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NPR
Law
Members of P.A.I.N. (Prescription Addiction Intervention Now) and Truth Pharm staged a protest on Thursday outside Purdue Pharma headquarters in Stamford, Conn., over its recent controversial opioid settlement.

New York AG Says Sacklers Transferred $1B From Pharma Accounts To Themselves

Sep 13, 2019
The revelation comes after almost two dozen states reached a tentative settlement with the maker of OxyContin.
KNPR
Newscast headlines

Nevada AG Won't Accept Purdue Pharma Lawsuit Settlement

Sep 12, 2019
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Nevada's Attorney General says he won't accept a tentative deal that OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma has reached with about half the states and thousands of local governments over the deadly opioid epidemic.
 
Attorney General Aaron Ford said
NPR
Shots - Health News

How To Teach Future Doctors About Pain In The Midst Of The Opioid Crisis

Sep 11, 2019
Around 20% of U.S. adults live with chronic pain. Medical schools traditionally haven't dedicated much time to teaching about pain and pain control, but one top school now has a mandatory course.
KNPR
KNPR's State of Nevada

Drug Makers 'Know What's Coming,' Says Nevada Opioid Lawsuit Lawyer

Sep 09, 2019

The private attorney representing Clark, Washoe and several other Nevada counties in suing drug manufacturers says it will take decades to address the legacy of the opioid epidemic.

NPR
Shots - Health News
Supporters of safe injection sites in Philadelphia rallied outside this week's federal hearing. The judge's ultimate ruling will determine if the proposed "Safehouse" facility to prevent deaths from opioid overdose would violate the federal Controlled Su

Trump Administration Is In Court To Block Nation's First Supervised Injection Site

Sep 06, 2019
Efforts to combat Philadelphia's opioid crisis with a supervised injection site could be stymied by a portion of federal law meant to protect neighborhoods during the crack epidemic of the 1980s.
NPR
Shots - Health News
Bags of heroin, some laced with fentanyl, picked up in a 2016 New York City drug bust. "Basically, [fentanyl] is so cheap to produce and it's so powerful, that drug dealers began realizing it was a way to increase their profits," <em>Fentanyl, Inc. </em>

Fentanyl As A Dark Web Profit Center, From Chinese Labs To U.S. Streets

Sep 04, 2019
Fentanyl, Inc. author Ben Westhoff says the opioid, while useful in hospitals, is killing more Americans as a street drug than any other in U.S. history. Here's how it moves from China to your corner.
KNPR
Newscast headlines

Lawyer In Nevada Opioids Suits Sees Boost From Oklahoma Case

Aug 29, 2019
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The lawyer heading Nevada's largest lawsuits against drug manufacturers accused of fueling the nation's opioid addiction crisis predicted Wednesday that companies could be on the hook for judgments in the billions of dollars if cases go before juries.
NPR
Shots - Health News
State's attorney Brad Beckworth lays out one of his closing arguments in Oklahoma's case against drugmaker Johnson & Johnson at the Cleveland County Courthouse in Norman, Okla. in July. The judge in the case ruled Monday that J&J must pay $572 million to

Oklahoma Wanted $17 Billion To Fight Its Opioid Crisis: What's The Real Cost?

Aug 26, 2019
The $572 million judgment against Johnson & Johnson will cover one year of addiction treatment and prevention the judge says. But health economists predict it will take decades to abate the problem.
KNPR
Newscast headlines

Report: Government Hospitals Put Native Americans At Risk For Opioid Abuse, Overdose

Jul 23, 2019

U.S. government hospitals put Native American patients at increased risk for opioid abuse and overdoses, according to a new report.

NPR
Shots - Health News
Nationally, drug overdose deaths reached record levels in 2017, when a group protested in New York City on Overdose Awareness Day on August 31. Deaths appear to have declined slightly in 2018, based on provisional numbers, but nearly 68,000 people still

U.S. Overdose Deaths Dipped In 2018, But Some States Saw 'Devastating' Increases

Jul 18, 2019
Provisional overdose data for 2018 show a note of hope in an overall bleak picture. But in some states, the numbers actually got worse. What explains the disparities?
KNPR
Newscast headlines

Data Shows Flood Of Opioids Across US, Many Of Them Generics

Jul 18, 2019

WASHINGTON (AP) — The maker of OxyContin has been cast as the chief villain in the nation's opioid crisis. But newly released government figures suggest Purdue Pharma had plenty of help in flooding the U.S. with billions of pills even as overdose deaths were accelerating.

KNPR
Newscast headlines

Nevada Attorney General Files Wide-Ranging Opioid Lawsuit

Jun 17, 2019
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Nevada's attorney general expanded the state's lawsuit against the maker of the opioid OxyContin on Monday to include the company's former president, his family, other drug makers, distributors and drugstores, including Walgreens, CVS and Walmart.
 
