Opioids

Generic drugmakers sold most opioids during overdose crisis

Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals doled out lavish perks for top U.S. employees who hit or beat sales goals for prescription ...
1:23 26 February 2022

OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma starts ad campaign for claims

OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma launched an ad campaign Monday to tell people harmed by their powerful prescription opioid...
15:05 24 February 2022

Judge to sentence Coast Guard officer accused of terror plot

GREENBELT, Md. — A Coast Guard lieutenant accused of stockpiling guns and drafting a hit list of prominent Democrats and TV journalists is scheduled t...
6:03 31 January 2022

Ex-pharmaceutical exec to be sentenced for pushing opioid

BOSTON — The founder of an Arizona pharmaceutical company is expected to be sentenced in Boston's federal court Thursday for his role in a bribery and...
11:02 23 January 2022

Feds to let states tap opioid funds for meth, cocaine surge

WASHINGTON — Alarmed by a deadly new twist in the nation's drug addiction crisis, the government will allow states to use federal money earmarked for ...
16:43 21 January 2022

Prince wrongful death case dismissed; estate case continues

MINNEAPOLIS — A wrongful death lawsuit filed by Prince's family members has been quietly dismissed in recent months, suggesting family members have re...
17:04 20 January 2022

Opioid-dependent kids’ guardians seek to form class in suit

CLEVELAND — Guardians caring for hundreds of thousands of children born dependent on opioids since 2000 should be grouped together as part of the clas...
20:01 10 January 2022

Pharmacies say prescribers bear opioid crisis responsibility

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Doctors and other healthcare practitioners who write prescriptions bear ultimate responsibility for improper distribution of opioids ...
17:21 7 January 2022

Deal will let more companies make an overdose antidote spray

NEW YORK — More companies could begin making an easy-to-use version of an opioid overdose antidote under a deal announced Thursday by New York's attor...
21:22 2 January 2022

Rwanda avoids US-style opioids crisis by making own morphine

BUSHEKELI, Rwanda — It was something, the silence. Nothing but the scuff of her slip-on shoes as Madeleine Mukantagara walked through the fields to he...
14:25 25 December 2021

Bankruptcy judge thrust into spotlight in Purdue Pharma case

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — The judge overseeing the bankruptcy of OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma warns that real-life court cases don't unfold like “Perry Ma...
15:23 24 December 2021

To battle opioid crisis, some track overdoses in real time

ALBANY, N.Y. — Drug overdose patients rushed to some emergency rooms in New York's Hudson Valley are asked a series of questions: Do you have stable h...
12:37 23 December 2021

Walk-in clinics for opioid addiction offer meds first, fast

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Every time she got out of jail, Jamie Cline started hustling again for heroin, driven by an addiction she didn’t understand.
19:36 18 December 2021

Most US opioid overdose deaths accidental, 4% are suicide

Accidental overdoses cause 90% of all U.S. opioid-related deaths while suicides account for far fewer of these fatalities than previously thought, a n...
18:05 17 December 2021

Sackler-owned opioid maker pushes overdose treatment abroad

The gleaming white booth towered over the medical conference in Italy in October, advertising a new brand of antidote for opioid overdoses. “Be prepar...
3:06 16 December 2021

Tufts University severs ties with family behind OxyContin

BOSTON — Members of the family that own OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma say they will push to reverse Tufts University's decision to strip their name fr...
20:04 5 December 2021

Judge: Purdue workers should get bonuses, but maybe not CEO

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — More time is needed to sort out whether the CEO of OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma should receive a $1.3 million bonus next year, b...
23:34 4 December 2021

Federal addiction treatment dollars off-limits for marijuana

The U.S. government is barring federal dollars meant for opioid addiction treatment to be used on medical marijuana.
16:42 22 November 2021

AP key findings about Mundipharma’s OxyContin sales in China

SHANGHAI — The Sackler family’s opioid empire in the United States is collapsing under an avalanche of litigation over marketing tactics. Their Purdue...
5:59 20 November 2021

Oklahoma judge reduces J&J order in opioid lawsuit by $107M

OKLAHOMA CITY — An Oklahoma judge who last summer ordered consumer products giant Johnson & Johnson to pay $572 million to help address the state’...
20:27 15 November 2021

China sentences fentanyl traffickers after US tip about ring

XINGTAI, China — A Chinese court sentenced nine fentanyl traffickers on Thursday in a case that is the culmination of a rare collaboration between Chi...
0:58 8 November 2021

10 Things to Know for Today

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:
11:27 7 November 2021

White House launches website aimed at addiction treatment

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has unveiled a website aimed at helping millions of Americans with substance abuse issues learn about and locate...
9:14 30 October 2021

Meth is most common drug in overdose deaths in chunk of US

NEW YORK — Fentanyl is driving drug overdose deaths in the U.S. overall, but in nearly half of the country, it's a different story. Meth is the bigger...
4:29 25 October 2021