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(Editor’s note: it’s not the first, Rikers in NY had them beat by 30 years and there are many others in other states, so we hope WBUR will change their headline…but still, congratulations to Massachusetts.) Methadone and Suboxone (the brand name for buprenorphine) ease opioid cravings and withdrawal symptoms. Forty-four of the estimated 200 people incarcerated at the … [Read more...] about Mass. Has The First Jail In The Country That’s Also A Licensed Methadone Treatment Provider

The ACLU of Colorado on Tuesday filed a federal wrongful death lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Colorado against GEO Group, Inc., which operates the immigrant detention facility in Aurora, for the death of Kamyar Samimi in December 2017. Samimi, a legal permanent resident originally from Iran, was 64 years old when he died in December 2017 at the Aurora Contract … [Read more...] about ACLU of Colorado Sues GEO Group for Wrongful Death in Man’s 2017 Death at Aurora Facility

COLUMBIA, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee doctor who had five patients fatally overdose in a 10-month span intends to plead guilty to distributing a controlled substance. The Tennessean reports 64-year-old Dr. Darrel Rinehart’s attorney filed a motion to have a hearing in December where Rinehart “intends to plead guilty.” … [Read more...] about Tenn. Doctor Plans to Plead Guilty to Opioid Distribution

SEATTLE (KOMO) -- Right in the midst of the opioid crisis, another illicit drug has hit the streets of Seattle. Experts say it's more potent and deadly than other opiods. The DEA says carfentanil is 10,000 times more potent than morphine and 100 times stronger than fentanyl. It was first detected in Seattle in March. Experts insists its usage is "very rare" in the area, but … [Read more...] about An Opioid More Deadly than Fentanyl Found on Seattle Streets

The federal Drug Enforcement Administration has sued the board that regulates Colorado’s pharmacies, demanding it share information from a database that tracks opioid prescriptions and setting up a clash over patient privacy amid the nation’s overdose epidemic. The requested information is part of an investigation into whether two unnamed pharmacies broke the law in dispensing … [Read more...] about Why the DEA is Suing Colorado’s Pharmacy Board as Part of an Opioid Investigation