Public Health

HHS selected three teams as winners of its opioid code-a-thon Dec. 8, each of which received a $10,000 prize.

The following lawsuits were announced or filed since Nov. 13 by counties, states, hospitals and one city. The suits seek to recover funds spent addressing widespread illicit opioid use in each community.

UPMC's Mercy Hospital is increasing efforts to get overdose patients into treatment shortly after drug emergencies, according to a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette report.

Monroe and Sioux counties of Iowa have signed on to a lawsuit filed on behalf of more than 100 counties across eight states against five drugmakers and their subsidiaries for the companies' alleged role in facilitating the opioid epidemic, according…

Both Nevada and Nebraska are pushing to be the first states in the nation to use fentanyl for criminal executions, drawing pushback from death penalty opponents and some physicians, according to a report from The Washington Post.

Ben Jealous — one of eight Democratic candidates running to be the next governor of Maryland — issued a proposal to create what would be the first state-based single-payer health plan, according to a report from The Baltimore Sun.

A wildfire in Southern California forced more than 27,000 residents in the region to flee their homes Tuesday as the blaze continued to spread due to strong winds, according to CNN.

Characterized as the “crisis of our time,” the opioid epidemic facing the country—and particularly Ohio—is creating profound challenges for our communities and our health care system.

Children 12 years old or younger will not be allowed to visit patients at Greenville, S.C.-based James and Connie Maynard Children's Hospital beginning Dec. 4, according to WITN News.

Opiate addiction has been deemed a "public health emergency" by HHS, but hospitals may have to prepare to face a different opioid crisis — a shortage of the medications hospitals use to manage pain, according to WPTV.