opioid epidemic

Among the changes: The CDC no longer suggests trying to limit opioid treatment for acute pain to three days.

There are 2,290 flags on the campus of Newton-Wellesley Hospital, each representing a life lost to an opioid overdose in Massachusetts in 2021. The annual “Purple Flag Event” is held in remembrance of those lives. Hospital officials also host the event to make it clear that resources and support are available, and say they hope talking about the crisis can…

A lengthy investigation led to officers seizing hundreds of what they believe to be fentanyl pills, according to the city’s police department. Worcester police entered three locations and a car after they saw the target of the warrant, Ramon Mateo, leave his home around 2 p.m. Tuesday, the department said in a news release. Police found about 1300 grams of…

San Diego County could soon have a new weapon in its arsenal to help fight its growing problem with opioid addiction.

The Centers for Disease Control revealed Wednesday that the U.S. set a grim record in 2021 with 107,000 overdose deaths.

President Joe Biden is sending his administration’s first national drug control strategy to Congress

Data released earlier this month confirmed what many human services providers expected to see: that 2021 was the deadliest year in Vermont history for opioid overdoses. “This is already jaw-dropping numbers for Vermont,” said Brenda Siegel, a policy advocate and former gubernatorial candidate in Vermont. The figure Siegel was discussing was the record 210 people known to have died in…

2021 was the deadliest year in Vermont history for opioid overdoses.

Community activists in South Florida sprang into action after West Point cadets on spring break were sickened by fentanyl-laced cocaine at a house party

There often is a serious downside for people taking medications that have a long track record of helping treat opioid addiction: discrimination

With fentanyl driving fatal overdoses to record levels in the U.S., state governments are scrambling for solutions

The number of drug overdose deaths in Maine increased by nearly a quarter in 2021.

A bellwether trial is set to start Monday in federal court in Cleveland to determine whether retail pharmacy chains are liable for costs related to the opioid crisis in two Ohio counties

A trial is now underway for a potential opioid vaccine — meant to protect against a deadly opioid overdose.

A landmark settlement in the nation’s opioid epidemic is forcing the owners of OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma to give up the company and pay out $4.5 billion

Before Jenna Tatro died — yet another loss to the cruelty of opioid use disorder — she had promised her mom and dad that, if she could just get clean, she’d devote her life to improving access to treatment and recovery. So Greg and Dawn Tatro made Jenna’s Promise theirs, starting a nonprofit under that name.

Preliminary Department of Public Health data show 1,038 people died of opioid overdoses in the first six months of this year, an estimated 5% decrease from the same time period in 2020. The preliminary data, presented by Acting DPH Commissioner Margret Cooke at a Public Health Council meeting Wednesday, includes both confirmed deaths and those estimated through a modeling process….