opioids

Stories 101 - 120 | << Prev   Next >>

Pentagon, DHS Thinking of Naming New WMD

'Because of its strength, it's like nothing else that we've seen'

(Newser) - Fentanyl is already killing a staggering number of Americans—30,000 in 2017 alone, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse—and authorities say it would be "disturbingly easy" to use the synthetic opioid in a terrorist attack. Pentagon and Homeland Security officials are considering designating the drug...

31 Arrested Doctors Called 'White-Coated Drug Dealers'

They've been charged for their roles in illegally prescribing, distributing pills

(Newser) - Federal authorities said Wednesday they have charged 60 people, including 31 doctors, for their roles in illegally prescribing and distributing millions of pills containing opioids and other dangerous drugs. US Attorney Benjamin Glassman of Cincinnati described the action as the biggest known takedown yet of drug prescribers. Robert Duncan, US...

For OxyContin Maker: $270M Settlement, Potential Bankruptcy

Purdue Pharma settles suit with Oklahoma for $270M

(Newser) - The maker of OxyContin has agreed to pay $270 million to resolve claims in Oklahoma that it helped fuel the opioid crisis and thereby contributed to thousands of overdose deaths, multiple news outlets are reporting. Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter, who sued 13 opioid manufacturers for promoting opioids as safe...

'Gun-Toting' Doctor Gets Life After Patient Dies

Steven Henson is accused of unlawfully distributing prescription drugs

(Newser) - The courtroom gasped. The accused showed no emotion. The judge made his ruling clear: Kansas doctor Steven Henson was getting life in prison for distributing prescription drugs that took a patient's life, NBC News reports. Found guilty in October on charges including conspiracy to distribute prescription drugs outside a...

America&#39;s Jails Face a Worsening Crisis
In America's Jails,
a Crisis Is Worsening
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Mar 3, 2019 10:13 AM CST

In America's Jails, a Crisis Is Worsening

More and more inmates have addictions or mental illnesses, and local sheriffs can't cope

(Newser) - It's a collision of realities that adds up to worsening trouble for American jails: More inmates than ever have addictions or mental illnesses, while county sheriffs don't have the expertise or the resources to cope. Steve Coll of the New Yorker takes a deep dive into what his...

OxyContin Exec Boasted of 'Blizzard of Prescriptions'

Sackler accused of misleading public about dangers of addiction

(Newser) - Some of the seeds of today's opioid crisis were sown at the 1995 launch party of OxyContin, where Purdue Pharma exec Richard Sackler promised "a blizzard of prescriptions that will bury the competition," according to a memo filed by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey. She accuses Sackler...

Ominous New Stat on Opioid Deaths Released

Americans have greater chance of dying of an overdose than in a car crash

(Newser) - It's no secret that opioid deaths are rising in the US, but a new statistic brings home the danger. For the first time, Americans now have a greater chance of dying from an accidental opioid overdose than from a motor vehicle crash, reports USA Today . The stat comes from...

1 Dead, 12 Hospitalized After Calif. 'Mass Overdose'

Police believe fentanyl is to blame

(Newser) - The powerful opioid fentanyl is believed to have caused what police in Chico, Calif., are calling a "mass casualty incident" Saturday morning. Authorities say one person died and another 12 were hospitalized after a mass overdose. Chico Fire Department Chief Steve Standridge says every ambulance in the city was...

Even 'Dark Web' Dealers Refuse to Sell This Drug

Some sellers say fentanyl is just too dangerous

(Newser) - Fentanyl suppliers on the so-called "dark web" are delisting the drug because it's just too dangerous—and tends to attract police attention, the Guardian reports. If true, the move places fentanyl alongside explosives and certain firearms that are too risky for some purveyors to sell. "There are...

Super-Potent Opioid Wins FDA Approval

Dsuvia will be tightly controlled, the FDA promises

(Newser) - It's called Dsuvia, and the potency of this opioid is hard to fathom: It's up to 1,000 times stronger than morphine and up to 10 times stronger than fentanyl, reports USA Today . Despite the worries of critics that it will add to the nation's opioid problem,...

