opioid crisis

San Diego County could soon have a new weapon in its arsenal to help fight its growing problem with opioid addiction.

Researchers are testing an implant that could one day offer an alternative to addictive pain relief medications. News4’s Doreen Gentzler explains how it works.

Prince William County Police found 20,000 fentanyl-laced pills hidden in fire extinguishers. A suspect has been charged.

Authorities in Prince William County, Virginia, say they discovered more than 20,000 counterfeit pills inside a fire extinguisher while searching the car of a suspect drug dealer. Officers stopped the suspect recently and found the pills, which are believed to be counterfeit Percocet pills laced with fentanyl, police said. They also found suspected crack cocaine and cash, according to police….

The number of Virginia drug overdose deaths rose again in 2021, setting a record for a second year in a row.

The Centers for Disease Control revealed Wednesday that the U.S. set a grim record in 2021 with 107,000 overdose deaths.

The provisional 2021 total translates to roughly one U.S. overdose death every 5 minutes.

The visual representation is displayed on the National Mall. News4’s Derrick Ward reports.

President Joe Biden is sending his administration’s first national drug control strategy to Congress

State attorneys in Florida say pharmacy chain Walgreens ignored red flags that signaled the pharmacies were contributing to the opioid crisis. Walgreens stores in the Tampa area had abnormally high numbers of opioid prescriptions and pills distributed, prosecutors say. Walgreens attorneys say the company was misled by pharmaceutical companies like Purdue Pharma about the potency of the drugs.

There often is a serious downside for people taking medications that have a long track record of helping treat opioid addiction: discrimination

With fentanyl driving fatal overdoses to record levels in the U.S., state governments are scrambling for solutions

D.C. residents and businesses can now get free Narcan kits delivered. News4’s Mark Segraves reports it’s part of an effort to prevent further opioid overdose deaths.

D.C. will deliver free Narcan kits to residents and businesses — and show people how to use the drug that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.

U.S. government officials said synthetic opioids are akin to “a slow-motion weapon of mass destruction.”

Native American tribes have reached opioid settlements worth over a half-billion dollars with drugmaker Johnson & Johnson and three distributors

D.C. officials are warning the public about a “lethal batch” of opioids after three people died and several others had medical emergencies Friday in the Navy Yard area of Southwest.

A jury has held Teva Pharmaceuticals responsible for contributing to the opioid crisis

As the pandemic ravaged the country, deaths from drug overdoses surged by nearly 30%, surpassing 100,000 dead for the first time in American history.

A federal judge has rejected OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma’s sweeping deal to settle thousands of lawsuits over the toll of opioids.