• New omicron variant brings COVID-19 vaccine inequity 'home to roost'

    New omicron variant brings COVID-19 vaccine inequity 'home to roost'

    Nov 29, 2021 08:17 PM EDT

    ... among others, it admonished that "the majority of the donations to date have been ad hoc, provided with little notice and short shelf lives." Fury over dose dumping is already very real. In Malawi and South Sudan, tens of thousands of out-of-date doses were destroyed. But it's ...

  • November 18, 2021 - PBS NewsHour full episode

    November 18, 2021 - PBS NewsHour full episode

    Nov 19, 2021 01:10 AM EDT

    Thursday on the NewsHour, the House of Representatives is on the verge of passing the president's Build Back Better bill. Then, drug overdose deaths in the U.S. hit an all-time high in what the Biden administration calls "a national crisis." And, many incarcerated women are victims of ...

  • Biden picks former FDA chief Califf to again lead the agency

    Biden picks former FDA chief Califf to again lead the agency

    Nov 12, 2021 04:14 PM EDT

    ... drug and device study data. But his brief time as commissioner was dominated by unrelated pharmaceutical controversies, including the surging epidemic of opioid addiction and overdoses. He was among the first FDA officials to publicly acknowledge missteps in the agency’s oversight of painkillers like OxyContin, which is widely blamed ...

  • Oklahoma court overturns $465 million opioid ruling against Johnson & Johnson

    Oklahoma court overturns $465 million opioid ruling against Johnson & Johnson

    Nov 09, 2021 06:20 PM EDT

    State statistics show that from 2007 to 2017, more than 4,600 people in Oklahoma died from overdoses from opioids of all kinds, including prescription painkillers and illicit versions such as heroin and illegally made fentanyl. Nationally, opioids have been linked to more than 500,000 deaths since 2000. The ...

  • What young Americans think about vaccines and mandates

    What young Americans think about vaccines and mandates

    Nov 04, 2021 04:00 PM EDT

    ... 18 report from the CDC, emergency department visits tied to mental health rose 31 percent among adolescents in 2020 compared to the previous year. Drug overdose deaths surged in 2020. But suicides declined, defying expectations, and some experts suggest the data do not yet portray such a dire picture for ...

  • First steps made in Congress to honor pop superstar Prince

    First steps made in Congress to honor pop superstar Prince

    Oct 25, 2021 07:57 PM EDT

    ... a statement. Prince, whose hits include "Little Red Corvette," "Let's Go Crazy" and "When Doves Cry," died April 21, 2016, of an accidental fentanyl overdose at age 57 at his Paisley Park estate in Chanhassen, Minnesota. The resolution for Prince is led by Klobuchar and U.S. Rep. Ilhan ...

  • WATCH: Secretary Blinken, Mexico Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard give remarks

    WATCH: Secretary Blinken, Mexico Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard give remarks

    Oct 08, 2021 05:15 PM EDT

    ... with the United Nations to launch a program to better manage shipping containers to limit the importation of chemical precursors for synthetic drugs like fentanyl. Mexico seized an estimated 1.3 tons of the synthetic opioid last year. That same year, the U.S. recorded 93,000 drug overdose deaths.

  • American pharmacies face trial in Ohio over role in opioid crisis

    American pharmacies face trial in Ohio over role in opioid crisis

    Oct 06, 2021 10:45 PM EDT

    ... drug treatment, addiction treatment, health care programs can go on in communities all over the United States. And this is happening in a year when overdose deaths are expected to top 100,000 fatalities for the first time in American history. This is a devastating, ongoing crisis. There is not ...

  • Autopsy: Actor Michael K. Williams died of drug intoxication

    Autopsy: Actor Michael K. Williams died of drug intoxication

    Sep 25, 2021 07:13 PM EDT

    ... 6 in Brooklyn. Williams, 54, was found dead by family members in his penthouse apartment. Police said at the time that they suspected a drug overdose. The city's Office of Chief Medical Examiner said it would not comment further. A message seeking comment was left with Williams' representative. Williams ...

  • Fentanyl is making its way into various drugs sold in the U.S. Here's how it gets there

    Fentanyl is making its way into various drugs sold in the U.S. Here's how it gets there

    Sep 15, 2021 10:35 PM EDT

    ... with long stretches of fenceless border. Arizona State Senator Christine Marsh's 25-year-old son, Landon, was one of last year's 90,000 overdose deaths. Since fentanyl is so inexpensive, it has made its way into virtually every illicit drug. Fentanyl is now found in cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin ...