opioids

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Fentanyl Claims Top Spot for US Overdose Deaths

Fentanyl, other synthetic opioids killed more than 21K people last year

(Newser) - Fourteen people overdosed on heroin laced with fentanyl in a span of just four hours Wednesday in Camden, New Jersey, NBC Philadelphia reports. While none of Wednesday's overdoses in Camden were fatal, BuzzFeed —citing new data from the CDC—reports fentanyl and other synthetic opioids are now the...

Major Insurer Takes Big Step on OxyContin

Cigna will stop covering most prescriptions

(Newser) - A big change for a huge insurance company: Starting Jan. 1, Cigna will stop covering most OxyContin prescriptions in its group plans. OxyContin, an opioid painkiller, is an extended-release version of oxycodone; extended-release versions contain a higher dose of the active ingredients, which can make them ripe for abuse as...

He Made Big Tobacco Cave. Now's He's Got a New Target

Attorney Mike Moore is going after companies that make and sell opioids

(Newser) - Mike Moore is renowned in legal circles as the attorney who brought Big Tobacco to its knees by orchestrating a 50-state, $246 billion settlement back in the 1990s. Now, the 65-year-old Moore has a new but similarly giant target: companies that manufacture, distribute, or sell opioids, reports Bloomberg Businessweek . Its...

Opioid Crisis Is Taking Men Out of the Labor Market
Opioid Crisis Is Taking Men
Out of the Labor Market
study says
Sep 12, 2017 7:41 PM CDT

Opioid Crisis Is Taking Men Out of the Labor Market

20% of the drop-off in men's participation is because of drugs

(Newser) - The percentage of American men participating in the labor force dropped 3 percentage points between 1999 and 2014, and one economist believes a considerable portion of that drop can be blamed on the opioid epidemic, Fortune reports. The drug crisis has hit certain areas of the country harder than others,...

Teen Was Driving 107mph When She Killed Sisters: Cops

Alia Sierra has been charged as adult

(Newser) - The opioid epidemic may have claimed two wholly innocent victims. Police say the 17-year-old who killed two sisters after the car she was driving crashed into the girls' Frankfort, Ind., home in July was high on opiates. RTV6 describes a harrowing lead-up to the crash, citing detectives who say Alia...

Funeral Director in Blog Post: 'F--- You, Opioids'

He says he's not prone to profanity, but he's overwhelmed by what he's seen

(Newser) - A New Jersey funeral director heartbroken and overwhelmed at the opioid deaths he's seen in his line of work minced no words in a blog post he published on the funeral home's website this week. "F**k you, Opioids," reads the headline of the post on the...

Trump: Opioid Crisis Is a National Emergency

'We’re going to spend a lot of time, a lot of effort and a lot of money on the opioid crisis'

(Newser) - President Trump has declared the opioid crisis a national emergency, though the official paperwork declaring it so is still to come. "We’re going to spend a lot of time, a lot of effort and a lot of money on the opioid crisis," he promised after the declaration...

Mom Raised $40K for Son's Cancer Care. He Didn't Have It

Monika Burgett is accused of having her 3-year-old's eyebrows, head shaved in the ruse

(Newser) - A woman has been accused of pretending to be a doctor and falsely claiming her preschool-age son had terminal cancer so he could receive unnecessary hospital care and opioids. A Hamilton County prosecutor told jurors on Tuesday at the trial of Monika Burgett that she convinced doctors at Cincinnati Children'...

Ohio Handing Out Money for High-Tech Solutions to Opioid Crisis

So far, 44 organizations have submitted project ideas

(Newser) - A call by Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich for scientific breakthroughs to help solve the opioid crisis is drawing interest from dozens of groups, with ideas including remote-controlled medication dispensers, monitoring devices for addicts, mobile apps, and pain-relieving massage gloves. The state has received project ideas from 44 hospitals, universities,...

The Opioid Crisis May Be 24% Worse Than We Thought
Researcher Says Our Opioid
Death Stats Are Way Off
new study
Aug 8, 2017 12:11 PM CDT

Researcher Says Our Opioid Death Stats Are Way Off

There may be 24% more deaths than we think

(Newser) - The CDC statistic is a harsh one: Ninety-one Americans die from opioid overdoses—that number includes heroin and prescription opioids—every day. A University of Virginia researcher claims we're undercounting. A new study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine estimates that opioid- and heroin-related mortality rates were...

