Drug overdoses rose 10 percent last year, killing an estimated 72,000 Americans, according to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Food and Drug Administration did not act to stop off-label prescribing for fast-acting fentanyl drugs, putting patients at high risk of accidental overdose and death, The New York Times reports.
Federal prosecutors in 10 areas especially hard hit by fentanyl overdose deaths will bring drug charges against anyone suspected of dealing the drug, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced.
Fentanyl overdoses share many characteristics with heroin overdoses – with some important differences, according to an addiction specialist at Boston Medical Center’s Grayken Center for Addiction.
The Justice Department announced it has charged more than 35 people with selling drugs on the “dark web.” The New York Times reports this is the first time federal prosecutors have targeted sellers of illegal goods rather than operators of illicit online marketplaces.
Most young adults who use illicit drugs are willing to test them for the presence of fentanyl by using a rapid test strip, a study presented at the recent American Society of Addiction Medicine annual meeting suggests.
