The Sackler family, owners of OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, has agreed to pay $6 billion to settle long-running litigation alleging they fueled the nation's opioid epidemic, The New York Times reported March 3.

The overdose mortality rate among Black Americans in 2020 was higher than that of white Americans for the first time since 1999, according to a March 2 research letter published in JAMA Psychiatry. 

Four large U.S. corporations will pay $26 billion to settle lawsuits alleging their business practices fueled the opioid epidemic, NPR reported last week. 

The CDC on Feb. 10 proposed new opioid prescribing guidelines that eliminate the recommended dose ceilings for chronic pain patients.

AmerisourceBergen, McKesson, Cardinal Health and Johnson & Johnson reached a $590 million deal to settle lawsuits filed by hundreds of Native American tribes alleging the companies fueled the opioid crisis, according to a Feb. 1 NPR report.

American adolescents and young adults lost an estimated 1.2 million years of life due to unintentional drug overdoses from 2015-19, according to a study published Jan. 31 in JAMA.

The opioid epidemic has not spared older Americans, as overdose deaths among Americans ages 55 and older have steadily increased from 1999-2019, according to a study published Jan. 11 in JAMA Network Open.

New York City will install public health vending machines in 10 locations across the city to combat the opioid crisis, The Hill reported Jan. 3.

Presented at 2021 ASA Annual Meeting in San Diego, CA (October 2021) Background The narcotic crisis in the United States has claimed nearly 850,000 lives since 1999 with a staggering annual mortality rate of approximately 70,000 lives. An overwhelming majority of overdose-related deaths in 2017 involved an opioid, and of the 10 million Americans that misused opioids in 2018, over 90% misused prescription pain medications.

A federal judge on Dec. 16 reversed Purdue Pharma's $4.5 billion opioid settlement, saying members of the Sackler family could not be granted legal immunity from other opioid lawsuits.

Overdose deaths involving illicitly manufactured fentanyls increased sharply from July 2019 to December 2020 in certain regions of the U.S., according to the CDC's Dec. 14 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 

Allergan agreed to pay $200 million by mid-2022 to settle allegations that it contributed to New York's opioid epidemic, state Attorney General Letitia James announced Dec. 8.

CVS Health, Walmart and Walgreens substantially contributed to the opioid crisis in two Ohio counties, a federal jury ruled Nov. 23, according to The New York Times.

Governments at the federal and state levels established opioid use disorder treatment programs during the pandemic, but few states took a comprehensive approach to treating the condition, according to a study published Nov. 19 in JAMA Health Forum.

More than 100,000 Americans died of overdoses in the 12-month period that ended in April, The New York Times reported Nov. 17.

Bloomberg Philanthropies, the philanthropy company of billionaire Michael Bloomberg, said Nov. 10 it plans to invest $120 million over five years to fight opioid overdoses in five states. 

The Oklahoma Supreme Court reversed a lower court ruling Nov. 9 that would have required Johnson &  Johnson to pay the state $465 million to address its role in the opioid epidemic, The New York Times reported. 

The Drug Enforcement Administration's approach to buprenorphine regulation is exacerbating the opioid epidemic by unnecessarily discouraging  pharmacies from dispensing the drug, pharmacists and harm reduction experts told NPR on Nov. 8.

Congress launched an investigation Nov. 5 into global consulting firm McKinsey's work with opioid manufacturers, The New York Times reported. 

A revolution is quietly underway in the treatment of opioid addiction via the combination of medication-assisted treatment (MAT) and telemedicine. This innovative treatment, called teleMAT, takes traditional MAT to the next level. How? By making it easy to reach a physician proficient in addiction treatment while also avoiding the social stigma of being seen entering a doctor’s office.