Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals relied on hundreds of physicians to write a "steady stream" of painkiller prescriptions at the height of the opioid epidemic, The Washington Post reported May 10.

Walgreens has agreed to pay Florida $683 million to resolve all claims related to the "distribution and dispensing of prescription opioid medications." 

The Biden administration on April 21 shared a formal plan with Congress to address the nation's addiction and drug overdose crisis.  

McKinsey consulted with the FDA on issues related to the opioid epidemic at the same time it worked with opioid makers, which lawmakers say in a new federal report created "significant, yearslong conflicts of interest."

The powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl is fueling an increase in mass-overdose events across the country, the Drug Enforcement Agency said April 6.  

CVS Health on March 30 said it has reached a $484 million agreement with the state of Florida to resolve all claims related to opioid prescriptions at its pharmacies. 

Allergan and Teva Pharmaceuticals have settled allegations that they helped fuel Rhode Island's opioid epidemic, state Attorney General Peter Neronha said March 21.

An estimated 105,752 Americans died from overdoses in the 12-months ending October 2021, the highest number of overdose deaths recorded in the U.S. in a single 12-month period, according to provisional CDC data released March 16.

The Sackler family, owners of OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, has agreed to pay $6 billion to settle long-running litigation alleging they fueled the nation's opioid epidemic, The New York Times reported March 3.

The overdose mortality rate among Black Americans in 2020 was higher than that of white Americans for the first time since 1999, according to a March 2 research letter published in JAMA Psychiatry. 

Four large U.S. corporations will pay $26 billion to settle lawsuits alleging their business practices fueled the opioid epidemic, NPR reported last week. 

The CDC on Feb. 10 proposed new opioid prescribing guidelines that eliminate the recommended dose ceilings for chronic pain patients.

AmerisourceBergen, McKesson, Cardinal Health and Johnson & Johnson reached a $590 million deal to settle lawsuits filed by hundreds of Native American tribes alleging the companies fueled the opioid crisis, according to a Feb. 1 NPR report.

American adolescents and young adults lost an estimated 1.2 million years of life due to unintentional drug overdoses from 2015-19, according to a study published Jan. 31 in JAMA.

The opioid epidemic has not spared older Americans, as overdose deaths among Americans ages 55 and older have steadily increased from 1999-2019, according to a study published Jan. 11 in JAMA Network Open.

New York City will install public health vending machines in 10 locations across the city to combat the opioid crisis, The Hill reported Jan. 3.

Presented at 2021 ASA Annual Meeting in San Diego, CA (October 2021) Background The narcotic crisis in the United States has claimed nearly 850,000 lives since 1999 with a staggering annual mortality rate of approximately 70,000 lives. An overwhelming majority of overdose-related deaths in 2017 involved an opioid, and of the 10 million Americans that misused opioids in 2018, over 90% misused prescription pain medications.

A federal judge on Dec. 16 reversed Purdue Pharma's $4.5 billion opioid settlement, saying members of the Sackler family could not be granted legal immunity from other opioid lawsuits.

Overdose deaths involving illicitly manufactured fentanyls increased sharply from July 2019 to December 2020 in certain regions of the U.S., according to the CDC's Dec. 14 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 

Allergan agreed to pay $200 million by mid-2022 to settle allegations that it contributed to New York's opioid epidemic, state Attorney General Letitia James announced Dec. 8.