• A secret look at a Mexican cartel's low-tech, multimillion-dollar fentanyl operation

    A secret look at a Mexican cartel's low-tech, multimillion-dollar fentanyl operation

    Sep 14, 2021 10:25 PM EDT

    ... much stronger and deadlier. Since fentanyl is added into almost every drug in the illicit market, it helps explain the cost of over 90,000 overdose deaths last year in the United States. The cartel chemist says the spike in overdose deaths is the fault of local dealers in America ...

  • Efforts grow to end use of potentially harmful parasite drug touted to treat COVID-19

    Efforts grow to end use of potentially harmful parasite drug touted to treat COVID-19

    Sep 07, 2021 10:24 PM EDT

    ... worms and other parasites in humans and animals. Federal health officials have seen a surge in prescriptions this summer, accompanied by worrying increases in reported overdoses. The drug was even given to inmates at a jail in northwest Arkansas for COVID-19, despite federal warnings against that use. On Wednesday ...

  • Actor Michael K. Williams, Omar on 'The Wire,' dead at 54

    Actor Michael K. Williams, Omar on 'The Wire,' dead at 54

    Sep 06, 2021 09:42 PM EDT

    ... dead Monday afternoon in his Brooklyn penthouse apartment, New York City police said. He was 54. His death was being investigated as a possible drug overdose, the NYPD said. Little, a “stick-up boy” based on real figures from Baltimore, was probably the most beloved character among the devoted fans ...

  • Deal with OxyContin maker leaves families angry, conflicted

    Deal with OxyContin maker leaves families angry, conflicted

    Sep 02, 2021 06:17 PM EDT

    "You don't take the architects of the opioid crisis and give them a sweetheart deal," said Ed Bisch, whose 18-year-old son died of an overdose nearly 20 years ago. "Where is the deterrent?" Bisch, who has spent more than a decade pushing for the Sacklers to ...

  • Judge conditionally approves Purdue Pharma opioid settlement

    Judge conditionally approves Purdue Pharma opioid settlement

    Sep 01, 2021 09:09 PM EDT

    ... attorney-client privilege. Purdue has said the settlement overall will be worth about $10 billion, a figure that includes the value of addiction treatment and overdose antidote drugs it is developing. The bankruptcy case is not the first time Purdue had faced legal trouble over the marketing of its prescription ...

  • Officers, paramedics charged in Elijah McClain’s 2019 death

    Officers, paramedics charged in Elijah McClain’s 2019 death

    Sep 01, 2021 04:52 PM EDT

    ... said a combination of a narrowed coronary artery and physical exertion contributed to McClain's death. Dr. Stephen Cina found no evidence of a ketamine overdose and said several other possibilities could not be ruled out, including an unexpected reaction to ketamine or the chokehold causing an irregular heartbeat. The ...

  • She started an underground clean needle exchange and changed lives

    She started an underground clean needle exchange and changed lives

    Aug 12, 2021 10:20 PM EDT

    ... Now that white people are dying, we're blaming the Sackler family. We're blaming Purdue Pharma. When Black and brown people were dying of overdose, it was their fault. It was because they were immoral. The war on drugs has failed. And racialized drug policy is continuing to put ...

  • Families paying off rent, food, debts with child tax credit

    Families paying off rent, food, debts with child tax credit

    Jul 30, 2021 03:46 PM EDT

    ... Yellen says “The additional money does help alleviate the pressure,” said Walker, 29, who took custody of her two siblings last year after her mother overdosed. The $800 credit will help make up for losses she incurred after quitting a kitchen design job to care for the five youngsters, ages ...

  • 50-year war on drugs imprisoned millions of Black Americans

    50-year war on drugs imprisoned millions of Black Americans

    Jul 26, 2021 04:55 PM EDT

    ... legalization poses more risks to Americans than it would any benefits. Provisional data released in December from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show overdose deaths from illicit drug use continued to rise amid the global COVID-19 pandemic. And according to the latest Drug Enforcement Administration narcotics threat ...

  • How the opioids settlement will impact communities affected by addiction

    How the opioids settlement will impact communities affected by addiction

    Jul 21, 2021 10:35 PM EDT

    After more than two years of negotiations, a number of states agreed to a $26 billion settlement with three large drug distributors and Johnson & Johnson for their roles in the opioids epidemic. Half a million deaths over two decades are attributed to opioids and fatal overdoses. William Brangham discusses the ...