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.

A New Jersey doctor who authorities said described himself as “Candy Man” and “El Chapo of Opioids” was sentenced Thursday to six years in prison for prescribing opioids without a legitimate medical purpose.

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

Pharmaceutical company Allergan Finance LLC will pay $200 million to New York state and two of its counties as part of an agreement that removes it from an ongoing state lawsuit over the opioid crisis

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

Sixteen individuals have been indicted for their roles in trafficking prescription opioids and cocaine in New York City, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced Wednesday. According to two indictments — unsealed in Kings County Supreme Court — the group sold tens of thousands of prescription oxycodone pills, worth about $500,000, and more than 500 grams of…

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.

New York City and 21 of New York’s counties on Tuesday announced a lawsuit against consulting firm McKinsey & Company, accusing the company of contributing to the opioid crisis by helping create strategies to increase prescription drug sales

A New York doctor who illegally distributed painkillers and solicited sexual favors from some younger patients in exchange for opioid prescriptions has been sentenced to nearly five years in prison, federal prosecutors announced

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.