opioid crisis

Southwestern Commission launched a new website with data about effects of opioids in each county in the region. This is the next step in the regional planning for opioid settlement funds.

In June, a settlement agreement required companies like Teva, Walmart and CVS to pay out more than $17 billion for their role in the crisis. That funding will almost double the amount already promised to counties from an earlier settlement with Johnson & Johnson, McKesson, Cardinal Health, and AmerisourceBergen. This second wave of settlements provides North Carolina with an additional $521 million over 15 years.

Dental procedures can be an introduction to opioids, addictive compounds that contribute to the rising number of drug overdose deaths in North Carolina and nationally.

The 2018 murder conviction of a Haywood County man charged with selling narcotics linked to a deadly overdose has caught the attention of public health…

Last week, three of the country’s major pharmaceutical distributors reached a $26-billion settlement with several states over opioids. North Carolina was…

Yesterday, we heard about a lack of homeless shelters between Waynesville and Murphy. Today, we look at a similar gap in substance abuse treatment centers…

North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein this week joined three other state attorneys general incalling for a single $48 billion dollar settlement with…

While policymakers are working to change the laws around opioid prescriptions, local communities are working to educate parents about how to talk to their…

Prescription opioid abuse has been in the national spotlight this summer as new data about the numbers of prescriptions per county has been released.…

For the first time ever, North Carolina’s seven westernmost counties met to discuss how to solve the opioid crisis. BPR was at the summit in Bryson…