Overdoses

The world's first biometric opioid vending machine was recently launched in Vancouver, British Columbia, in an attempt to reduce overdose deaths.

Due in part to these deaths, the United States is the only wealthy nation in modern times to exhibit a decline in average life expectancy.

Accidental overdoses continue to claim tens of thousands of lives each year, but doctors who prescribe medication for opioid use disorders are very hard to track down.

All but one of the overdoses appeared accidental, claiming the lives of six people under 30, including a seventeen-year-old.

The drug is 10,000 times more potent than morphine and 100 times stronger than fentanyl, according to the DEA.

People largely do not become addicted to opioids after visits to the emergency room for car crashes, falls and other types of acute injuries that might warrant prescription painkillers, a new study shows.

But federal policies to slow the opioid crisis could be supporting the market demand for these drugs, public health experts warn

Figuring out the best response has been a challenge for authorities, amid a resurgence in meth throughout the nation.

Earlier this week, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) made quick work of destroying more than 16,000 pounds of drugs collected on its National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, according to reporting by NJTV News.

"The pharmaceutical industry is being scapegoated for something where there's plenty of blame to go around," says Northeastern University's Leo Beletsky.

With recent criticism comparing opioid settlements to the tobacco settlements from decades ago—where billions of dollars went unaccounted for—all eyes are on local officials and their burgeoning settlement coffers.

"We know that many individuals are going to be detoxing while they're in our custody, and we know that people are highly susceptible to overdose upon release," Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez told the Houston Chronicle.

"We're focusing really heavily on restricting access to prescription opioids, but that's because it's what we're comfortable doing," Travis Rieder said. "There's not actually any evidence that these cuts save lives."

After hundreds of chronic pain patients begged the Drug Enforcement Administration to reconsider its proposed cuts to opioid production, the agency told Newsweek it's not responsible for their inability to get prescriptions.

"We apologize for this tragedy," head of Mount Carmel West hospital said.

The researchers were surprised how effective tactics like taking doctors for dinner were when it came to covertly influencing the drugs they prescribed.

Officials believe at least 18 people have possibly overdosed on the synthetic drug known as K2.

Being famous isn't all glitz and glamour. There's also a dark side to the lives of many celebrities.

"This fast-moving epidemic does not stay within state and county lines."

"Fentanyl is not a choice. It's a contamination crisis."

Among white users, prescription opioids seem to be a gateway drug to heroin.

West Virginia has the nation's highest rate of opioid overdoses, according to the CDC.

Zachary Kramer was arrested after about a dozen classmates were hospitalized after taking what they thought was MDMA.

The number of overdoses from benzodiazepines increased four-fold between 1996 and 2013.