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News Articles: opioid

GPB News NPR

Tagged as: 

  • Business

Sackler family is willing to pay more in Purdue opioids settlement, mediator says

Under the latest proposal, the Sacklers would contribute between $5.5 billion and $6 billion, an increase from the $4.3 billion they had agreed to earlier.

February 18, 2022
|
By:
  • The Associated Press
Shell neurons (green) project to the breathing center and core neurons (red) project to the pain/emotion center. Brain scientists have found the two are linked, shedding new light on opioid overdoses

Tagged as: 

  • Science

A brain circuit linking pain and breathing may offer a path to prevent opioid deaths

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.

December 22, 2021
|
By:
  • Jon Hamilton
Patients with opioid addiction who show up in a hospital's ER face many barriers to recovery, and so do the doctors trying to help them. Easing those barriers on both sides helps patients get into good follow-up programs that lead to lasting change.

Tagged as: 

  • Health

Many ERs Fail People Who Struggle With Addiction. These New Approaches Might Help

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.

August 21, 2021
|
By:
  • Aneri Pattani
A pedestrian walks past a mural in Huntington, W.Va., on March 18. Huntington was once ground zero for the U.S. opioid epidemic.

Tagged as: 

  • National

Was It 'Reasonable' To Ship 81 Million Opioid Pills To This Small West Virginia City?

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.

July 30, 2021
|
By:
  • Brian Mann
While continuing to deny any wrongdoing, Johnson & Johnson will contribute $5 billion over a nine-year span to the $26 billion opioid settlement announced Wednesday.

Tagged as: 

  • National

State Attorneys General Reach A $26 Billion National Opioid Settlement

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.

July 21, 2021
|
By:
  • Brian Mann
Jameson Rybak, son of Jim and Suzanne Rybak of Florence, S.C., struggled with opioid addiction and died of an overdose on June 9, 2020 — three months after he left a hospital ER because he feared he couldn't afford treatment.

Tagged as: 

  • Health

A Tragic Death Shows How ERs Fail Patients Who Struggle With Addiction

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.

July 14, 2021
|
By:
  • Aneri Pattani
Fentanyl pills

Tagged as: 

  • Health

'Perfect Storm:' An Opioid Menace Like Never Before

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.

July 12, 2021
|
By:
  • Andy Miller
Purdue Pharma faced an avalanche of lawsuits for alleged harm caused by its prescription opioid medicine OxyContin. A controversial bankruptcy deal expected to be finalized next month would block lawsuits against members of the Sackler family who own the firm.

Tagged as: 

  • Health

15 States Drop Opposition To Controversial Purdue Pharma OxyContin Bankruptcy

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.

July 08, 2021
|
By:
  • Brian Mann
The federal opioid trial involving drug distributors AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson is taking place in the Robert C. Byrd Courthouse in Charleston, W.Va. The trial is expected to establish whether the drug distributors, accused of failing to curb the flow of prescription painkillers, face liability nationwide.

Tagged as: 

  • National

Opioid Trial In West Virginia Comes Amid A National Reckoning For Big Pharma

Drug distributors have faced embarrassing revelations about their internal practices. One email shared by corporate executives described rural Americans addicted to opioids as "pillbillies."

May 26, 2021
|
By:
  • Brian Mann
David (left) and Kathe Sackler, members of the family that owns Purdue Pharma, the maker of Oxycontin, testified via video to a House Oversight Committee hearing on Dec. 17, 2020. Sackler family members have acknowledged that the drug had a role in the opioid crisis, but they have stopped short of apologizing or admitting wrongdoing.

Tagged as: 

  • National

24 States Mount Legal Fight To Block Sackler Bid For Opioid Immunity

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.

May 03, 2021
|
By:
  • Brian Mann
Steve Collis, president and chief executive officer of AmerisourceBergen Corp., testifies during a House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee hearing on May 8, 2018.

Tagged as: 

  • National

As U.S. Corporations Face Reckoning Over Prescription Opioids, CEOs Keep Cashing In

Companies that sold or distributed opioid medications face huge legal, financial and public relations peril. Critics say shareholders, not CEOs, will pay the price.

March 29, 2021
|
By:
  • Brian Mann
OxyContin pills arranged for a photo at a pharmacy in Montpelier, Vt. The global business consulting firm McKinsey & Company has agreed to a $573 million settlement over its role in the opioid crisis.

Tagged as: 

  • National

Consulting Giant McKinsey To Settle States' Opioid Claims For $573 Million

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.

February 04, 2021
|
By:
  • Brian Mann

Tagged as: 

  • National

McKinsey Apologizes For Helping Purdue Pharma 'Turbocharge' Opioid Sales

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."

December 09, 2020
|
By:
  • Brian Mann
Newly public documents detail the role of members of the Sackler family, owners of OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, during years when the privately owned drug company launched criminal schemes designed to "turbocharge" sales of Oxycontin and other highly addictive opioid medications.

Tagged as: 

  • National

Critics Want Sacklers To Face Criminal Charges For Role In Opioid Crisis

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.

November 25, 2020
|
By:
  • Brian Mann

Tagged as: 

  • World

'We Are Shipping To The U.S.': Inside China's Online Synthetic Drug Networks

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.

November 17, 2020
|
By:
  • Emily Feng
  • Load More

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