The Drug Enforcement Administration allowed drugmakers to substantially increase the number of opioids they produced each year even as the number of opioid-related overdoses in the U.S. grew, according to a review released Oct. 1 by the Office of the Inspector General.

The FDA and Drug Enforcement Administration sent joint letters to four online networks Sept. 30, warning each company to immediately stop illegally marketing opioids to Americans.  

Several drugmakers involved in the upcoming federal opioid trial are looking to settle their cases by participating in Purdue Pharma's bankruptcy settlement, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Several research teams from the Ann Arbor-based University of Michigan received a collective $25.5 million from the National Institutes of Health to support projects addressing the prevention and treatment of opioid addiction and abuse.

Johnson & Johnson filed an appeal with the Oklahoma Supreme Court Sept. 25 claiming the $572 million it was ordered to pay the state was excessive and should be overturned, according to Tulsa World.

Financial reimbursement incentives helped curb excessive opioid prescribing after surgical procedures, according a study published in JAMA Network Open.

The judge overseeing the federal opioid trial said he will not recuse himself from the case, denying the defendants' claim that he is biased, according to The Washington Post.

Two Ohio counties serving as bellwethers in the federal opioid trial set for Oct. 21 outlined their arguments against the drugmakers and distributors they sued for allegedly fueling the opioid crisis, according to The Washington Post.

Three people died and four more were hospitalized at Pittsburgh based-UPMC Mercy after a string of apparent drug overdoses Sept. 22, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 

The Sackler family may withdraw its settlement deal if a bankruptcy judge doesn't block outstanding state lawsuits against it and Purdue Pharma according to The New York Times. 

Insys Therapeutics, the first drugmaker to declare bankruptcy due to opioid-related litigation, raised far less money from asset sales than needed to pay the U.S. Justice Department and other creditors what it owes them, according to The Wall Street Journal.

A day after the Sackler family's lawyers said they will ask for protection against any additional opioid-related litigation, North Carolina's attorney general filed a new lawsuit accusing eight members of the family of fueling the opioid crisis, according to The Hill.

China is working to shut down shipments of illicit fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances to the U.S., investment firm Blackstone's chairman, CEO and co-founder told CNBC Sept. 17.

Hospital admissions involving opioid overdoses in Pennsylvania fell by nearly 24 percent in 2018 to 833 admissions, according to a report published Sept. 18 by the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council.

Heart infections linked to drug use have significantly increased nationwide, with the greatest increases occurring in the Midwest, reports a study published Sept. 18 in the Journal of the American Heart Association. 

Lawyers for Purdue Pharma said they will ask a judge to issue an injunction on any further lawsuits against the Sackler family during the company's bankruptcy hearings, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Lawyers representing drug companies and pharmacies in the upcoming federal opioid trial filed a motion Sept. 14 to remove a federal judge from presiding over the case, according to The Hill. 

The Sackler family, owners of Purdue Pharma, wired at least $1 billion through various financial institutions in a possible attempt to shield its wealth as the family faced a growing number of lawsuits over the opioid epidemic, according to The New York Times.

A group of historians filed a court brief Sept. 12 asking that any settlement made between plaintiffs and defendants in the upcoming federal opioid trial include a requirement that all documents be kept and made public, according to STAT. 

The American Medical Association on Sept.9 released a report to guide policymakers and states in responding to the opioid epidemic, detailing successful strategies and lessons learned in Colorado, Mississippi, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.