Widespread medical cannabis legalization could lead to reduced opioid abuse, according to recent study from New York City-based Columbia University.

A complaint filed by two Ohio counties in federal court in Cleveland on May 27 alleges five retail pharmacy chains facilitated the opioid crisis as distributors of the highly addictive drugs, according to The New York Times.

CVS subsidiary Omnicare agreed to pay the U.S. $15.3 million May 13 to resolve allegations it violated the False Claims Act by allowing opioids and other controlled substances to be dispensed without valid prescriptions. 

West Virginia and Delaware are tied for having the most overdose deaths per capita of all U.S. states, according to a ranking from WalletHub.

Regulatory reforms the government rolled out amid the pandemic have significantly improved patients' access to addiction care, according to STAT.

Many Americans who have lost a loved one to opioid addiction are grappling with feelings of resentment amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to PennLive.

Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter filed separate lawsuits against Cardinal Health, McKesson and AmerisourceBergen May 1, accusing them of oversupplying the state with opioids, The Oklahoman reported. 

Though the federal government is now allowing certain people receiving addiction treatment to take medications home for extended periods, compliance with the new rules have been spotty, resulting in crowds and long lines at some treatment clinics in the country, STAT reports.

To combat the opioid crisis that continues to claim lives in the U.S., more health systems are developing holistic programs to address opioid use disorder within the four walls of their hospitals.

A program implemented at Dallas-based Baylor Scott & White Health helped cut post-surgery opioid prescriptions by 64 percent, according to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.

Although use of opioids to treat back pain patients coming to the emergency department decreased overall from 2007 to 2016, the use of one opioid, tramadol, doubled, new research shows, according to MedPage Today.

State laws on opioid prescription volumes may help lower opioid use and positively influence providers' prescribing decisions, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open.

Plans for the country's first supervised injection site, scheduled to open next week in Philadelphia, abruptly ended Feb. 28, according to ABC affiliate WPVI.

Sonoma (Calif.) Valley Hospital terminated the employment of a longtime physician last month for failing to follow the organization's opioid prescribing guidelines, reports the Sonoma Index-Tribune.

Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Healthcare launched an opioid-free surgery program, the first-of-its-kind in Utah.

The number of non-cancer patients with chronic pain prescribed an opioid doubled across the globe over 25 years, according to a study published in the Journal of Internal Medicine.

The country's first supervised injection site will open in Philadelphia next week, reports The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder may prevent more fatal overdoses than traditional therapy methods, according to a study published in the journal Addiction.

People who abuse opioids are more likely to be hospitalized for sepsis and die, even if they are young and otherwise healthy, according to new research.

More than 25 percent of opioid overdoses involve youth as overdoses become increasingly severe, according to an analysis presented at the Society of Critical Care Medicine's 49th Critical Care Congress.