Fewer members of Pittsburgh-based Highmark Health are receiving opioid prescriptions, the organization announced during a May 14 press conference with Danville, Pa.-based Geisinger.

A history of substance use disorder is one of three factors likely to identify patients at higher risk for prescription opioid addiction, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open.

The Trump administration seeks cut opioid prescription fills by 33 percent in three years through better education and adherence to pain-management prescribing practices, according to a May 3 report from the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Delaware, Louisiana, Massachusetts and New York have joined forces with Shatterproof, a national nonprofit organization, to create and implement a rating system for addiction treatment programs.

The American Medical Association (AMA) recently published a press release commending Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson and the Arkansas General Assembly, alongside the Arkansas Medical Society (AMS) for taking strides in ending administrative challenges that have contributed to the opioid epidemic. 

Inconsistency in opioid dosing could be a risk factor for opioid overdose, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open.

The National Institutes of Health will roll out a $350 million study on addiction treatment in four states hit hard by the opioid epidemic, the group announced April 18.

The CDC clarified aspects of its opioid prescribing guidelines for chronic pain in an April 9 letter to three cancer organizations, reports Medscape.

Nebraska lawmakers voted April 8 to advance a bill that aims to increase measures of the state's prescription drug monitoring program, The Columbus Telegram reports.

Activists in Washington, D.C., placed an 800-pound heroin spoon branded with the FDA's logo outside of the main office of HHS April 5 to protest the drug agency's handling of the opioid epidemic, according to STAT.

Charlotte, N.C.-based Atrium Health is partnering with several state agencies, among other stakeholders, to launch More Powerful NC — a public education campaign to raise awareness about opioid use disorder and spur action against the opioid epidemic.

The New York attorney general is suing six opioid manufacturers, the Sackler family and four prescription drug distributors in a massive legal fight against the pharma industry accused of fueling the opioid crisis, according to CNBC.

The Philadelphia-based nonprofit Safehouse is in negotiations to secure a building for the nation's first supervised injection site, reports WHYY.

A leading academic that chairs an FDA advisory panel and a consumer advocacy group filed a petition asking the agency to impose a moratorium on approving new or reformulated opioids, according to a STAT news report.

Delaware's Division of Public Health released a mobile app that instructs users on how to administer naloxone to an individual experiencing an opioid overdose, Delaware Business Now reports.

The FDA has granted fast track designation to an emergency opioid overdose antidote manufactured by OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, according to MarketWatch.

The United States is amidst a crisis in population health related to opioid dependence and abuse.

More than half of Department of Veterans Affairs enrollees also have Medicare drug coverage, a dual system that can lead to uncoordinated and potentially unsafe opioid use, according to a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Salem, Mass.-based North Shore Medical Center and nonprofit human service agency Bridgewell recently started offering recovery coaches to patients being treated for drug overdoses, The Boston Globe reports.

CMS updated its Opioid Prescribing Mapping Tool to give users a more in-depth look at opioid prescribing rates across the U.S., the agency announced Feb. 22.