The Sacklers, who own Purdue Pharma, maker of Oxycontin, have maintained they did nothing wrong. People who lost loved ones and years of their lives to opioid addiction believe otherwise.
Researchers say cocaine, meth and other street drugs are increasingly contaminated with deadly synthetic opioids, contributing to a major spike in deaths.
The bankruptcy follows the Sackler family, which owns Purdue, agreeing to surrender control of the company and offering $3 billion in cash to opioid-hit communities.
The pending settlement likely means Purdue will avoid going to trial in the sprawling and complicated case involving some 2,300 local governments across 23 states.
A group of state attorneys general negotiating with members of the Sackler family says they expect Purdue Pharma to file for bankruptcy "imminently," according to an email obtained by NPR.
Over three days, more than 100 people fell ill after smoking a batch of K2 officials say was laced with AB-Fubinaca. Police Chief Anthony Campbell said chemical was "knocking people down."
An FDA advisory committee last week urged approval of a drug containing cannabidiol to treat a form of epilepsy. Other scientists wonder if CBD might ease anxiety or other disorders, too.
Opioids are a public health emergency, Donald Trump says, but he hasn't acted on the White House opioid commission's recommendations to expand treatment.
For Vietnam veterans who have lived a lifetime with the memories of war, what some say they want in death is often more nuanced and complicated than a civilian's desire.
A paramedic in Pittsburgh says he and his team respond to opioid overdoses "probably at least daily." President Trump declared the crisis a public health emergency on Thursday.
So far this year, more than 1 in 4 donations in New England are from people who died after a drug overdose — a much higher rate than in the U.S. overall, though it's not clear why.
Set to open within a few weeks, the room will not be a place to inject drugs or get high, say health providers. Instead, a nurse will monitor heroin users as they come down from the drug's effects.
Reframing addiction as a chronic illness would help people get appropriate treatment and benefit the health care system, says A. Thomas McLellan, co-founder of the Treatment Research Institute.
Roughly 2.5 million Americans are addicted to heroin and opioids like Oxycontin. Researchers say addiction takes over the brain's limbic reward system, impairing decision making, judgment and memory.
Expensive versions of prescription opioids that are tougher to cut, crush and inject are less likely to be abused, legislators hope. But some doctors call the bill well-meant, but ill-advised.
