in southwest Virginia has the highest per capita opioid prescribing level in the country. New state prescribing rules could help change that.
July 6, 2017
As opioid overdose deaths skyrocket, state and local medical examiners are working overtime to determine which drugs are killing people.
