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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
British drug maker Indivior faces felony charges after allegedly trying to falsely convince doctors that its opioid products were safer than cheaper generic alternatives.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
State Attorney General Pam Bondi's office announced Friday that it had added the drugstore chains to a lawsuit filed in May against opioid distributors and manufacturers.
Join us for a live discussion of major issues facing rural America, based on a recent poll by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Critics, including some leading anesthesiologists, say the drug is unnecessary, and they worry it will be diverted and abused. The Food And Drug Administration says it is addressing safety concerns.
Despite a reputation for being suspicious of government and outsiders, some rural residents now say state funds are needed to help fix the big economic and drug problems faced by small towns.
Within days of an OD from opioids or other drugs, users in Huntington, W.Va., are visited by a quick-response team at home, the hospital or in jail. Reversing an OD is just recovery's first step.
Overdose deaths started to level off near the end of 2017 and are "finally bending in the right direction," says Alex Azar, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, citing early data.
College campuses are growing increasingly concerned about how to keep students safe amid a national opioid crisis. Some schools provide free and easy access to drugs that can reverse an overdose.
RENO, Nev. (AP) — The U.S. Justice Department has awarded the Reno Police Department a pair of grants totaling nearly $1.7 million to help combat opioid abuse and reduce gun violence.
