The country's three largest drug distributors and two manufacturers have agreed with several states on the framework of a $50 billion settlement to resolve thousands of opioid-related lawsuits, according to The New York Times.

McKesson, AmerisourceBergen and Cardinal Health are in talks to settle opioid litigation brought against them by states and local governments for $18 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal.

HHS published a five-page guide on how to safely taper patients off opioids Oct. 10.  

The National Institute on Drug Abuse appointed a former pharmaceutical lobbyist to its top advisory board, angering advocates who blame the pharmaceutical industry for the opioid crisis, according to Buzzfeed News.

OxyContin-maker Purdue Pharma's settlement is under increased scrutiny after court filings revealed the Sackler family made $12 billion to $13 billion in profit from the company, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Jamestown, N.Y.-based UPMC Chautauqua was slated to open a methadone clinic to address growing opioid misuse among residents, but internal state decisions ultimately thwarted the plans, according to the Observer.

A federal judge on Oct. 2 ruled that Philadelphia's proposed supervised injection site does not violate federal law, representing a landmark decision that could alter how opioid use disorder is treated in the U.S., reports The Washington Post.

The Drug Enforcement Administration allowed drugmakers to substantially increase the number of opioids they produced each year even as the number of opioid-related overdoses in the U.S. grew, according to a review released Oct. 1 by the Office of the Inspector General.

The FDA and Drug Enforcement Administration sent joint letters to four online networks Sept. 30, warning each company to immediately stop illegally marketing opioids to Americans.  

Several drugmakers involved in the upcoming federal opioid trial are looking to settle their cases by participating in Purdue Pharma's bankruptcy settlement, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Several research teams from the Ann Arbor-based University of Michigan received a collective $25.5 million from the National Institutes of Health to support projects addressing the prevention and treatment of opioid addiction and abuse.

Johnson & Johnson filed an appeal with the Oklahoma Supreme Court Sept. 25 claiming the $572 million it was ordered to pay the state was excessive and should be overturned, according to Tulsa World.

Financial reimbursement incentives helped curb excessive opioid prescribing after surgical procedures, according a study published in JAMA Network Open.

The judge overseeing the federal opioid trial said he will not recuse himself from the case, denying the defendants' claim that he is biased, according to The Washington Post.

Two Ohio counties serving as bellwethers in the federal opioid trial set for Oct. 21 outlined their arguments against the drugmakers and distributors they sued for allegedly fueling the opioid crisis, according to The Washington Post.

Three people died and four more were hospitalized at Pittsburgh based-UPMC Mercy after a string of apparent drug overdoses Sept. 22, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 

The Sackler family may withdraw its settlement deal if a bankruptcy judge doesn't block outstanding state lawsuits against it and Purdue Pharma according to The New York Times. 

Insys Therapeutics, the first drugmaker to declare bankruptcy due to opioid-related litigation, raised far less money from asset sales than needed to pay the U.S. Justice Department and other creditors what it owes them, according to The Wall Street Journal.

A day after the Sackler family's lawyers said they will ask for protection against any additional opioid-related litigation, North Carolina's attorney general filed a new lawsuit accusing eight members of the family of fueling the opioid crisis, according to The Hill.

China is working to shut down shipments of illicit fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances to the U.S., investment firm Blackstone's chairman, CEO and co-founder told CNBC Sept. 17.