Johnson & Johnson confirmed it has ended its distribution of opioids in the U.S. when it agreed to a $230 million settlement with New York over its role in the opioid epidemic. 

McKesson is cutting the pay of CEO Brian Tyler by $2.9 million because of the drug distributor's unsettled agreement to pay out of opioid litigation for $8.1 billion. He still made $14.8 million in cash and equity, The Washington Post reported June 11.

Opioid-related deaths have risen since the pandemic, with Black men being the most affected demographic.

OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma's bankruptcy plan overcame a critical obstacle June 2 when a federal judge advanced the deal, moving it to a final vote by the drugmaker's creditors slated to take place this summer. Many states' attorneys general had opposed the plan, as it would grant the Sackler family, the drugmakers' founders and owners, immunity from future opioid lawsuits.

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron on June 2 filed a lawsuit against CVS Health, accusing the retail pharmacy giant of fueling the state's opioid crisis.

A New York federal bankruptcy judge said May 26 that Purdue Pharma's proposal to restructure itself as a nonprofit will be voted on by more than 600,000 plaintiffs suing the Oxycontin maker for its role in the opioid epidemic, according to The New York Times.

David May, AmerisourceBergen's vice president of corporate security and diversion control, said the Drug Enforcement Administration is more responsible for West Virginia's opioid epidemic than his company, according to The Herald-Dispatch.

Naloxone prescriptions have fallen significantly during the pandemic, and people on Medicare or with commercial insurance have experienced a more significant decrease in access to naloxone compared to those on Medicaid or cash payment, according to research published in JAMA.

As the opioid epidemic was causing thousands of overdose deaths in West Virginia, AmerisourceBergen executives were sending company emails of parody songs disparaging the state's people, according to emails shown May 13 in a U.S. district court in Charleston.

New prescriptions for opioid addiction treatment buprenorphine significantly decreased during the pandemic, while deaths linked to opioid overdoses increased, according to a recent study published in JAMA Network Open.

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey filed a lawsuit May 6 against global healthcare marketing firm Publicis Health alleging it deployed deceptive marketing schemes designed to help Purdue Pharma sell more of its highly addiction opioid OxyContin.

The Colorado Naloxone Project, an effort to ensure all Colorado hospital emergency departments send at-risk patients home with naloxone, launched May 3, The Colorado Sun reported.

One in five pharmacies won't dispense buprenorphine, a key treatment for opioid addiction, a study published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence found. 

As the opioid epidemic continues and pharmacy teams have less time to investigate drug diversion amid the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals become bigger targets for diversion of controlled substances.

Pharmaceutical company Indivior reached a $300 million settlement with all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico to resolve allegations it falsely and aggressively marketed Suboxone, a drug that treats opioid addiction.

Huntington, W.Va., and the surrounding Cabell County began arguments May 3 for a federal trial in which they are seeking more than $1 billion from opioid distributors AmerisourceBergen, McKesson and Cardinal Health.

The FDA said April 30 it has approved a higher dose of naloxone nasal spray to treat opioid overdose. 

COVID-19 long-haulers, those who develop long-term symptoms after being infected with COVID-19, are being prescribed opioids at a rate that raises concerns about addiction, according to a recent study published in Nature.

The Bipartisan Policy Center has launched an opioid task force to address drug addiction and overdose deaths in the U.S., the Washington, D.C.-based think tank said April 21.

Johnson & Johnson, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Endo International and AbbVie’s Allergan unit will go on trial April 19 in a lawsuit filed by several California counties alleging the drugmakers deceptively marketed opioids, The Wall Street Journal reported.