• Number of U.S. overdose deaths appears to be falling

    Number of U.S. overdose deaths appears to be falling

    Jul 17, 2019 07:50 PM EDT

    ... and in 2018 they were involved in about 46 percent of the reported overdose deaths, according to the preliminary CDC data. Strategies to reduce drug overdose deaths have included tougher policing, treatment program expansions, policies to limit opioid painkiller prescriptions and wider distribution of the overdose-reversing drug naloxone. Haffajee ...

  • Desperate to prevent opioid overdoses, states urge greater prescription of naloxone

    Desperate to prevent opioid overdoses, states urge greater prescription of naloxone

    May 01, 2019 06:56 PM EDT

    In an effort to reduce opioid overdoses, a handful of states are requiring doctors to give, or at least offer, a prescription for naloxone to patients taking high doses of opioid painkillers. Naloxone saves lives by reversing the effects of an opioid overdose.

  • U.S. health chief says overdose deaths beginning to level off

    U.S. health chief says overdose deaths beginning to level off

    Oct 23, 2018 06:12 PM EDT

    ... infrastructure of care," a system that incorporates prevention, treatment and recovery. In an interview with The Associated Press this summer, a CDC expert said the overdose death numbers appear to be shifting for the better, but it's too soon to draw firm conclusions. Month-to-month data show a ...

  • 76 people overdosed near Yale, and officials suspect a bad batch of synthetic marijuana

    76 people overdosed near Yale, and officials suspect a bad batch of synthetic marijuana

    Aug 16, 2018 04:00 PM EDT

    Both drugs, especially fentanyl, have been linked to rising overdoses across the country. Hawk said some people got better with the help of naloxone, an opioid overdose reversal drug, while others didn't. "The most important point is when you buy something on the street, you never know what you ...

  • Surgeon general urges Americans to carry opioid overdose antidote

    Surgeon general urges Americans to carry opioid overdose antidote

    Apr 05, 2018 04:10 PM EDT

    ... to be a policeman or a firefighter or a paramedic to save a life," said Adams, who pointed out that more than half of opioid overdose deaths in the U.S. occur at home. According to federal data, more than 42,000 Americans suffered fatal opioid overdoses in 2016, more ...

  • States are seeing startling increases in opioid overdoses

    States are seeing startling increases in opioid overdoses

    Mar 06, 2018 11:20 PM EDT

    ... your hospitals are coming because of these overdoses. And, as you mentioned, 30 percent of the overdoses -- they have seen a 30 percent increase in overdoses between 2016 and 2017. And in certain places, it's been particularly bad. The Midwest was really hard-hit. Pennsylvania, Illinois, overdoses were up ...

  • Emergency department visits for opioid overdoses rise by 30 percent in a year

    Emergency department visits for opioid overdoses rise by 30 percent in a year

    Mar 06, 2018 07:50 PM EDT

    ... revealed a spike in people with possible opioid overdoses between July 2016 and September 2017, according to data from the CDC’s Enhanced State Opioid Overdose Surveillance Program. Among those regions, Midwestern emergency departments experienced the highest increase in overdoses -- up to 70 percent -- compared to those in the Southeast ...

  • Opioid overdose deaths dropped in these 14 states, prompting cautious optimism

    Opioid overdose deaths dropped in these 14 states, prompting cautious optimism

    Feb 22, 2018 05:14 PM EDT

    ... s a little too soon to tell,” he said, “but we may be seeing the beginning of a decline in the number of deaths in Huntington,” a small city that has the highest overdose death rate in West Virginia, the state with the highest overdose death rate in the country.

  • To stop overdose deaths, this response team brings treatment options to your doorstep

    To stop overdose deaths, this response team brings treatment options to your doorstep

    Jan 30, 2018 11:20 PM EDT

    ... Dave Weber: Out of the meetings came a decision that we needed some type of team to go out and speak with people that have overdosed, either their families or both, the family and the overdose victim. And somebody named it PORT, which is a Post Overdose Response Team. Esther ...

  • For this doctor, a son's recent death by overdose inspires his mission to rescue others

    For this doctor, a son's recent death by overdose inspires his mission to rescue others

    Nov 29, 2017 11:20 PM EDT

    ... house right there, four deaths and one person in recovery. And so this is Holden. Miles O'Brien: Less than a year ago, death by overdose came to his family. He lost his son Max, or Macky, as his family called him. He was 23. Dr. James Baker: Macky was ...