prescription painkillers

Judge Thad Balkman will rule Monday in the Johnson & Johnson opioid trial.

Health & Safety

Oklahoma Judge To Rule In Landmark Opioid Case

3:16pm August 26, 2019

by Jackie Fortier

Oklahoma has argued that the drugmaker's marketing of painkillers contributed to thousands of overdose deaths and other harms in the state and is asking for a multibillion-dollar award.

Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter begins closing statements during the opioid trial at the Cleveland County Courthouse in Norman, Okla., on Monday, July 15. It's the first public trial to emerge from roughly 2,000 U.S. lawsuits aimed at holding drugma

Health & Safety

Pain Meds As Public Nuisance? Oklahoma Tests A Legal Strategy For Opioid Addiction

5:55pm July 16, 2019

by Jackie Fortier

The first civil trial against an opioid manufacturer, Johnson & Johnson, has ended in Oklahoma. The verdict could affect lawsuits filed by other local and state governments coping with addiction.

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Courts

'Pill Mill' Trial Set To Begin For Greensboro Doctor

8:46am April 29, 2019

by Paul Garber and The Associated Press

A Triad doctor is headed to trial this week on charges of running an illegal pill mill in Virginia.

Purdue Pharma, headquartered in Stamford, Conn., the Sackler family, which owns the company, settled a case brought by the Oklahoma attorney general.

Purdue Pharma Agrees To $270 Million Opioid Settlement With Oklahoma

3:24pm March 26, 2019

by Martha Bebinger

The maker of OxyContin will pay to settle a historic opioid lawsuit brought by the attorney general of Oklahoma. Will other drugmakers named in the lawsuit follow?

Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, testifying before a House subcommittee in May. There are "very tight restrictions" being placed on the distribution and use of Dsuvia, Gottlieb said Friday in addressing the FDA's approval of the n

Despite Warnings, FDA Approves Potent New Opioid Painkiller

3:27pm November 02, 2018

by Jake Harper

Critics, including some leading anesthesiologists, say the drug is unnecessary, and they worry it will be diverted and abused. The Food And Drug Administration says it is addressing safety concerns.

Suboxone, a medicine to treat opioid addiction, helps people struggling with substance abuse by blocking their cravings and physical withdrawal symptoms.

Addiction Treatment Gap Is Driving A Black Market For Suboxone

4:22pm October 10, 2018

by Jake Harper

This medicine to treat opioid addiction is hard to come by — only a fraction of doctors can prescribe it. So some people trying to quit a heroin habit are turning to the black market for help.

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Despite abuse deterrent formulation, Purdue Pharma's OxyContin continues to be used by some people with opioid addiction to get high.

Health & Safety

Insurer To Purdue Pharma: We Won't Pay For OxyContin Anymore

7:34pm September 12, 2018

by Blake Farmer

Embattled drugmaker Purdue Pharma defends OxyContin as some insurers are dropping the drug in favor of other abuse-deterrent opioid painkillers.

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Shannon Hubbard has complex regional pain syndrome and considers herself lucky that her doctor hasn't cut back her pain prescription dosage.

Patients With Chronic Pain Feel Caught In An Opioid Prescribing Debate

6:43pm July 08, 2018

by Will Stone

States are passing laws that limit a doctor's ability to prescribe opioids. Doctors and patients alike are wrestling with what that means in cases of chronic pain

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Mady Ohlman, who lives near Boston and has been sober for more than four years, says many drug users hit a point when the disease and the pursuit of illegal drugs crushes the will to live.

How Many Opioid Overdoses Are Suicides?

4:25pm March 28, 2018

by Martha Bebinger

Opioid overdoses and related deaths are still climbing, according to U.S. statistics. Teasing out which overdoses are intentional can be hard, but is important for treatment, doctors say.

A young man uses heroin under a bridge in the Kensington section of Philadelphia, a neighborhood that has become a hub for heroin use. The economic costs of the epidemic are mounting, researchers say, as the U.S. loses more and more workers in their prime

Cost Of U.S. Opioid Epidemic Since 2001 Is $1 Trillion And Climbing

1:05pm February 13, 2018

by Greg Allen

Economists tracking federal mortality data say the opioid crisis is undercutting the productivity of people in their prime working years — 30s and 40s.