Aug 23 Proposed rule could make it easier to share addiction treatment records By Laura Santhanam On Thursday, the Department of Health and Human Services proposed a new rule that would give doctors greater access to records of patients who are being treated for substance use disorder, in an effort to better coordinate care. Continue reading
Jul 24 No obligation to the public, opioid distributor tells lawyer By Megan Hoyer, Geoff Mulvihill, Associated Press An executive at one of the nation's largest drug distribution companies said under questioning recently that the business has no obligation to the public when it comes to the amount of prescription opioid painkillers it ships. Continue reading
Jul 18 Watch 6:47 The opioid industry fought hard to keep this database hidden. Here’s what it shows Over the past two decades, hundreds of thousands of Americans have died during a national opioid addiction crisis. As the drug manufacturers face a possible legal reckoning from multiple lawsuits, a newly uncovered database sheds more light on the scope… Continue watching
Jul 18 How racial inequity is playing out in the opioid crisis By Jenae Addison Non-whites make up 20 percent of deaths involving prescription and non-prescription opioids in the U.S. According to recent government data, the number is growing. Continue reading
May 16 Watch 6:37 How the Met is handling dilemma of donor accountability Pressure is increasingly being applied to institutions benefiting from philanthropy to be accountable for their funding sources. Lately, the opioid epidemic has highlighted that dilemma: New York's famed Metropolitan Museum of Art is the latest museum to turn down money… Continue watching
May 16 5 states announce new lawsuits over prescription opioids By Anthony Izaguirre, Geoff Mulvihill, Associated Press With the suits, 45 states are now taking legal action against OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, asserting that the company downplayed the addiction risks of its powerful prescription drug. Continue reading
May 01 Desperate to prevent opioid overdoses, states urge greater prescription of naloxone By Christine Vestal, Stateline 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… Continue reading
Apr 24 Watch 6:14 How federal case against drug distributor could change opioid fight Amid the ongoing opioid epidemic, drug manufacturers, doctors and pharmacists have all come under fire. But it's a drug distributor, a company called RDC, at the center of a new federal criminal case that equates its business operations with illegal… Continue watching
Apr 23 Ex-CEO is first drug exec indicted in opioid crisis, U.S. Attorney says By Michael R. Sisak, Associated Press The indictment unsealed Tuesday alleges former Rochester Drug Co-Operative CEO Laurence Doud III ordered subordinates to ignore red flags about certain pharmacy customers to maximize company revenues and his own pay, which more than doubled between 2012 and 2016 as… Continue reading
Apr 17 Dozens of medical professionals charged in illegal prescription opioid crackdown By Dan Sewell, Associated Press It's what federal authorities are calling the biggest known takedown yet of drug prescribers, which includes 31 doctors charged for their roles in illegally prescribing and distributing millions of pills containing opioids and other dangerous drugs. Continue reading