opioid epidemic

San Diego County could soon have a new weapon in its arsenal to help fight its growing problem with opioid addiction.

The Centers for Disease Control revealed Wednesday that the U.S. set a grim record in 2021 with 107,000 overdose deaths.

President Joe Biden is sending his administration’s first national drug control strategy to Congress

Community activists in South Florida sprang into action after West Point cadets on spring break were sickened by fentanyl-laced cocaine at a house party

There often is a serious downside for people taking medications that have a long track record of helping treat opioid addiction: discrimination

With fentanyl driving fatal overdoses to record levels in the U.S., state governments are scrambling for solutions

A bellwether trial is set to start Monday in federal court in Cleveland to determine whether retail pharmacy chains are liable for costs related to the opioid crisis in two Ohio counties

A trial is now underway for a potential opioid vaccine — meant to protect against a deadly opioid overdose.

A landmark settlement in the nation’s opioid epidemic is forcing the owners of OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma to give up the company and pay out $4.5 billion

Overdose deaths soared to a record 93,000 last year in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic

Many hip hop songs normalize opioids and other drugs, a fact that is left out of public health approaches to the opioid epidemic, says Kaiser Health News reporter Chaseedaw Giles. At the same time, many people are unaware of side effects like withdrawal – which could be solved with public health messaging that looks to the culture and incorporates it.

Doctors say they’re facing increasing threats of violence for refusing to prescribe opioids or trying to wean patients off the addictive painkillers.

The CDC reports that overdose fatalities in the U.S. have spiked during the coronavirus pandemic.

Doctors explain the stress of isolation, loss of work and loss of health coverage are partially to blame — but they’re finding that something else is causing the spike in overdoses.

Purdue Pharma, the manufacturer of the painkiller Oxycontin, pleaded guilty to charges for its role in the opioid crisis. 

The Department of Justice announced Wednesday that Purdue Pharma agreed to plead guilty to criminal charges for their marketing of OxyContin.

A federal judge entered a final order Tuesday on his ruling last year that a nonprofit’s proposal to open the nation’s first supervised injection site for opioid users in Philadelphia does not violate federal law.

A class-action lawsuit filed in federal court in San Diego claims a lack of proper supervision and procedures allowed a local doctor to get high while treating patients. The complaint – filed on Jan. 24 – claims the UC San Diego Medical Center played a years-long game of “Russian Roulette by failing to tell hundreds of patients that a drug-addicted…

Police said they found multiple medicine bottles around the family’s Bensalem apartment including one in the baby’s swing.

Overdose tracking systems are giving near real-time glimpses into the ravages of the opioid-fueled drug crisis. The Hudson Valley Interlink Analytic System in New York is among a number of surveillance systems being adopted around the country by police, government agencies and community groups.