Brentwood, Tenn.-based Spero Health opened three new outpatient addiction treatment clinics, according to a Sept. 26 news release.

Health officials in Oregon are sounding the alarm regarding fentanyl overdoses and warning legislators that the state's drug epidemic is worsening, according to a Sept. 21 report from the Oregon Capital Chronicle. 

Retail pharmacy chains CVS and Walmart have settled for $147.5 million in West Virginia lawsuits that accused the companies of oversupplying opioids, Patrick Morrisey, the state's attorney general, said in a Sept. 20 news conference. 

The New York State Department of Health has reported an increase in opioid-related overdoses in the Central New York region, according to a Sept. 13 report from The Ithaca Voice.

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly announced $3.2 million in grants to assist rural first responders in combatting opioid abuse, according to an Aug. 23 statement from the governor's office.

Using the correct current procedural terminology (CPT) codes is crucial for documenting — and getting reimbursement for — novel treatments for which there is specific but narrowly defined guidance.

Effective pain management often relies on administering opioid-based medication, but as opioids have known side effects and can lead to misuse and abuse, alternative approaches that provide non-medicated pain relief and are more versatile hold promise for improving patient care. 

Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery III is suing Walgreens and accusing the pharmacy chain of creating a public nuisance by illegally selling and distributing opioids, according to an Aug. 3 news release. 

Teva Pharmaceuticals, an Israel-based drug manufacturer, has agreed to settle more than 3,000 opioid cases up to $4.25 billion in all cash over the next 13 years, according to The New York Times and Bloomberg.

Two years after the HHS cleared patients to take methadone, an opioid overdose treatment that's also an opioid, the number of opioid-related deaths didn't change, according to research from the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the CDC. 

HHS is set to give about $1.5 billion to states and territories to battle the opioid epidemic.

Overdose deaths have reached a new high in the U.S., with the latest CDC data showing a 15 percent increase in fatalities last year. 

Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals relied on hundreds of physicians to write a "steady stream" of painkiller prescriptions at the height of the opioid epidemic, The Washington Post reported May 10.

Walgreens has agreed to pay Florida $683 million to resolve all claims related to the "distribution and dispensing of prescription opioid medications." 

The Biden administration on April 21 shared a formal plan with Congress to address the nation's addiction and drug overdose crisis.  

McKinsey consulted with the FDA on issues related to the opioid epidemic at the same time it worked with opioid makers, which lawmakers say in a new federal report created "significant, yearslong conflicts of interest."

The powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl is fueling an increase in mass-overdose events across the country, the Drug Enforcement Agency said April 6.  

CVS Health on March 30 said it has reached a $484 million agreement with the state of Florida to resolve all claims related to opioid prescriptions at its pharmacies. 

Allergan and Teva Pharmaceuticals have settled allegations that they helped fuel Rhode Island's opioid epidemic, state Attorney General Peter Neronha said March 21.

An estimated 105,752 Americans died from overdoses in the 12-months ending October 2021, the highest number of overdose deaths recorded in the U.S. in a single 12-month period, according to provisional CDC data released March 16.