• Biden’s most daunting challenges, according to public health experts

    Biden’s most daunting challenges, according to public health experts

    Jan 05, 2021 09:34 PM EST

    ... dilemmas has been compromised because of the pandemic, she said, pointing to a recent report from the CDC that showed a historic rise in drug overdose deaths between May 2019 and May 2020. “There are all these ongoing health issues that have not gone away with the coronavirus, and if ...

  • 2020 was a year of loss. Here are some of the well-known figures who died

    2020 was a year of loss. Here are some of the well-known figures who died

    Dec 31, 2020 06:42 PM EST

    ... was found liable in the death of his ex-partner, Bobbi Kristina Brown, the daughter of singers Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown. Jan. 1. Heroin overdose. Don Larsen, 90. The journeyman pitcher who reached the heights of baseball glory when he threw a perfect game in 1956 with the New ...

  • 2020 in review: Stories you may have missed and why they matter

    2020 in review: Stories you may have missed and why they matter

    Dec 27, 2020 11:17 PM EST

    ... guilty to three criminal charges for its role in the opioid epidemic that has ravaged the United States in recent years, including impeding efforts to combat the addiction issues. The ongoing drug overdose crisis has killed over 470,000 Americans in the last two decades.  Michigan Governor Whitmer kidnapping plot 

  • U.S. deaths in 2020 top 3 million

    U.S. deaths in 2020 top 3 million

    Dec 22, 2020 06:31 PM EST

    ... Suicide deaths dropped in 2019 compared with 2018, but early information suggests they have not continued to drop this year, Anderson and others said. Drug overdose deaths, meanwhile, got much worse. Before the coronavirus even arrived, the U.S. was in the midst of the deadliest drug overdose epidemic in ...

  • News Wrap: FDA panel backs Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use

    News Wrap: FDA panel backs Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use

    Dec 17, 2020 11:45 PM EST

    ... Purdue Pharma has admitted criminal wrongdoing and will pay $8 billion in fines. The Sacklers do not face criminal prosecution.The CDC reports that drug overdose deaths in the U.S. topped 81,000 in the 12 months ending last May. That's a record, and it's getting worse ...

  • WATCH: Sackler family members who own Purdue testify before Congress

    WATCH: Sackler family members who own Purdue testify before Congress

    Dec 17, 2020 02:59 PM EST

    ... and your family are addicted to money,” he told Sackler.Rep. Carol Miller, a Republican whose West Virginia district has been devastated by addictions and overdoses implored David Sackler, who said he’d vacationed in Appalachia, to visit communities the drugs have harmed. Rep. Peter Welch, a Vermont Democrat, compared ...

  • How court-ordered drug testing poses impossible choices

    How court-ordered drug testing poses impossible choices

    Dec 08, 2020 05:13 PM EST

    ... because of one missed test or positive result. Case workers intervene immediately if someone tests positive for heroin or fentanyl due to the risk of overdose, he said. “What we discovered is that, if clients are not showing up for drug tests, it’s usually either a scheduling difficulty or ...

  • Purdue Pharma, maker of OxyContin, pleads guilty in criminal case

    Purdue Pharma, maker of OxyContin, pleads guilty in criminal case

    Nov 24, 2020 08:08 PM EST

    ... to federal crimes provides only minor comfort for advocates who want to see harsher penalties for the OxyContin maker and its owners. The ongoing drug overdose crisis, which appears to be worsening during the coronavirus pandemic, has contributed to the deaths of more than 470,000 Americans over the past ...

  • Oregon leads the way in decriminalizing hard drugs

    Oregon leads the way in decriminalizing hard drugs

    Nov 04, 2020 08:56 PM EST

    ... difficult to find housing and jobs — was not working. One in 11 Oregonians is addicted to drugs, and nearly two people die every day from overdoses in the state, the Oregon Nurses Association, the Oregon Chapter American College of Physicians and the Oregon Academy of Family Physicians had said in ...

  • Conn. attorney general calls Purdue Pharma settlement ‘a mirage’

    Conn. attorney general calls Purdue Pharma settlement ‘a mirage’

    Oct 22, 2020 10:28 PM EST

    A historic settlement was announced Wednesday among the Department of Justice, Purdue Pharma and members of the Sackler family over the drug giant’s role in the national opioid crisis. The CDC estimates roughly 450,000 people died from opioid overdose between 1999 and 2018. But some critics feel the ...