opioid crisis

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McKinsey & Company to pay $650 million for role in opioid crisis

3:40pm December 13, 2024

The powerful consulting firm McKinsey will "accept responsibility" and pay $650 million for helping to fuel the opioid crisis, but executives will once again dodge prosecution.

WS/FCS approves policy to allow overdose antidote Naloxone in schools

2:00pm May 29, 2024

by Amy Diaz

Naloxone, also known as Narcan, will soon be available in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools. Several community organizations requested the district keep the life-saving medication on school campuses.

In a decade of drug overdoses, more than 320,000 American children lost a parent

12:51pm May 08, 2024

by Rhitu Chatterjee

New research documents how many children lost a parent to an opioid or other overdose in the period from 2011 to 2021. Bereaved children face elevated risks to their physical and emotional health.

Health & Safety

Guilford County Board of Commissioners receives recommendations for distributing opioid settlement funds

4:08pm March 25, 2024

by DJ Simmons

The opioid strategic planning report calls for funding towards various programs and initiatives such as the Women with Children Recovery Center and a sobriety treatment and response team.

Officer Yoo gives a citation to a man he stopped for using fentanyl in public. Yoo said handing out citations doesn't appear to move people from using drugs on the streets into treatment programs.

Oregon pioneered a radical drug policy. Now it's reconsidering.

6:40pm February 07, 2024

by Conrad Wilson

Under Ballot Measure 110, instead of arresting drug users, police give them a citation and point them towards treatment. Over three years in, there's a debate about whether it's succeeded or failed.

Queue Listen Now

Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, has introduced legislation with Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, to put guardrails around the use of billions of opioid settlement funds.

Proposed federal law would put limits on use of $50 billion in opioid settlements

5:00am January 22, 2024

by Aneri Pattani

Lawmakers want to ensure the funds are actually used to fight the addiction crisis, not "as a piggy bank for other projects."

Advocates and victims of the opioid crisis gather outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 4, 2023, while the justices hear a case about Purdue Pharma's bankruptcy deal. The protesters urged justices to overturn the deal, which would give the Sackler family immunity against future civil cases related to opioids.

In 2023, opioid settlement funds flowed to states. Here's how it's going

4:10pm December 21, 2023

by Aneri Pattani

Some $1.5 billion flowed to local government coffers this year, sparking debates about transparency and how to spend the money. Here are 5 takeaways from a year's worth of reporting on the issue.

Health & Safety

Forsyth County prepares to distribute more funding to combat the opioid crisis in 2024

7:00am December 21, 2023

by April Laissle

Forsyth County is preparing to distribute more funding from a multi-million dollar state settlement with opioid distributors and manufacturers.

Last year, more than 100,000 Americans died of drug overdoses. Advocates and family members marked the tragic toll with cardboard grave markers on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 23.

States are getting $50 billion in opioid cash. And it's an issue in governor's races

10:25am November 01, 2023

by Aneri Pattani

Some candidates for governor are sparring over bragging rights for their state's share of opioid settlement funds. Some are attorneys general who pursued the lawsuits that produced the payouts.

States and counties nationwide are using opioid settlement funds for law enforcement efforts, including buying new squad cars. This draws criticism that the funds should be invested in treatment instead.

Law enforcement eyes opioid settlement cash for squad cars and body scanners

4:38pm October 20, 2023

by Aneri Pattani

Some state and local governments have started tapping in to opioid settlement funds for law enforcement expenses. Many argue it should go toward treating addiction instead.