Coroner: Trumbull may have highest overdose cases in history

July 18, 2022

WARREN — Drug overdose deaths in Trumbull County may be the highest in a five-year period, if the 21 pending death investigations are all found to have been caused by drug use. As of May 11, the county has confirmed 30 overdose cases. If that number remains the same after pending toxicology screenings are completed, it would result in 2022 having the second-highest number of overdose death cases since 2017, according to statistics provided by Dr. Lawrence D’Amico, Trumbull County coroner. There were seven overdose deaths during the same period in 2017. If all the 21 pending ...

Fri. 9:41 a.m.: Purdue Pharma deal has families deflated, angry but hopeful

March 4, 2022

For those who lost loved ones in the opioid crisis, making sure the family behind OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma paid a price was never just about money. What many wanted was a chance to confront the Sackler family face to face, to make them feel their pain. While some may get that chance — ...

Fri. 8:27 a.m.: J&J, distributors finalize $26B landmark opioid settlement

February 25, 2022

CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) — Drugmaker Johnson & Johnson and three major distributors finalized nationwide settlements over their role in the opioid addiction crisis this morning, an announcement that clears the way for $26 billion to flow to nearly every state and local government in the ...

Liberty schools join opioid crisis lawsuit

December 17, 2021

YOUNGSTOWN — The Boardman and Liberty boards of education have joined a list of local governments and Native American communities in suing a Washington, D.C., consulting company, alleging it advised pharmaceutical companies on how to sell lots of addictive drugs that caused children to be born addicted. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Ohio, names McKinsey & Co. as a defendant and seeks class-action status. It is assigned to Judge Sara Lioi in Akron. “McKinsey is a management consulting firm with operations across the globe” that “played a ...

Overdose deaths topped 100K in pandemic year

November 18, 2021

NEW YORK — An estimated 100,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in one year, a never-before-seen milestone that health officials say is tied to the COVID-19 pandemic and a more dangerous drug supply. Overdose deaths have been rising for more than two decades, accelerated in the past two years and, according to new data posted Wednesday, jumped nearly 30 percent in the latest year. President Joe Biden called it “a tragic milestone” in a statement, as administration officials pressed Congress to devote billions of dollars more to address the problem. “This is unacceptable ...

Opioid settlement panel rejected

November 6, 2021

WARREN — A motion from Trumbull County Commissioner Niki Frenchko to create an opioid settlement panel to advise commissioners on how to spend money acquired through opioid crisis responsibility litigation died for a lack of a second. The nine-member advisory panel Frenchko recommended would be composed of three people licensed to work in recovery, three people with experience prosecuting or arresting people involved in opioid trafficking and three people personally affected by opioid substance-use disorders, selected after advertising for interested applicants. Frecnhko said the ...