Record-Breaking Drug OD Deaths in US Last Year

200 people died per day in US in 2017, per the DEA

(Newser) - Drug overdose deaths hit the highest level ever recorded in the US last year, with an estimated 200 people dying per day, according to a report by the DEA. Most of that was the result of a record number of opioid-related deaths. Preliminary figures show more than 72,000 people...

Police Chief Has a 'Problem' With Viral Obituary

Where was our outrage before? wonders Burlington's top cop

(Newser) - Madelyn Linsenmeir's obituary, giving a face to America's ongoing opioid crisis, resonated around the country . A police chief's rebuttal is now doing the same. "Please elect this man to replace Bernie Sanders, Vermont," a journalist tweeted Wednesday after Burlington police Chief Brandon del Pozo aired...

Not 'Just a Junkie': a Heartbreaking Obit for Young Mom

Madelyn Linsenmeir first tried OxyContin at a high school party

(Newser) - "To some, Maddie was just a junkie," but to the family and friends grieving the 30-year-old's death, Madelyn Ellen Linsenmeir was "adored as a daughter, sister, niece, cousin, friend, and mother," according to a moving obituary that has caught the attention of the nation and...

Officer Allegedly Sold Opioids Out of His Squad Car

Officials say he did it while in uniform

(Newser) - Authorities say a police officer from a small town in the Florida Panhandle faces charges he sold opioids out of his squad car while in uniform. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement said Saturday agents arrested Officer Dwayne White at the Bonifay Police Department. The FDLE says it began an...

Addict Allegedly Stole Dying Daughter's Opioids

Carol Ballweg confessed after tip from hospice staff: cops

(Newser) - Police in Missouri say a dying woman didn't get the oxycodone and fentanyl she was prescribed because her mother stole the drugs to feed her opioid addiction. Carol Ballweg—charged with abusing a vulnerable person and stealing a controlled substance—allegedly admitted to stealing painkillers from her 20-year-old daughter,...

Guy Behind OxyContin Breaks the Irony Record

Richard Sackler is named as an inventor of new anti-opioid drug

(Newser) - Irony alert: A billionaire accused of worsening the opioid crisis just won a patent for a drug to treat opioid addiction, Stat News reports. Richard Sackler, whose family owns OxyContin-maker Purdue Pharma, is one of six inventors behind a new medication that could help people get off drugs including opioids....

The Knock at 3am to Report a Death Wasn't the Family's Last

The 'Tennessean' looks at the toll the opioid crisis has had on the Baltzes

(Newser) - Just before Christmas 2015, former 3 Doors Down bassist Robert "Todd" Harrell was sentenced to two years in prison after being convicted in a fatal 2013 crash that occurred on Nashville's I-40. He was driving at 101mph when he clipped a pickup being driven by Paul Shoulders Jr....

House Takes Aim at US Opioid Addiction

New legislation encourages states to expand treatment through Medicaid

(Newser) - The House has overwhelmingly approved legislation designed to give health-care providers more tools to stem an opioid crisis that is killing more than 115 people in the United States daily, the AP reports. The legislation passed Friday by a vote of 396-14. It incorporates dozens of opioid-related bills that lawmakers...

Artist Makes a Point Outside Drugmaker's Headquarters

Domenic Esposito tries to shame OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma with giant spoon

(Newser) - An 800-pound, nearly 11-foot-long steel sculpture of a bent and burned drug spoon was placed Friday in front of the Connecticut headquarters of drugmaker Purdue Pharma as part of an art protest against the opioid crisis. Artist Domenic Esposito and art gallery owner Fernando Alvarez placed the sculpture at the...

OxyContin Maker Kept a Dark Secret: Confidential Report
OxyContin Maker Kept a Dark
Secret: Confidential Report
in case you missed it
Jun 2, 2018 6:30 AM CDT

OxyContin Maker Kept a Dark Secret: Confidential Report

Execs knew early that patients were abusing drug, says New York Times

(Newser) - The company behind OxyContin may have a little secret—that it knew early on about people abusing its powerful painkilling drug and said nothing, the New York Times reports. Purdue Pharma executives received reports of "significant" abuse soon after Oxycontin's 1996 release, including people stealing and snorting the...

Stories 101 - 120 | << Prev   Next >>
Most Read on Newser