NPR
National
Teva Pharmaceuticals has reached a settlement with the state of Oklahoma over its alleged role in fueling the opioid epidemic. In March, drugmaker Purdue Pharma agreed to a $270 million settlement.

Teva Pharmaceuticals Agrees To $85 Million Settlement With Oklahoma In Opioid Case

May 26, 2019
Oklahoma's attorney general had filed a lawsuit against the Israel-based company for its alleged role in fueling the opioid crisis.
KNPR
Newscast headlines

AG Ford Hires Eglet Prince Law Firm In Opioid Lawsuit

Apr 24, 2019

Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford’s office will hire the law firm Eglet Prince to represent the state in a lawsuit against opioid manufacturers and producers.

In January, state legislators approved Ford’s office to pursue outside legal help in the lawsuit.

NPR
Law
Former Rochester Drug Co-Operative CEO Laurence Doud III, facing criminal charges stemming from the opioid crisis, leaves the federal courthouse in Manhattan on Tuesday.

Drug Distributor And Former Execs Face First Criminal Charges In Opioid Crisis

Apr 23, 2019
A DEA official said the indictments are meant to send "shock waves" through the pharmaceutical industry to remind it of its responsibility to help control prescription medications.
NPR
Business

Opioid Maker Charged With Fraud In Marketing Drug As Less Prone To Abuse

Apr 09, 2019
British drug maker Indivior faces felony charges after allegedly trying to falsely convince doctors that its opioid products were safer than cheaper generic alternatives.
NPR
Asia
Liu Yuejin of China's National Narcotics Control Commission speaks at a Beijing press conference on Monday. He announced that all fentanyl-related drugs will become controlled substances, effective May 1.

China To Close Loophole On Fentanyl After U.S. Calls For Opioid Action

Apr 01, 2019
Some manufacturers evaded scrutiny by slightly modifying the molecular structures of substances. Monday's announcement "puts a wider array of substances under regulation," a Chinese official says.
NPR
Shots - Health News
Purdue Pharma, headquartered in Stamford, Conn., the Sackler family, which owns the company, settled a case brought by the Oklahoma attorney general.

Purdue Pharma Agrees To $270 Million Opioid Settlement With Oklahoma

Mar 26, 2019
The maker of OxyContin will pay to settle a historic opioid lawsuit brought by the attorney general of Oklahoma. Will other drugmakers named in the lawsuit follow?
NPR
Europe
"We fully respect and support the Sackler family's decision," says a spokesperson for the National Portrait Gallery in central London, after a gift was withdrawn. Members of the Sackler family are accused of pursuing profits on OxyContin amid an opioid c

Sackler Family's Donation To British Museum Is Quashed Over Opioid Fallout

Mar 20, 2019
The U.K.'s National Portrait Gallery and the Sackler family — owners of the company that makes OxyContin — say they're concerned that allegations of profiteering could overshadow the gift.
NPR
Shots - Health News
Graphic facilitator Emily Jane Steinberg rendered a visual summary in real time of the conversation at an opioid summit held in Stroud, Okla., in late February.

Commentary: Can Oklahoma Eliminate Overdose Deaths?

Mar 08, 2019
While there's been progress in lowering the death rate from prescription opioids in Oklahoma, the number of opioid prescriptions written in the state outpaces the national average.
KNPR
Newscast headlines

Report: Pilot Opioid Use A Cause In Nevada Plane Crash

Mar 06, 2019
RENO (AP) — Opioid abuse by the pilot was among the likely causes of a fatal airplane crash in Nevada that killed the pilot and his two passengers, the National Transportation Safety Board has said.
 
The Reno Gazette-Journal reported Tuesday that the agency names the likely
KNPR
Newscast headlines

Rural Nevada Hospital Exec Guilty Of Opioid Charges

Feb 07, 2019

WINNEMUCCA, Nev. (AP) — A senior doctor at a rural hospital in northern Nevada has pleaded guilty to writing illegal prescriptions for narcotics including opioids without a medical purpose.

KNPR
Newscast headlines

Utah House Passed Bill To Study Opioid Overdoses

Feb 05, 2019

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Utah House has passed a proposal to create a committee to review drug overdose deaths.

KNPR
Newscast headlines

Nevada AG Gets Approval To Hire Firm To Sue Opioid Makers

Feb 01, 2019

 

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — The Nevada attorney general's office has received clearance to hire a law firm to sue opioid manufacturers.

NPR
Shots - Health News
A highly potent synthetic opioid, fentanyl is often mixed in to other drugs sold on the street, including pills, heroin and even cocaine.

Fentanyl Surpasses Heroin As Drug Most Often Involved In Deadly Overdoses

Dec 12, 2018
When fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 50 to 100 times more powerful than morphine, infiltrated the drug supply in the U.S. it had an immediate, dramatic effect on the overdose rate.

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