Walmart has reached a possible $3.1 billion opioid settlement with state and local governments, according to a Nov. 15 news release from the company.

University of Houston researchers have developed a fentanyl vaccine that could prevent relapses for individuals with opioid use disorder.

The CDC has released updated and expanded recommendations on providing pain care for adults with short- and long-term pain, which replace 2016 guidelines. 

For $5 billion, CVS Health will settle all lawsuits — some that have lasted more than a decade — accusing the retail pharmacy chain of fueling the opioid epidemic. Walgreens also plans to settle its lawsuits for $4.95 billion over the next 15 years. 

Seventy-percent of physicians in a Yale survey said they would be likely to use telehealth to treat opioid use disorder patients after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lebanon, N.H.-based Dartmouth Health's Addiction Treatment Program is participating in a five-year, nationwide study to test strategies to help new patients stay in treatment and stable patients to end treatment safely when ready.

The Colorado Opioid Abatement Council paved the way for several local governments to receive more than $18 million in opioid settlement funds.

West Orange, N.J.-based RWJBarnabas' Institute for Prevention and Recovery has been gifted $3.75 million from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration for opioid use disorder medication access.

Brentwood, Tenn.-based Spero Health opened three new outpatient addiction treatment clinics, according to a Sept. 26 news release.

Health officials in Oregon are sounding the alarm regarding fentanyl overdoses and warning legislators that the state's drug epidemic is worsening, according to a Sept. 21 report from the Oregon Capital Chronicle. 

Retail pharmacy chains CVS and Walmart have settled for $147.5 million in West Virginia lawsuits that accused the companies of oversupplying opioids, Patrick Morrisey, the state's attorney general, said in a Sept. 20 news conference. 

The New York State Department of Health has reported an increase in opioid-related overdoses in the Central New York region, according to a Sept. 13 report from The Ithaca Voice.

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly announced $3.2 million in grants to assist rural first responders in combatting opioid abuse, according to an Aug. 23 statement from the governor's office.

Using the correct current procedural terminology (CPT) codes is crucial for documenting — and getting reimbursement for — novel treatments for which there is specific but narrowly defined guidance.

Effective pain management often relies on administering opioid-based medication, but as opioids have known side effects and can lead to misuse and abuse, alternative approaches that provide non-medicated pain relief and are more versatile hold promise for improving patient care. 

Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery III is suing Walgreens and accusing the pharmacy chain of creating a public nuisance by illegally selling and distributing opioids, according to an Aug. 3 news release. 

Teva Pharmaceuticals, an Israel-based drug manufacturer, has agreed to settle more than 3,000 opioid cases up to $4.25 billion in all cash over the next 13 years, according to The New York Times and Bloomberg.

Two years after the HHS cleared patients to take methadone, an opioid overdose treatment that's also an opioid, the number of opioid-related deaths didn't change, according to research from the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the CDC. 

HHS is set to give about $1.5 billion to states and territories to battle the opioid epidemic.

Overdose deaths have reached a new high in the U.S., with the latest CDC data showing a 15 percent increase in fatalities last year.