Opioids can kill because they reduce breathing along with pain. Now brain scientists have made a discovery that could lead to potent pain drugs that don't affect breathing.
Starting treatment for addiction in the emergency room greatly improves the chances recovery will last, experts say. Cutting red tape, hiring advocates and Uber vouchers can all make a difference.
As a landmark federal opioid trial nears completion, West Virginia communities are demanding $2.5 billion in compensation. Drug firms say they acted responsibly in shipping millions of pills.
Payouts will be spread over the next 18 years, with much of the funding going to help communities struggling with high rates of opioid addiction and overdose deaths.
ER doctors wanted to hospitalize the young man to help ease his withdrawal from opioid dependence. But he declined because he couldn't afford it. His mom says no one told him he had financial options.
Georgia saw a big jump in opioid-related overdose deaths last year, fueled by a doubling of the number of fatalities involving fentanyl, according to data from the state Department of Public Health.
Massachusetts and New York are among the states agreeing to end the fight to halt a controversial Purdue Pharma bankruptcy plan. The deal shelters members of the Sackler family from opioid lawsuits.
Drug distributors have faced embarrassing revelations about their internal practices. One email shared by corporate executives described rural Americans addicted to opioids as "pillbillies."
Under a bankruptcy procedure prohibited by courts in part of the country, the Sacklers could be sheltered from opioid lawsuits even without declaring bankruptcy. Some states are crying foul.
Companies that sold or distributed opioid medications face huge legal, financial and public relations peril. Critics say shareholders, not CEOs, will pay the price.
McKinsey is the latest major American corporation to face legal, financial and public relations peril stemming from its role in the nation's deadly opioid epidemic.
The corporate consulting giant issued a rare apology for its behind-the-scenes work with Purdue Pharma, maker of OxyContin. One senator called McKinsey's behavior "abhorrent."
A new plea deal with the Justice Department is the second time the family-owned company admitted criminal schemes to boost Oxycontin sales. Despite their hands-on role, the Sacklers face no charges.
China banned fentanyl last year, but an NPR investigation reveals how Chinese vendors continue to market the chemicals used to make the drug on e-commerce and social media sites.
New research shows the use of the deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl spreading fast in Los Angeles, Phoenix and Seattle. Chinese companies are routing the street drug through cartels in Mexico.
