Opioid Overdoses

A state auditor's report looking at opioids' impact on Ohio's Medicaid program shows the number of recipients with an opioid-related diagnosis rose by 430 percent from 2010 to 2016. 

The fact that rural, economically disadvantaged parts of the country broke heavily for the Republican candidate in the 2016 election is well known. But Medicare data indicate that voters in areas that went for Trump weren't just hurting economically — many of them were receiving prescriptions for opioid painkillers.

More than 115 Americans are dying every day from an opioid overdose. But a study out Monday finds that just three in 10 patients revived by an EMT or in an emergency room received the follow-up medication known to avoid another life-threatening event.

It's been a decade since the financial crisis drove up the unemployment rate in the U.S. and forced people in the prime of their careers to give up looking for work.

Even today, as employers add jobs at a furious pace, the workforce participation rate still hasn't recovered. And now researchers think they know one reason why: the opioid crisis.

Whitehall firefighters are opening their doors to help opioid addicts.  

Many people responding to proposed state rules regulating painkillers for chronic pain patients say those patients should automatically be given prescriptions for anti-overdose drugs. 

Ohio's Democratic attorney general candidate is facing a potential conflict of interest that could affect his ability to prosecute the pharmaceutical industry in the state's opioid crisis lawsuit if elected. 

One out of five Americans say they personally know someone who has been addicted to opioids or prescription painkillers, according to a new report about the economic well-being of U.S. households.

The Federal Reserve report, based on a national survey, also found that exposure to opioid addiction was twice as likely among whites, regardless of education level, as among African-Americans.

Ohio Governor John Kasich has announced new rules for monitoring the prescribing of opioid painkillers. 

Medical marijuana appears to have put a dent in the opioid abuse epidemic, according to two studies published Monday.

The research suggests that some people turn to marijuana as a way to treat their pain, and by so doing, avoid more dangerous addictive drugs. The findings are the latest to lend support to the idea that some people are willing to substitute marijuana for opioids and other prescription drugs.

The Franklin County Coroner's Office has issued a warning after a recent surge in drug overdose deaths. 

Prince had an extremely high level of a powerful synthetic opioid in his body at the time of his death at his home in Minnesota in April 2016, according to a toxicology report obtained by The Associated Press.

The confidential toxicology information was reported less than a week after the Carver County Attorney Mark Metz stated that the death investigation remains active. Metz is still deciding whether to charge someone with a crime.

President Trump outlined a wide-ranging plan to combat the opioid epidemic on Monday, including an ad campaign to discourage drug use, expand addiction treatment and pursue a get-tough approach to law enforcement.

"Whether you are a dealer or doctor or trafficker or a manufacturer, if you break the law and illegally peddle these deadly poisons, we will find you, we will arrest you, and we will hold you accountable," Trump told an audience in Manchester, N.H.

"Failure is not an option," he added. "Addiction is not our future."

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has served subpoenas on Dublin-based Cardinal Health and another opioid distributor as part of a multi-state investigation into their marketing and sales practices. 

Mady Ohlman was 22 on the evening some years ago when she stood in a friend's bathroom looking down at the sink.

"I had set up a bunch of needles filled with heroin because I wanted to just do them back-to-back-to-back," Ohlman recalls. She doesn't remember how many she injected before collapsing, or how long she lay drugged-out on the floor.

"But I remember being pissed because I could still get up, you know?"

She wanted to be dead, she says, glancing down. A wisp of straight brown hair slips from behind an ear across her thin face.

Millions of Americans use opioids to relieve pain. But many also struggle with addiction.

This week, a report in JAMA, the journal of the American Medical Association, found that nonopioid painkillers — like acetaminophen and ibuprofen — were as effective as opioids at treating chronic back, hip and knee pain, and with fewer side effects.

There's more bad news about the nation's devastating opioid epidemic.

In just one year, overdoses from opioids jumped by about 30 percent, according to a report released Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Ohio Board of Pharmacy says the number of painkiller prescriptions continues to decline. 

Records obtained by the Associated Press show drug distributors are pushing back on stricter regulations in Ohio, calling them a patchwork approach that could lead to confusion and uncertainty. 

Ohio Attorney General and GOP gubernatorial candidate Mike DeWine has filed a new lawsuit against four major drug distributors, including Dublin-based Cardinal Health, for their alleged roles in the opioid crisis.

Franklin County and Columbus Public Health officials plan to distribute bags that deactivate prescription drugs as part of the fight against the opioid epidemic. 

Kentucky's attorney general has filed a lawsuit against Dublin-based Cardinal Health, which has been linked to an opioid pipeline.