opioid epidemic

Overdose deaths soared to a record 93,000 last year in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic

Many hip hop songs normalize opioids and other drugs, a fact that is left out of public health approaches to the opioid epidemic, says Kaiser Health News reporter Chaseedaw Giles. At the same time, many people are unaware of side effects like withdrawal – which could be solved with public health messaging that looks to the culture and incorporates it.

In an effort to curb the growing number of opioid overdose deaths during the pandemic, the Drug Enforcement Agency will hold its 20th annual Take Back Day this Saturday at locations across South Florida and across the country. The event comes just months after a successful day last October, when over 500 tons of unwanted drugs were turned in. Over…

Doctors say they’re facing increasing threats of violence for refusing to prescribe opioids or trying to wean patients off the addictive painkillers.

The CDC reports that overdose fatalities in the U.S. have spiked during the coronavirus pandemic.

Doctors explain the stress of isolation, loss of work and loss of health coverage are partially to blame — but they’re finding that something else is causing the spike in overdoses.

Opioid addiction has been a persistent problem and it has gotten worse during the pandemic. NBC 6’s Johnny Archer speaks to families devastated by addiction

Purdue Pharma, the manufacturer of the painkiller Oxycontin, pleaded guilty to charges for its role in the opioid crisis. 

The Department of Justice announced Wednesday that Purdue Pharma agreed to plead guilty to criminal charges for their marketing of OxyContin.

Up to seven people were hospitalized, including five law enforcement officers and a tow truck driver, after a chemical exposure while attempting to aid the driver of a car who stopped on the Golden Gate Bridge Sunday, California authorities said.

A federal judge entered a final order Tuesday on his ruling last year that a nonprofit’s proposal to open the nation’s first supervised injection site for opioid users in Philadelphia does not violate federal law.

Police said they found multiple medicine bottles around the family’s Bensalem apartment including one in the baby’s swing.

Overdose tracking systems are giving near real-time glimpses into the ravages of the opioid-fueled drug crisis. The Hudson Valley Interlink Analytic System in New York is among a number of surveillance systems being adopted around the country by police, government agencies and community groups.

Every time she got out of jail, Jamie Cline started hustling again for heroin, driven by an addiction she didn’t understand. “You want to get clean so bad. You know something’s killing you and you can’t stop,” said the 33-year-old who used heroin for 10 years.

Parents whose children fatally overdosed on opioids are demanding Harvard University remove the name of a family whose company makes the powerful painkiller OxyContin from a building that housed one of its art museums. About two dozen parents protested Friday outside the building the housed the Arthur M. Sackler Museum.

Thousands of people have overdosed on opioids in Florida over the past several years – it’s even been declared a public health emergency.
But some doctors say that medical marijuana could help lower the death rate and offer a safer alternative for patients suffering from pain.

Amid the outcry over the Florida school shootings, the Trump administration says it is “actively exploring” ways to help states expand inpatient mental health treatment using Medicaid funds. President Donald Trump again brought up the issue of mental hospitals in a meeting with governors this week, invoking a time when states maintained facilities for mentally ill and developmentally disabled people.

The Florida House has passed legislation to combat the state’s opioid epidemic.

Seth Meyers takes a break from breaking news to check in on President Donald Trump’s promise to do everything in his power to fight the opioid epidemic.