Mar 03 Purdue Pharma, U.S. states agree to new settlement for opioid crisis By Geoff Mulvihill, John Seewer, Associated Press The deal reached Thursday would require members of the Sackler family who own the drugmaker to pay as much as $6 billion in cash. That's at least $1 billion more than previously agreed on. Continue reading
Feb 08 Bipartisan congressional commission recommends new approach to combatting overdose epidemic By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Associated Press The U.S. needs a nimble, multipronged strategy and Cabinet-level leadership to counter its festering overdose epidemic, a bipartisan congressional commission advises. Continue reading
Dec 14 Cities, towns decimated by opioids are close to receiving $28 billion settlement By Andrew Selsky, Associated Press In the U.S., more than 500,000 deaths over the last two decades have been linked to opioids, both prescription drugs and illegal ones. Continue reading
Oct 06 Watch 6:13 American pharmacies face trial in Ohio over role in opioid crisis By William Brangham A key opioids trial — the first to go to federal court — began this week in Ohio. The trial focuses on questions of accountability and responsibility for the opioids crisis, which has been connected directly with the deaths of… Continue watching
Sep 02 Deal with OxyContin maker leaves families angry, conflicted By John Seewer, Geoff Mulvihill, Associated Press A landmark settlement in the nation's opioid epidemic is forcing the owners of OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma to give up the company and pay out $4.5 billion. But many families of those who died from overdoses say it's not enough. Continue reading
Sep 01 Judge conditionally approves Purdue Pharma opioid settlement By Geoff Mulvihill, Associated Press The agreement accepted Wednesday caps a long-running legal drama involving a company that had come to symbolize the corporate culpability behind an epidemic that has claimed more than 500,000 lives over the past two decades. Continue reading
Jul 20 U.S. opioid lawsuits on verge of settlements with 4 companies By Geoff Mulvihill, Associated Press Full details of the settlement involving AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson could come this week but it could take months to get final approval from state and local governments. Continue reading
Jun 30 Watch 5:36 Deaths from drug overdoses surge in some Black communities amid COVID-19 By Amna Nawaz, David Coles, Mike Fritz As the pandemic filled American hospitals and brought life to a near standstill in 2020, the longstanding opioids epidemic was only intensifying, essentially out of sight. As Amna Nawaz reports, the death toll from that epidemic, once centered on rural,… Continue watching
Mar 16 Watch 4:46 News Wrap: U.S. Secretary of State Blinken accuses China of undermining stability in Asia In our news wrap Tuesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met their counterparts in Japan, where Blinken accused Beijing of undermining stability in Asia. Also, archaeologists in Israel have discovered dozens of new Dead Sea… Continue watching
Dec 17 WATCH: Sackler family members who own Purdue testify before Congress By Geoff Mulvihill, Associated Press Two of the owners of the company that makes OxyContin acknowledged to a congressional committee on Thursday that the powerful prescription painkiller has played a role in the national opioid crisis but stopped short of apologizing or admitting wrongdoing. Continue reading