by Robin Abcarian LOS ANGELES — Earlier this month, in a house on a Venice canal, three people who reportedly thought they were using cocaine died after apparently ingesting the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl. A fourth person was hospitalized and survived. Stories about ...
Makers and sellers of prescription painkillers will soon begin paying out billions of dollars to settle lawsuits that have accused them of fueling the opioid epidemic. Most recently, more than 40 states have agreed to accept $26 billion from Johnson & Johnson and three big drug ...
The good news last week was Milan Puskar Health Right finally received the sharps containers it ordered over a year ago; the bad news was a judge dissolved the West Virginia ACLU’s temporary restraining order and denied the preliminary injunction against SB 334, the law the Legislature ...
Only Gov. Justice’s veto stands between the people and SB 334, regarding needle exchange programs, and the deaths it may cause. We’re not being melodramatic, though it may sound like it. Though the language of the bill is mild enough, it includes several mandates that could kill or ...
We’ve been asked to talk about harm reduction programs. You may have seen the Rev. Zac Morton’s letter to the editor last Sunday or the WVU Today piece, “Connected epidemics: HIV and opioids” published Monday, both of which reference harm reduction programs. Let’s start simple: ...
Fight to preserve harm reduction programs What could be controversial about programs that reduce harm in our communities? Apparently a lot. For a state that has seen as much addiction as West Virginia, we should do better because we know better. People whose lives have been impacted by ...