Surgeon General wants overdose antidote widely on hand. Is that feasible?

When Surgeon General Jerome Adams issued an advisory calling for more people to carry naloxone - not just people at overdose risk, but also friends and family - experts and advocates were almost giddy. This is an "unequivocally positive" step forward, said Leo Beletsky, an associate professor of law and health sciences at Northeastern University.

Nation’s top doc wants the overdose antidote widely on hand. Is that feasible?

When Surgeon General Jerome Adams issued an advisory calling for more people to carry naloxone - not just people at overdose risk, but also friends and family - experts and advocates were almost giddy. This is an "unequivocally positive" step forward, said Leo Beletsky, an associate professor of law and health sciences at Northeastern University.

Former Rep. Patrick Kennedy profiting from government opioid funding: Report

Former Rep. Patrick Kennedy has made major profits off of the federal government's response to the opioid crisis, Politico reported Wednesday. Mr. Kennedy, Rhode Island Democrat, has had his own battle with both addiction and mental illness and sits on the board of eight companies currently working with the Trump administration and Congress to combat the opioid epidemic.

Feds: Increase medication-based treatment for opioids

Deep within President Donald Trump's plan to combat opioid abuse, overshadowed by his call for the death penalty for some drug traffickers, is a push to expand the use of medication to treat addiction. It's a rare instance in which Trump isn't trying roll back Obama administration policies, and where fractious Republicans and Democrats in Congress have come together.

Treat the opioid crisis like the HIV/AIDS epidemic: Elizabeth Warren & Elijah Cummings

It's time for Congress to show the same political courage on the opioid crisis that our colleagues showed 30 years ago for the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Treat the opioid crisis like the HIV/AIDS epidemic: Elizabeth Warren & Elijah Cummings It's time for Congress to show the same political courage on the opioid crisis that our colleagues showed 30 years ago for the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Donnelly’s Bipartisan Addiction Treatment Workforce Bill, Resources …

A number of measures that U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly has either introduced or supported to combat the opioid abuse epidemic were signed into law by President Trump Friday as part of the bipartisan government funding bill. The law includes funds to support the addiction treatment workforce through National Health Service Corps, which Donnelly advocated for a part of his Strengthening the Addiction Treatment Workforce Act, bipartisan legislation he introduced with Senator Lisa Murkowski .

States: Federal money for opioid crisis a small step forward

The federal government will spend a record $4.6 billion this year to fight the nation's deepening opioid crisis, which killed 42,000 Americans in 2016. But some advocates say the funding included in the spending plan the president signed Friday is not nearly enough to establish the kind of treatment system needed to reverse the crisis.

Trump pushes drug-dealer death penalty as opioid crisis response

President Donald Trump, targeting the US opioid epidemic, has called for the execution of drug dealers, a proposal that so far has gained little support in Congress, amid criticism from some drug abuse and criminal justice experts. "This is about winning a very, very tough problem, and if we don't get tough on these dealers, it's not going to happen."

Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill says drug giant is “stonewalling” her opioid investigation

The world's largest generic drug maker, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, has refused to fully cooperate with a Senate investigation into whether major opioid manufacturers contributed to the deadly drug epidemic, according to Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., who is leading the Senate probe. Teva has answered some of McCaskill's questions, providing the Senate committee with general information about its efforts to track and report suspicious orders for its opioid prescriptions, according to a series of letters between McCaskill and the company.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions says feds will take action in Cleveland opioid lawsuits

The U.S. Department of Justice will get involved with a federal case in Cleveland that consolidates hundreds of government lawsuits against opioid manufacturers and distributors, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Tuesday. Sessions said the Justice Department will file a "statement of interest" in the case, currently being heard by a federal judge in Cleveland , filed by local governments, including Cincinnati and Cuyahoga County.

The Health 202: States are going after opioid makers

Interpretation of the news based on evidence, including data, as well as anticipating how events might unfold based on past events Erika Marble visits the gravesite of Edward Martin III, her fiance and father of her two children, who died in 2014 from an overdose of the opioid fentanyl. To understand how states are going on the offensive against opioid makers and distributors for the devastation their pills have caused, look no further than Kentucky, where about as many people die of overdoses every year as from car accidents and gunshots combined.

Sen. Murphy: – Scourge of school shooting’

While rescuers were searching for an active shooter and extracting schoolchildren from the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, Connecticut Senator Christopher Murphy says television showed a horrific scene of children running for their lives in what he says is the 19th school shooting incident of 2018. Here are the remarks U.S. Senator Chris Murphy made on the floor of the U.S. Senate Wednesday in response to reports of an active shooter at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

Opioid makers gave $10M to advocacy groups amid epidemic

Companies selling some of the most lucrative prescription painkillers funneled millions of dollars to advocacy groups that in turn promoted the medications' use, according to a report released Monday by a U.S. senator. The investigation by Missouri's Sen. Claire McCaskill sheds light on the opioid industry's ability to shape public opinion and raises questions about its role in an overdose epidemic that has claimed hundreds of thousands of American lives.