West Virginia’s governor has signed legislation to limit opioid prescriptions that doctors can prescribe to treat acute pain. Gov. Jim Justice signed the bill last week that would limit such prescriptions to supplies lasting three, four or seven days, depending …
Eleven additional local West Virginia governments are suing drug companies who they say failed to follow state and federal law to prevent the distribution and abuse of prescription pain medication that’s created the state’s opioid crisis. The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports …
The nation’s largest prescription drug distributor has lost its bid to keep a lawsuit out of a West Virginia county. News outlets report a judge rejected McKesson’s claim that it has no duty under state law to refuse to ship …
A West Virginia board report says state pharmacies dispensed 31 million fewer controlled substances last year, a trend the board’s acting chief says is due to heightened awareness about prescription medication overdose deaths. The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports the decline was …
State health officials are proposing a multifaceted plan for confronting the drug crisis killing hundreds of West Virginians each year, one that would require action by everyone from lawmakers to doctors to judges to emergency responders to the general public. …
As West Virginia sees record numbers of drug overdose deaths, state officials say they’ll submit plans for responding further to the opioid epidemic to Gov. Jim Justice by mid-January. “There is a critical need to identify a concise set of …
Several West Virginia municipalities are suing The Joint Commission, claiming the Chicago-based health care accreditation group downplayed the dangers of prescription painkillers and helped fuel addictions. The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports that the cities of Charleston, Huntington and Kenova and the …
West Virginia’s Department of Health and Human Resources says it will use $22 million in settlement money from drug distributors to help address the addiction epidemic in the state. Legislation passed this year requires the department to increase inpatient treatment …
A pharmaceuticals distributor has asked a federal judge to dismiss lawsuits filed by six West Virginia counties over the opioid crisis, arguing that they were filed too late and the matter was already addressed in a state suit. Cardinal Health …
West Virginia will receive $5.9 million from the federal government to help fight drug addiction. U.S. Rep. Evan Jenkins and Sens. Shelley Moore Capito and Joe Manchin announced the grant Thursday from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. …
