• Worsening opioid crisis overshadowed in presidential race

    Worsening opioid crisis overshadowed in presidential race

    Oct 21, 2020 06:03 PM EST

    ... said. Despite the commission's 56 policy recommendations, the Trump administration has focused most of its efforts on law enforcement to stop the flow of fentanyl, produced mostly in Mexico and China and smuggled into the U.S. Seizures have increased during Trump’s presidency, and experts cite the drug ...

  • 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

    ... of more OxyContin to fund programs to mitigate the toll of an opioid crisis wrought by prescription drugs as well as heroin and illicitly produced fentanyl. With the terms of the Justice Department deal, the federal government gives a strong endorsement to the idea of a version of Purdue continuing ...

  • The top U.S. diplomat in Beijing on why he supports Trump's China policy

    The top U.S. diplomat in Beijing on why he supports Trump's China policy

    Sep 29, 2020 10:30 PM EST

    ... us more fairness and reciprocity and address issues like protecting intellectual property rights and preventing the involuntary taking of technology. We have also addressed the fentanyl issue, in which China has made all of fentanyl and its derivatives controlled substances. And I believe that is saving lives in America, and ...

  • Opioid deaths are surging in the pandemic. Here's how treatment is adapting

    Opioid deaths are surging in the pandemic. Here's how treatment is adapting

    Aug 07, 2020 08:13 PM EST

    ... according to a statement from Preckwinkle’s office. U.S. border closings have disrupted illegal drug trafficking, doctors say, leading to higher concentrations of synthetic fentanyl to make up for heroin “shortages” and potentially causing inconsistencies in what is sold and used on U.S. streets. Some drug users might ...

  • How the pandemic is complicating America's addiction crisis

    How the pandemic is complicating America's addiction crisis

    Jul 22, 2020 10:35 PM EST

    ... have opioid addiction can find those. And this is one of the reasons that the increased mortality rates that many states have reported due to fentanyl are so concerning. William Brangham: Alexander says, in normal times, a disruption in the illegal drug market would likely help funnel more people into ...

  • Minnesota files civil rights charge against Minneapolis police over Floyd death

    Minnesota files civil rights charge against Minneapolis police over Floyd death

    Jun 02, 2020 08:00 PM EST

    ... the official autopsy that found his death was caused by cardiac arrest as police restrained him and compressed his neck. The medical examiner also listed fentanyl intoxication and recent methamphetamine use, but not as the cause of death. A separate autopsy commissioned for Floyd’s family concluded that that he ...

  • Walgreens to pay $7.5M in settlement over alleged phony pharmacist

    Walgreens to pay $7.5M in settlement over alleged phony pharmacist

    Feb 04, 2020 01:00 AM EST

    ... them and dispense prescriptions at Walgreens stores in Santa Clara and Alameda counties. The prescriptions allegedly included more than 100,000 for opioids such as fentanyl, morphine and codeine. Le herself didn't have a pharmacist license, prosecutors said. The district attorneys in both counties filed a consumer protection action ...

  • For 1st time in 4 years, U.S. life expectancy rises, but only a little

    For 1st time in 4 years, U.S. life expectancy rises, but only a little

    Jan 30, 2020 07:32 PM EST

    ... in 2018 and the number of deaths dropped to about 67,400. Deaths from heroin and prescription painkillers went down, however, deaths from other drugs — fentanyl, cocaine and meth — continued to go up. And preliminary data for the first half of 2019 suggest the overall decline in overdose deaths is ...

  • Drug company executives face prison time for role in opioid epidemic

    Drug company executives face prison time for role in opioid epidemic

    Jan 24, 2020 11:40 PM EST

    The drug was designed specifically for end-stage cancer patients. The main ingredient? Fentanyl, which is 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine. The company wanted doctors to write as many prescriptions as possible, and for as high a dose as possible. In his job interview in 2012, Burlakoff told ...

  • Former Insys Therapeutics Chairman sentenced for role in opioid scheme

    Former Insys Therapeutics Chairman sentenced for role in opioid scheme

    Jan 23, 2020 10:50 PM EST

    Jurors were also shown a rap video in which Insys employees danced and rapped around a person dressed as a giant bottle of the fentanyl spray. Prosecutors said the video was shown at a national sales meeting in 2015 and was intended to motivate reps to push Subsys to doctors ...