• News Wrap: Inflation rises to highest level in 40 years

    News Wrap: Inflation rises to highest level in 40 years

    Feb 10, 2022 11:55 PM EDT

    Back in this country, the CDC proposed today to ease guidelines on how doctors prescribe opioid painkillers. Since 2016, there have been strict limits on the drugs, in an effort to slow an overdose epidemic. The proposed changes would give doctors more leeway in treating patients with severe pain. The ...

  • Toxicologist testifies that drugs and heart disease did not kill George Floyd

    Toxicologist testifies that drugs and heart disease did not kill George Floyd

    Feb 10, 2022 12:30 AM EDT

    ... that on video from inside a convenience store before his fatal encounter with police, Floyd did not appear to be seriously intoxicated or experiencing an overdose. But he did not dispute a store clerk's earlier testimony that Floyd seemed high. "He was awake, walking, communicating, walking quickly at times ...

  • New report details the scale of the U.S. opioid crisis and its link to drug trafficking

    New report details the scale of the U.S. opioid crisis and its link to drug trafficking

    Feb 09, 2022 11:40 PM EDT

    William Brangham: Like many of us, I know that this issue is deeply personal for you. Your nephew Ian struggled for many years with addiction and eventually died of an overdose. And, as you have commented publicly, this touches so many people in this country, Republicans, Democrats and everybody else ...

  • News Wrap: CDC director stands by guidance for masks in schools

    News Wrap: CDC director stands by guidance for masks in schools

    Feb 08, 2022 11:50 PM EDT

    ... had pledged that he would fire any abusive staffer on the spot. A bipartisan congressional commission is calling for a new strategy on the opioid overdose epidemic. In a report today, the group envisions stepped-up law enforcement and diplomacy to shut off ingredients for synthetic opioids. It also called ...

  • With housing costs rising, tiny homes offer one solution to address homelessness

    With housing costs rising, tiny homes offer one solution to address homelessness

    Feb 07, 2022 09:51 PM EDT

    ... never thought in my lifetime I’d have to shoot Narcan into somebody, but I did,” he said, referring to the treatment that reverses opioid overdoses. “I witnessed a man be shot. I witnessed stabbings. That was not a good place.” The 54-year-old sets out on his bike ...

  • News Wrap: Biden sends thousands of troops to Europe as Russian forces amass near Ukraine

    News Wrap: Biden sends thousands of troops to Europe as Russian forces amass near Ukraine

    Feb 02, 2022 11:55 PM EDT

    ... Dr.Walensky said it is still true that most patients hospitalized with COVID are unvaccinated. Four men have been charged with narcotics conspiracy in the overdose death of actor Michael K. Williams. Federal prosecutors in New York said today the men were in a drug crew that sold heroin laced ...

  • Why a judge rejected a settlement with the Sackler family for their role in opioid crisis

    Why a judge rejected a settlement with the Sackler family for their role in opioid crisis

    Dec 24, 2021 11:45 PM EDT

    ... real problem for us. Patrick Radden Keefe: Yes, I mean, this is a reality, a terrible reality of this story; 100,000 people died of overdoses last year. The costs of the crisis are estimated to be in the trillions of dollars. So you do have a lot of communities ...

  • 2021 likely to eclipse last year as nation's deadliest, CDC says

    2021 likely to eclipse last year as nation's deadliest, CDC says

    Dec 22, 2021 03:31 PM EDT

    ... at 356,000, and the final tally could hit 370,000, Anderson said. Experts also think the 2021 numbers will be affected by a drug overdose epidemic that is expected to — for the first time — surpass 100,000 deaths in a calendar year. An increase in annual deaths is not ...

  • Cities, towns decimated by opioids are close to receiving $28 billion settlement

    Cities, towns decimated by opioids are close to receiving $28 billion settlement

    Dec 14, 2021 05:05 PM EDT

    McMINNVILLE, Ore. (AP) — The opioid epidemic blew into this picturesque Oregon town like a toxic wind, leaving overdoses, addiction, homelessness and wrecked families in its wake. In a humble, single-story brick building, three blocks from downtown McMinnville's wine-tasting rooms and cafes, staffers and volunteers of a recovery ...

  • Do safe drug consumption sites save lives? Here's what we know about NYC's new venture

    Do safe drug consumption sites save lives? Here's what we know about NYC's new venture

    Dec 13, 2021 11:25 PM EDT

    ... doing the right thing for the right people.William Brangham: In the nearly two weeks these sites have been open, the nonprofit running them says 330 people have used them, and 36 people have been resuscitated from overdoses. For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm William Brangham in New York City.