Data shows fatal overdoses increased in U.S. even as prescription opioid shipments declined sharply
The number of prescription opioid pills shipped in the U.S. in the second half of the 2010s decreased sharply even as a nationwide overdose crisis continued to deepen, according to data released in September. The decline in painkiller prescriptions — finally dropping below the quantities sold in the mid-2000s when the overdose epidemic accelerated — happened after state and federal governments tightened prescribing guidelines and state, local and Native American tribal governments sued the industry over the toll of the addictive drugs. “We are still at an epidemic proportion of pills,” Peter Mougey, a lawyer representing governments that are...
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