opioid crisis

The DEA used info from Diamond Lynch’s phone to find where she got the drugs that killed her, a trail that stretched from Washington, D.C., to California to Mexico.

The legality of an agreement by the maker of OxyContin to settle thousands of lawsuits over the harm done by opioids is going before the Supreme Court.

A new drug treatment center is coming to Worcester, Massachusetts, but community members are concerned about the proposed location, which is in close proximity to schools, bus stops and elderly housing. “They made these decisions, they told no one,” said Worcester City Councilor Dr. Sarai Rivera. Rivera said she’s frustrated by what she sees as a lack of transparency...

Neighbors say the choice of location and lack of transparency is discriminatory.

Police say they are fake prescription drugs being sold on the streets and it could cost people their lives.

Quincy police have a warning out after four overdoses in the city just within 24 hours this past weekend. Drug dealers are selling prescription pills laced with potentially deadly opioids. Police said the problem is only getting worse, with people in Quincy thinking they are taking ADHD medication or painkillers, when really they are swallowing potentially lethal doses of fentanyl…

Narcan is an easy-to-use nasal spray that can reverse an opioid overdose. Here’s what you need to know about this life-saving drug.

Thursday marks International Overdose Awareness Day, and thousands of flags were planted at the Boston Common to remember the lives lost in Massachusetts. The Department of Public Health is hosting Thursday morning’s event at the Common, where 22,000 purple flags were planted — symbolizing the people who have died in the Bay State from overdoses since 2011. Several local leaders…

Twenty MBTA Red Line stations will be stocked with the life-saving drug naloxone thanks to a proposal from a group of Harvard students. Naloxone, commonly referred to by the brand name Narcan, can be the difference between life and death during an overdose. “I witnessed a 19-year-old individual experience an overdose and luckily there was Narcan present and the overdose…

This is intended to be a life-saving move to help prevent deadly overdoses.

A powerful animal sedative in the illicit drug supply is complicating the U.S. response to the opioid crisis. It’s called xylazine (pronounced ZY’-lah-zeen).

A federal court cleared the way for the Sackler family, owners of Purdue Pharma, to settle thousands of claims over the toll of opiods, seemingly without the threat of civil lawsuits.

The city of Manchester, New Hampshire, is expanding on a new approach to tackling the opioid crisis. Officials are working to deploy rapid response teams to areas deemed “hot spots.” Community leaders met Wednesday with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Association of County and City Health Officials to work out the details for best practices…

Community leaders in Manchester, New Hampshire, met with the CDC as part of a new approach to combat drug overdoses.

A New Hampshire man who lost his daughter to a drug overdose was invited to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address Tuesday night. Doug Griffin of Newton, New Hampshire, has been on a mission to create safe communities for those in addiction recovery since his daughter, Courtney, died from a fentanyl overdose at just 20 years old. Biden…

President Joe Biden honored a New Hampshire family that has been working to help others after losing a child to fentanyl.

Health officials have released new data on opioid overdose deaths in Massachusetts. While the total number of deaths is down slightly from last year, the reports indicates fentanyl is responsible for 94% of opioid overdose deaths in the Bay State. Opioid-related overdose deaths in Massachusetts decreased in the first nine months of 2022 compared to the same time last year,…

New data reveals that fentanyl is responsible for 94% of opioid-related deaths in Massachusetts in the first half of 2022, health officials said.

A new cafe in Vermont’s Lamoille County is serving up something special: healthier and more productive futures for its employees. Jenna’s Coffee House will celebrate its grand opening Friday. Named after a local woman who lost her life to opioid use disorder, the coffee house will employ people in long-term recovery.  Under a partnership with Two Sons Bakehouse, the...

Walmart has agreed to pay $3.1 billion to settle lawsuits nationwide over the impact of the prescriptions its pharmacies filled for powerful prescription opioid painkillers. The deal would still need to be approved by 43 states to take effect. It follows a similar announcement from pharmacy chains CVS Health and Walgreen Co. They each said they would pay about $5...