Purdue Pharma opioid settlement: Judge conditionally OKs $4.5B agreement
A judge on Wednesday gave conditional approval to a sweeping, potentially $10 billion plan submitted by OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma to settle a mountain of lawsuits over its role in the opioid crisis.
California considers paying drug addicts to stay sober
Frustrated by out-of-control increases in drug overdose deaths, California’s leaders are trying something radical: They want the state to be the first to pay people to stay sober.
Butts County seeing increase in opioid drug overdoses
The Butts County Sheriff's Office says opiate overdoses continue to rise.
4 companies on verge of settling $26B deal in lawsuits over toll of opioid prescriptions
The three biggest U.S. drug distribution companies and the drugmaker Johnson & Johnson are on the verge of a $26 billion deal to settle lawsuits brought by state and local governments across the country over the toll of prescription opioids.
93,000 Americans died of overdoses last year, a new record
U.S. overdose deaths climbed to a record 93,000 last year amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The previous record was 72,000.
J&J to pay $230M to settle claims it helped fuel opioid crisis
As part of the deal, the drugmaker also agreed to end the manufacturing and distribution of opioids across New York and the rest of the nation.
CVS sued for ‘role’ in opioid epidemic by Kentucky’s attorney general
Kentucky’s attorney general is coming after CVS, alleging the company played a role in the state’s opioid addiction woes.
Atlanta bar to give out free Narcan kits to combat overdoses, laced drugs
There has been a flurry of online posts in the past few weeks claiming fentanyl-laced cocaine has been going around metro Atlanta. One bar is trying to help fight overdoses and laced drugs.
Parents of 17-year-old teen killed by fentanyl overdose: ‘She took a pill and it cost her her life’
Authorities are seeing an increase in deadly fentanyl overdose among teens leading them to call it a public health crisis.
Georgia officials watching spike in Ffentanyl-laced counterfeit pills in Rome, Floyd County
State and local officials are monitoring a possible cluster of overdoses related to fentanyl-laced counterfeit pills.
3 charged after police say dead man was in their car for 13 hours
Three people are charged with concealing a death. Floyd County police said a man had overdosed, but the people he was with never tried to get him medical attention. Investigators said it was 13 hours before they were alerted to the death.
Georgia warns of fentanyl overdoses from counterfeit pills
Georgia officials are warning that some people may be overdosing on fentanyl pills that were falsely sold to them as Xanax or Percocet.
Opioid dependency was 'driving force' in deadly Buffalo clinic shooting, search warrant application states
A Wright County Sheriff's deputy investigating Gregory Ulrich, the man charged in the deadly Allina Health clinic shooting, believes Ulrich's dependency on pain medication was the "driving force" in the incident, according to search warrant applications filed in the case.
DOJ sues Walmart over role in America’s opioid crisis
The Justice Department is suing Walmart, alleging the company unlawfully dispensed controlled substances through its pharmacies, helping to fuel the opioid crisis in America, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Fentanyl drives opioid deaths during first pandemic months, according to CDC
New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates fatal drug overdoses steadily increased before the pandemic and skyrocketed in the first months of it.
Fake business housed industrial-scale meth, fentanyl lab, Mexican officials say
Soldiers and police in Mexico have seized an industrial-scale meth and fentanyl lab that was so big it startled investigators.
Fatal overdoses soaring across country during pandemic
New numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate fatal overdoses were already up 16% from January through March of this year and intervention specialists said the stress and uncertainty from impacts of COVID-19 could drive that number higher.
Coast Guard unloads several tons of seized cocaine and marijuana in Fort Lauderdale
The Coast Guard crew removed some of the 12,100 pounds of cocaine and 5,759 pounds of marijuana worth more than $2 million from a boat at Port Everglades.
3 tons of cocaine headed for New York City seized off Mexican coast
Three accused Mexican drug traffickers were charged with conspiring to transport more than three tons of cocaine into the United States, said federal, state and local officials.
Mexican cartels are finding more unusual ways to smuggle the drugs, Customs and Border Protection officers say
Officers say meth seizures have nearly doubled this year; criminals are getting more creative in the ways they smuggle drugs across the border and fear the problem will only get worse. FOX's Stephanie Bennett reports.