The opioid crisis got worse

Abstract

Drug overdose deaths in the U.S. are at an all-time high, and opioids are to blame. According to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, over 64,000 people died from overdoses in 2016, mostly from opioid painkillers, heroin, and synthetic analogs. That toll cranked up the pressure this year on politicians, law enforcement, and drug companies to respond to the epidemic’s spread. For its part, the Food & Drug Administration took a harder line on the pain relievers being misused and the companies that manufacture them. Earlier this year, an FDA advisory committee voted 18-8 that the risks outweighed the benefits for an abuse-deterrent version of Endo Pharmaceuticals’ Opana ER painkiller. In a rare move, FDA asked Endo to remove the drug from the market in June. Undeterred, Endo soon struck a deal with Impax Laboratories to split profits on a generic version of the original