A dangerous synthetic opioid recently detected in at least four states has been linked to one death and possibly two more as authorities warn of its toxic consequences. Protonitazene has been found in South Australia (SA), Queensland, Victoria, and Western Australia with health officials confirming it is being mixed with other illicit drugs. Two young…

LAS VEGAS—The state of Nevada has reached a $285 million settlement with Walgreens regarding the pharmacy chain’s role in the opioid epidemic, the state’s top lawyer announced Wednesday. The last in a series of multiyear settlements with pharmaceutical companies, retailers, and others, it pushes Nevada’s total anticipated payments stemming from opioid claims to $1.1 billion,…

The British Columbia government is expanding access to opioid treatment medications such as methadone by providing universal coverage to help people with substance use disorders, making it the first province in Canada to do so. Health Minister Adrian Dix said in a news release Wednesday that full coverage of the medications will be available to…

NEW YORK—Bankrupt OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma can shield its owners, members of the wealthy Sackler family, from opioid lawsuits in exchange for a $6 billion contribution to the company’s broader bankruptcy settlement, a U.S. appeals court ruled on Tuesday. The New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said that U.S. bankruptcy law allows legal…

With its “safer supply” approach to addiction, Canada’s federal government is giving out large amounts of hydromorphone—a drug that’s too mild to satisfy many addicts, but powerful enough to attract the new drug-users getting ahold of it, says documentary filmmaker Aaron Gunn. Each addict can receive dozens of pills daily, and many of them sell…

A doctor based in Clarksville, Pennsylvania, was sentenced on Thursday to six months in prison, as well as a year of supervised release after that, and a fine of $5,000, for an opioid scheme. The 46-year-old also had to surrender his medical license, as well as his Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) certificate of registration. He also agreed…

San Francisco said on Wednesday it reached a $230 million settlement with Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. over its role in the city’s opioid epidemic. The settlement came nine months after U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco said the drugstore chain could be held liable for having “substantially contributed” to an opioid epidemic that…

The Kroger Co. has agreed to pay West Virginia $68 million to settle claims that it fueled the opioid epidemic through lax oversight of its pill sales, bringing the state’s years-long litigation over the opioid crisis to a close. The deal, announced Thursday by West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, comes a month before the…

The Texas Senate voted unanimously on March 15 to pass a bill that would increase the penalties for the manufacturing or distribution of fentanyl, including tougher penalties when an individual overdoses and dies. Senate Bill 645 was introduced by state Sen. Joan Huffman, a Republican, as part of the state’s tough-on-drugs approach amid the opioid epidemic. Under the bill,…

WASHINGTON—The U.S. government on Monday sued Rite Aid Corp., accusing the pharmacy chain of missing “red flags” as it illegally filled hundreds of thousands of prescriptions for controlled substances, including opioids. In a complaint filed in Cleveland federal court, the Department of Justice said Rite Aid repeatedly filled prescriptions from May 2014 to June 2019…