U.S. Overdose Deaths Dipped In 2018, But Some States Saw 'Devastating' Increases Provisional overdose data for 2018 show a note of hope in an overall bleak picture. But in some states, the numbers actually got worse. What explains the disparities? Selena Simmons-Duffin
Johnson & Johnson, Under Fire, Has Track Record Of Weathering Trouble The health care giant faces multiple lawsuits, including over opioids. A reputation for corporate responsibility, dating back to the Tylenol scandal, offers a measure of protection, but no guarantee. Scott Horsley
Fentanyl Surpasses Heroin As Drug Most Often Involved In Deadly Overdoses When fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 50 to 100 times more powerful than morphine, infiltrated the drug supply in the U.S. it had an immediate, dramatic effect on the overdose rate. Laurel Wamsley
Despite Warnings, FDA Approves Potent New Opioid Painkiller Critics, including some leading anesthesiologists, say the drug is unnecessary, and they worry it will be diverted and abused. The Food And Drug Administration says it is addressing safety concerns. Jake Harper
Life, Death And The Lazarus Drug: Confronting America's Opioid Crisis More than 70,000 people died of drug overdoses last year — many of them from heroin and other opioids. One of the most widely-used tools to confront this crisis is a drug called naloxone. It can reverse an opioid overdose within seconds, and has been hailed by first responders and public health researchers. But earlier this year, two economists released a study that suggested naloxone might be leading some users to engage in riskier behavior — and causing more deaths than it saves. This week, we talk with researchers, drug users, and families about the mental calculus of opioid use, and why there's still so much we're struggling to understand about addiction. For more information about the research in this episode, visit https://n.pr/2OZfuGQ. Shankar Vedantam Play AudioListen 50 mins
Knocking On Doors To Get Opioid Overdose Survivors Into Treatment Within days of an OD from opioids or other drugs, users in Huntington, W.Va., are visited by a quick-response team at home, the hospital or in jail. Reversing an OD is just recovery's first step. Sarah McCammon Play AudioListen 6 mins
Opioid Deaths May Be Starting To Plateau, HHS Chief Says Overdose deaths started to level off near the end of 2017 and are "finally bending in the right direction," says Alex Azar, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, citing early data. Emily Sullivan
On College Campuses, Making Overdose Medication Readily Available College campuses are growing increasingly concerned about how to keep students safe amid a national opioid crisis. Some schools provide free and easy access to drugs that can reverse an overdose. Tovia Smith Play AudioListen 5 mins
