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Drug overdose deaths are at a record high. Here’s what the White House plans to do
By: Martha Bebinger | WBUR
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WASHINGTON, D.C. (WBUR) — In its first detailed plan to slow the rise in drug overdose deaths, the Biden administration is emphasizing harm reduction. That means increasing access to clean needles, fentanyl test strips and naloxone. Clean needles help reduce the spread of disease. Fentanyl test strips enable drug users to check if they are… Read More

Purdue Pharma agrees to a new opioid settlement with US states
By: Associated Press
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HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma has reached a nationwide settlement over its role in the opioid crisis. 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. In… Read More

Corporate opioid payouts now being finalized would top $32 billion
By: Brian Mann | NPR
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WASHINGTON, D.C. (NPR) — Over the next two weeks, some of the biggest U.S. corporations accused of “turbocharging” the opioid epidemic could finalize payouts to victims and governments worth roughly $32 billion. “We’ve lost more than a million Americans to this epidemic, and sadly, it’s at an all-time high as overdose deaths continue to rise,”… Read More

A jury in Ohio says America’s big pharmacy chains are liable for the opioid epidemic
By: Brian Mann | NPR
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CLEVELAND (NPR) — A federal jury on Tuesday found three of the nation’s biggest pharmacy chains, CVS, Walgreens and Walmart, liable for helping to fuel the U.S. opioid crisis. Jurors concluded that the pharmacies contributed to a so-called public nuisance in Lake and Trumbull counties in Ohio by selling and dispensing huge quantities of prescription… Read More

Recovery Through Employment: ARC Funding Makes Ohio Valley Programs Possible
By: Kaitlin Thorne | Ohio Valley ReSource
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Jessica Stapleton was in the thralls of active addiction when she first heard of the Recovery to Work program. She had lost the trust of her family and custody of her six children. She credits the program with not only changing her life, but saving it as well. “It pretty much saved my life. I… Read More

Witness Testimony Continues In Landmark W.Va. Opioid Trial
By: Associated Press
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CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Witness testimony has begun in a landmark opioid trial in which local governments in West Virginia have sued three large drug distributors that have been accused of fueling the opioid epidemic. Cabell County and the city of Huntington argue that the drug distributors created a “public nuisance” by flooding the area… Read More

Purdue Pharma Offers Restructuring Plan, Sackler Family Would Give Up Ownership
By: Brian Mann | NPR
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Under a bankruptcy plan filed late Monday, the OxyContin maker would pay $500 million up front, promising billions in future payments. Twenty-four states rejected the proposal.

Ohio Valley States Will Reap $45M From Opioid Suit Settlement With McKinsey Consulting
By: Jeff Young | Ohio Valley ReSource
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LOUSIVILLE, Ky. (OVR) — Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia will collectively receive roughly $45 million as part of settlement agreements announced Thursday resolving lawsuits against consulting giant McKinsey & Company related to the opioid epidemic. States had sued McKinsey because the company had advised opioid medication makers and distributors for several years during the height… Read More

Consulting Giant McKinsey To Settle Opioid Claims For $573 Million
By: Brian Mann | NPR
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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.

Marietta Doctor Sentenced To Eight Years In Prison For Illegally Distributing Opioids
By: WOUB News Team
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – A Marietta doctor was sentenced in U.S. District Court Friday to eight years in prison for illegally prescribing opioids and other controlled substances and defrauding health care programs. A federal jury convicted Roger D. Anderson, 66, last March on one count of conspiring to distribute controlled substances, eight counts of illegal dispensing of… Read More

Purdue Pharma Reaches $8B Opioid Deal With Justice Department Over Oxycontin Sales
By: Brian Naylor | NPR
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Critics say the settlement doesn’t hold company executives or members of the Sackler family accountable for their aggressive marketing of Oxycontin which helped fuel the nation’s opioid epidemic.

Opioid Scandal Haunts Drug Companies As They Respond To Pandemic
By: Brian Mann | NPR
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Thousands of lawsuits that ground to a halt because of COVID-19 are moving forward again as local, state and federal courts reopen around the U.S.

