Opioid Epidemic Archives

Social Justice

Divulged Private Emails Show Purdue Pharma’s Deception About the Strength of OxyContin

In a sealed court document, one of the company's controlling members indicated that Purdue Pharma should not correct misconceptions about the strength of oxycodone.

David Armstrong

News in Brief

Prescription Opioids Are Contributing to More Fatal Auto Accidents

New research finds use of painkillers more than doubles the risk that a driver will set into motion a fatal two-car crash.

Tom Jacobs

OxyContin being counted at a Walgreens drugstore on August 21st, 2001, in Brookline, Massachusetts.

Social Justice

Purdue Pharma Executives Discussed Expanding Into the Addiction Treatment Market

The maker of the potent painkiller Oxycontin discussed how the sale of opioids and the treatment of opioid addiction were "naturally linked."

David Armstrong

Prescription opioid sales in the U.S. spiked on the dark Web after it became harder for patients to obtain prescriptions for them.

A New White House Tell-All Illustrates Trump’s Views on How to Keep Teens From Abusing Opioids

In a new book, White House staffer Cliff Sims recounts what the president wanted for White House-sponsored ads intended to discourage young Americans from abusing opioid painkillers.

Francie Diep

Social Justice

Opioid Deaths Follow Where Big Pharma Spends Money on Marketing to Doctors

A new study suggests drug-company practices helped create the current epidemic.

Tom Jacobs

The ads show actors going to scary lengths to get prescription opioids.

The FDA Approves a Controversial New Opioid Painkiller

The Food and Drug Administration is approving a powerful new opioid painkiller, the agency announced Friday.

Francie Diep

Families members hold pictures of the loved ones they lost to the opioid crisis during the event at which Trump declared the crisis a public-health emergency on October 26, 2017, in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C.

News in Brief

One Year After Trump Declared Opioid Addiction a Public-Health Emergency, What’s Changed?

The declaration was met with a lot of fanfare, but officials did little with the legal powers it gave them, experts say.

Francie Diep

Social Justice

Are Insurers Doing Their Part to End America’s Opioid Epidemic?

A new study asks if insurance policies discourage the overprescribing of opioids and encourage proven alternative pain treatments.

Francie Diep

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein listens during a news conference about fentanyl and other opiate substances on October 17th, 2017, in Washington, D.C.

Social Justice

The Department of Justice Is Totally Wrong About Supervised Injection Sites

There are real reasons to debate whether it's worth opening these facilities in communities, but Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein instead relies on unscientific fear-mongering.

Francie Diep