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Opioid crisis

Drug data help spot doctors who overprescribe opioids

PITTSBURGH — The pain clinic tucked into the corner of a low-slung suburban strip mall was an open secret. Patients would travel hundreds of miles to see Dr. Andrzej Zielke, eager for what authorities described as a steady flow of prescriptions for the kinds of powerful painkillers that ushered the nation into its worst drug crisis in history. At least one of Zielke’s patients died of an overdose, and prosecutors say others became so dependent on oxycodone and other opioids they would crowd his office, sometimes sleeping in the waiting room. Some peddled their pills near ...

Opioid crisis breaks records

Editor’s note: This is No. 1 of the top 10 stories of 2017 voted on by employees of the Tribune Chronicle. WARREN — More than 100 dead from acccidental drug overdoses hasn’t been the only effect of another record-setting year in the trenches of the opioid epidemic in Trumbull County. ...

Distributor reacts to opioid suit

WARREN — An association representing several entities named in a 270-page lawsuit filed against manufacturers, distributors and doctors involved in the opioid pain pill industry said their distributors have been unfairly pegged as “scapegoats.” The Healthcare Distribution Alliance is a national trade association representing AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson, several of 25 entities named in a lawsuit filed Monday in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court on behalf of the Trumbull County commissioners. The suit seeks a jury trial and cash to cover the county’s increased ...

County files lawsuit against opioid marketers, manufacturers and distributors

WARREN — A 270-page lawsuit against 25 entities connected to the opioid pain pill industry was filed in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court by attorneys representing Trumbull County commissioners. The suit, filed Monday in Judge W. Wyatt McKay’s court, targets manufacturers, marketers and distributors of opioid pain pills — including Johnson & Johnson, Purdue Pharma, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Cephalon, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, McKesson Corp., Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen Corp. “This case is about one thing: corporate greed. Defendants put their desire for profits above the ...

Opioid crisis strains foster system

She was first roused awake at 2:30 a.m. by a call seeking an emergency placement for a child. Ninety minutes later, it was a storm of texts telling of a problem at a foster home. Now, after a fitful night and a morning spent furiously juggling 15 foster cases, Rachael Stark is splashed with ...

Opioid summit

WARREN — U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan met with law enforcement officials Tuesday for a roundtable discussion about their role in combating the opioid epidemic. The discussion was attended by officials from the Warren, Youngstown and Warren Township police departments as well as officials from the Trumbull and Mahoning County Sheriff’s Offices and those working in the parole and probation positions. It was closed to the public, but Ryan held a press conference afterward. Ryan has introduced and co-sponsored several pieces of legislation aimed at increasing penalties for fentanyl ...