W.Va. Attorneys Seek Names Of Babies Born Exposed To Drugs
By: Associated Press
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CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – A group of West Virginia attorneys are asking a judge to force the state to release the names of babies born exposed to drugs as part of the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy case. The Herald-Dispatch reports the lawyers want the names so they can send families a notice of pending litigation and… Read More

Lawyers Seek To Halt Purdue Pharma Political Contributions
By: Associated Press
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STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) — OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma’s creditors want a federal bankruptcy judge to order the company to request permission before making any more political contributions. The issue arose this week after a report that the company gave to political organizations after declaring bankruptcy. Associations representing Democratic and Republican attorneys general and Republican governors have… Read More

Marietta Doctor Convicted of Illegally Prescribing Pain Pills
By: Associated Press
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – A federal jury has convicted an Ohio doctor accused of illegally distributing medication including pain pills. The government had charged Dr. Roger Anderson of Marietta with providing opioids such as oxycodone and hydrocodone to patients using pre-signed prescriptions and without examining the patients himself. Federal prosecutors also said the 65-year-old Anderson… Read More

$1.25B West Virginia Opioid Settlement Trial Date Set
By: Associated Press
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CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia communities seeking a $1.25 billion settlement with the opioid industry are set to go on trial against the companies in late August. An Aug. 31 trial date set on Thursday will serve as a deadline for the proposed settlement, which would be a first of its kind deal even… Read More

AG Wants More Time to Get Communities to Join Opioid Settlement Plan
By: Karen Kasler | Statehouse News Bureau
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Friday is the deadline for Ohio communities suing drug makers and distributors to decide to continue with their lawsuits or join the state’s effort to reach what’s likely to be a massive settlement over the opioid crisis. Attorney General Dave Yost said there are several communities that haven’t yet had a chance to meet and discuss the… Read More

W. Va. Plan for Free Transport to Opioid Treatment Starts in March
By: Associated Press
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CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – People with opioid use disorder will soon be able to get free public transit to West Virginia treatment centers under a new health department initiative. The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources said Wednesday the program with the West Virginia Public Transit Association will begin on March 2. The… Read More

Only Half of Ohio’s Rehab Centers Offer this Proven Opioid Addiction Treatment
By: Paige Pfleger | WOSU
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Tammy’s struggle with substance use started with pain pills she found in her grandmother’s cabinet. Then it escalated to heroin. “It’s a full time job,” she says. “Most people think that’s not a full time job but it is. When you’re addicted to anything, then you’re working at it every day. Trying to make sure… Read More

Reports Show Challenges Remain In Addiction Treatment Medication Access
By: Aaron Payne | Ohio Valley ReSource
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Center for Disease Control and Prevention data indicate opioid overdose deaths in the Ohio Valley declined in 2018, the first time in nearly a decade. Researchers say this is cause for optimism. But two new studies warn that access to medication assisted treatment, or MAT, for people with opioid use disorders continues to be a challenge. A Johns… Read More

Life Expectancy Rose Slightly In 2018, As Drug Overdose Deaths Fell
The turnaround is welcome news after rising drug overdose and suicide rates had pushed life expectancy down since 2014. Could America be turning the tide on opioid addiction?

2020 Hindsight: The Ohio Valley’s Decade in Data
By: Becca Schimmel | Ohio Valley ReSource
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The year: 2009. A Senator from Illinois named Barack Obama has just made history upon taking the presidential oath of office. The national economy is at a low point in the Great Recession. And the Pittsburgh Steelers are the first NFL team to win six Super Bowls. Ten years later, as 2019 gives way to… Read More

China Has Pain Pill Addicts Too, But No One’s Counting Them
By: Associated Press
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SHANGHAI (AP) — Officially, China doesn’t have an opioid problem like the United States. But largely out of sight of the government, addicts exist. A government survey taken in 2016 shows just 11,132 cases of medical drug abuse were reported in a population of nearly 1.4 billion. But even the Chinese government admits it doesn’t… Read More


Yost Pitches Constitutional Amendment to Protect Opioid Settlement Money
By: Andy Chow | Statehouse News Bureau
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The Ohio Attorney General’s office has crafted a proposal that would put guardrails around potential opioid lawsuit settlement money to make sure the funds are used specifically for the opioid epidemic. The proposal spells out a constitutional amendment which creates the Ohio Recovery Foundation, made up of a board of directors and a board of… Read More
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