Cops: Parents Rubbed Painkiller on Newborn's Gums to Mask Addiction

Three of four kids tested positive for meth

(Newser) - A 3-month-old girl who tested positive for meth, heroin, and morphine was allegedly dosed with a painkiller by her parents hours after her April 9 birth to mask the girl's addiction from hospital staff. The Utah County Sheriff reports that Colby Glen Wilde, 29, and Lacey Dawn Christenson, 26,...

Boy May Have Died After Contacting Fentanyl at Pool

Officials say 10-year-old is among youngest victims of opioid crisis

(Newser) - Prosecutors in Florida believe a 10-year-old boy who died with the painkiller fentanyl in his system is among the state's youngest victims of the opioid crisis, the AP reports. Preliminary toxicology tests show Alton Banks had fentanyl in his system when he collapsed and died at his home on...

412—Including 56 Doctors— Charged in Opioid Fraud Cases

AG says it's 'largest health care fraud takedown operation in American history'

(Newser) - A rehab facility in Florida allegedly performed $58 million in false tests and treatments on opioid addicts it lured with strip club visits, the AP reports. Meanwhile, authorities say a doctor in Houston sold opioid prescriptions for cash, according to NBC News . And six doctors in Michigan conspired to prescribe...

Doctor Accused in 7 Deaths
Doctor Accused
in 7 Deaths
Jul 12, 2017 6:31 PM CDT

Doctor Accused in 7 Deaths

Authorities say he wrote unnecessary prescriptions for powerful drugs

(Newser) - A Texas doctor wrote unnecessary prescriptions for powerful drugs that contributed to the overdose deaths of at least seven people over a four-year period, according to a federal indictment unsealed Wednesday. Howard Diamond, 56, was arrested Tuesday on charges that include conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and health care fraud,...

Parents Who Can't Stop Using, Kids Sent to Foster Care

The US foster system is overwhelmed because of the opioid epidemic

(Newser) - "I felt like I lost my mom to this pit that I couldn't pull her out of." That's how 20-year-old Brianna McLaughlin describes her mom, Kelly, after the former Head Start caseworker became addicted to OxyContin, then heroin, after neck surgery. As Julia Lurie details for...

Trump Surgeon General Pick Fought Indiana HIV Outbreak

Jerome Adams oversaw needle exchange program

(Newser) - President Trump nominated Indiana's health commissioner to serve as the next US surgeon general on Thursday, selecting an anesthesiologist who promoted needle exchange programs while serving under Vice President Mike Pence. The White House said Trump nominated Dr. Jerome Adams to serve as the nation's chief doctor. Adams...

She Overdosed While Pregnant, Now Faces Assault Charge

Doctors had to deliver baby prematurely

(Newser) - In a case that police say lays bare the disturbing extent of the opioid crisis, a woman in Pennsylvania faces charges of assaulting her baby by overdosing on heroin while seven months pregnant. The baby was delivered by emergency C-section Saturday after 30-year-old Kasey Dischman was found unresponsive in the...

One New Stat Shows Extent of Opioid Problem

Opioid-related ER visits nearly doubled in 10 years

(Newser) - The severity of America's opioid epidemic was captured in a dire government report published Tuesday. According to the report, released by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality , the rate of opioid-related emergency room visits nearly doubled between 2005 and 2014, increasing a whopping 99%. The report also found...

Accused of Stealing Victim's Ring, He Was Once a Hero

George Tschaggeny, arrested in Portland, had been honored as Good Samaritan

(Newser) - Another cautionary tale in the midst of America's battle against opioids : that of George Elwood Tschaggeny. The military veteran helped tackle a bank robber armed with a knife in 2010 and was awarded a civilian medal, and it wasn't Tschaggeny's first turn as a Good Samaritan. More...

This One Stat Shows Severity of Opioid Crisis
This One Stat Shows
Severity of Opioid Crisis
in case you missed it
Jun 10, 2017 4:54 PM CDT

This One Stat Shows Severity of Opioid Crisis

Overdoses are leading cause of death for Americans under the age of 50

(Newser) - Just how bad is the opioid crisis in the US? So bad that drug overdoses are now the leading cause of death for people under 50, the New York Times reports. State and county death records reveal an estimated 62,500 people died from drug overdoses last year, 19% more...

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