• Massachusetts jails men to provide drug addiction treatment

    Massachusetts jails men to provide drug addiction treatment

    Nov 02, 2019 09:22 PM EDT

    ... without it. Hari Sreenivasan: 39-year-old Antoine Diaz has struggled with addiction for more than a decade. He lost his brother to a heroin overdose last year. Antoine Diaz: This time when I relapsed my twin brother was dead. And that's when it's, it's easier to ...

  • White House launches website aimed at addiction treatment

    White House launches website aimed at addiction treatment

    Oct 30, 2019 01:38 PM EDT

    ... Congress for treatment and working with the private sector on promoting drug "take back" days. More than 70,000 Americans died in 2017 from drug overdoses, the bulk of them involving opioids. Future developments include plans to more closely integrate the site with the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide ...

  • $260 million deal averts 1st federal trial on opioid crisis

    $260 million deal averts 1st federal trial on opioid crisis

    Oct 21, 2019 11:08 PM EDT

    Ohio in 2017 had the second-highest death rate due from drug overdoses in the U.S., behind only West Virginia. In a statement, the three major distributors said the settlement money should be used in a focused way on such things as treatment, rehab and mental health services. The ...

  • Drug companies reach tentative deal to settle opioids lawsuit

    Drug companies reach tentative deal to settle opioids lawsuit

    Oct 21, 2019 01:10 PM EDT

    ... change practices as a way to make a dent in the opioid crisis. The epidemic has become more complicated in the past decade, with fatal overdose numbers rising largely because of illicit drugs such as heroin and fentanyl. Overall, there have been more than 400,000 deaths linked to opioids ...

  • Why tackling the opioid crisis requires treating addiction like any other medical condition

    Why tackling the opioid crisis requires treating addiction like any other medical condition

    Oct 16, 2019 10:25 PM EDT

    ... chronic health condition. Kang gives his Brief but Spectacular take on rethinking addiction treatment. ... Amna Nawaz: On average, 130 Americans die every day from opioid overdoses. Treating addiction is proving to be a major challenge in the states hardest hit by the crisis. Tonight's Brief But Spectacular features clinical ...

  • Jury selection begins in opioid trial despite delay request

    Jury selection begins in opioid trial despite delay request

    Oct 16, 2019 03:02 PM EDT

    ... jurors from nine northeast Ohio counties were mailed a 19-page questionnaire that asked whether there were people in their lives who used, abused or overdosed on opioids. Those with close connections to the crisis are expected to be excluded from serving on the jury. The pool does not include ...

  • News Wrap: Iraqi forces fire on protesters in Baghdad

    News Wrap: Iraqi forces fire on protesters in Baghdad

    Oct 01, 2019 10:50 PM EDT

    ... a slow response to the opioid crisis. The inspector general's report today said that the DEA sharply reduced its policing of opioids, even as overdose deaths exploded from 2013 to 2017. The finding comes just before a major federal trial of claims against the industry. Former Republican Congressman Chris ...

  • Americans need more convincing on Medicare for All, poll says

    Americans need more convincing on Medicare for All, poll says

    Sep 27, 2019 08:54 PM EDT

    ... for Americans are the highest among industrialized nations. Meanwhile, life expectancy has dropped nationwide in recent years, in part due to the rise in drug overdose deaths, many of which are tied to the opioid crisis. Among developed nations the OECD ranked for infant mortality, the U.S. was among ...

  • Why bankruptcy might not get opioid-maker Purdue Pharma off the hook

    Why bankruptcy might not get opioid-maker Purdue Pharma off the hook

    Sep 16, 2019 12:36 PM EDT

    ... painkillers and downplaying the addiction risk. The company's drugs represent a small fraction of the prescription opioids shipped over the years — and most fatal overdoses have been linked to illegal opioids such as heroin and illicitly made fentanyl. Steve Miller, chairman of Purdue's board of directors, said on ...

  • Purdue Pharma files for bankruptcy as part of opioids settlement

    Purdue Pharma files for bankruptcy as part of opioids settlement

    Sep 16, 2019 12:14 PM EDT

    ... drug with a low risk of addiction despite knowing that wasn't true. Since OxyContin, a time-released opioid, was introduced in 1996, addiction and overdoses have surged. In both 2017 and 2018, opioids were involved in more than 47,000 deaths, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease ...