• Judge dismisses 1 charge against former cop in Floyd’s death

    Judge dismisses 1 charge against former cop in Floyd’s death

    Oct 22, 2020 04:09 PM EST

    ... notes, Hennepin County Medical Examiner Andrew Baker told prosecutors that absent other apparent causes of death, it “could be acceptable” to rule the death an overdose, based on the level of fentanyl in Floyd’s system. A separate autopsy commissioned for Floyd’s family concluded he died of asphyxiation due ...

  • Worsening opioid crisis overshadowed in presidential race

    Worsening opioid crisis overshadowed in presidential race

    Oct 21, 2020 06:03 PM EST

    Ohio, a battleground state in the presidential contest, is on track to have one of its deadliest years of opioid drug overdoses. More residents died of overdoses in May than in any month in at least 14 years, according to preliminary mortality statistics from the state health department. As Trump ...

  • Justice Department says OxyContin maker will plead guilty to 3 criminal charges

    Justice Department says OxyContin maker will plead guilty to 3 criminal charges

    Oct 21, 2020 03:35 PM EST

    ... the grip of substance use disorder, justice for the jobs lost and the lives ruined, and justice for the lives of loved ones lost to overdoses,” 38 Democratic members of Congress wrote. “If the only practical consequence of your Department’s investigation is that a handful of billionaires are made ...

  • Unemployment rises in Europe as pandemic grinds on

    Unemployment rises in Europe as pandemic grinds on

    Oct 01, 2020 01:46 PM EST

    ... overdue bills when she got her unemployment benefit, and sent resumes everywhere. "I haven't managed to find another job," she said. "It's an overdose of stress because we haven't a penny in our pockets," says Silva. "We are left without any money after paying rent, water, energy ...

  • A photographer's Brief But Spectacular take on documenting the pandemic

    A photographer's Brief But Spectacular take on documenting the pandemic

    Sep 16, 2020 10:20 PM EST

    ... six days, we ended up visiting nine municipal hospitals and clinics across five boroughs. Working on this type of story, it requires, I think, an overdose of empathy. If the moment is emotional, I allow myself to feel emotional. In feeling that, I really hope that it impacts the picture ...

  • A family's fight to stay together -- despite a 10-year prison sentence

    A family's fight to stay together -- despite a 10-year prison sentence

    Sep 14, 2020 10:30 PM EST

    ... grandson was left alone oftentimes to take care of his younger siblings, which was probably -- probably the hardest time of my life. Their mother had overdosed and was being taken to the hospital. Kimberly Howell: We were planning on getting all four the children. And when the courts decided to ...

  • WATCH: George Floyd's family speaks out after hearing for officers charged in his death

    WATCH: George Floyd's family speaks out after hearing for officers charged in his death

    Sep 11, 2020 02:32 PM EST

    ... that defense filings highlighting Floyd's drug use amount to killing him a second time. "They are trying to claim some asinine theory about an overdose. I want to be clear about this. The only overdose that killed George Floyd was an overdose of excessive force and racism by the ...

  • Could the pandemic change addiction medicine for the better?

    Could the pandemic change addiction medicine for the better?

    Sep 10, 2020 10:30 PM EST

    ... and houses they were living in to now hotel rooms, to now the back seats of cars. And I see it every single day. Our overdose rate here where I am is up about 20 percent with fatal and non-fatal overdoses. Stephanie Sy: Loyd says telehealth has expanded access ...

  • How pandemic anxiety is affecting pregnant women

    How pandemic anxiety is affecting pregnant women

    Aug 27, 2020 07:49 PM EST

    ... postpartum depression and anxiety, and the pandemic, experts worry, is building on those disparities. Although data is limited, preliminary research suggests that suicide and drug overdoses within a year of giving birth are a substantial contributor to maternal death. One pre-existing factor is that Medicaid, which covers almost half ...

  • Mounting U.S. deaths reveal an outsize toll on people of color

    Mounting U.S. deaths reveal an outsize toll on people of color

    Aug 21, 2020 07:37 PM EST

    ... other causes. The newly released data is considered provisional and subject to change as more information comes in. Certain categories of deaths — suicides or drug overdoses, for example — often involve lengthy investigations before a cause is assigned. The outbreak’s disproportionate effect on communities of color is not limited to ...