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Tag: Opioids

  • Social media companies face legal reckoning over mental health harms to children

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    For years, social media companies have disputed allegations that they harm children’s mental health through deliberate design choices that addict kids to their platforms and fail to protect them from sexual predators and dangerous content. Now, these tech giants are getting a chance to make their case in courtrooms around the country, including before a jury for the first time.

    Some of the biggest players from Meta to TikTok are facing federal and state trials that seek to hold them responsible for harming children’s mental health. The lawsuits have come from school districts, local, state and the federal government as well as thousands of families.

    Two trials are now underway in Los Angeles and in New Mexico, with more to come. The courtroom showdowns are the culmination of years of scrutiny of the platforms over child safety, and whether deliberate design choices make them addictive and serve up content that leads to depression, eating disorders or suicide.

    Experts see the reckoning as reminiscent of cases against tobacco and opioid markets, and the plaintiffs hope that social media platforms will see similar outcomes as cigarette makers and drug companies, pharmacies and distributors.

    The outcomes could challenge the companies’ First Amendment shield and Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, which protects tech companies from liability for material posted on their platforms. They could also be costly in the form of legal fees and settlements. And they could force the companies to change how they operate, potentially losing users and advertising dollars.

    Here’s a look at the major social media harms cases in the United States.

    Jurors in a landmark social media case that seeks to hold tech companies responsible for harms to children got their first glimpse into what will be a lengthy trial characterized by dueling narratives from the plaintiffs and the two remaining defendants, Meta and YouTube.

    At the core of the Los Angeles case is a 20-year-old identified only by the initials “KGM,” whose case could determine how thousands of similar lawsuits will play out. KGM and the cases of two other plaintiffs have been selected to be bellwether trials — essentially test cases for both sides to see how their arguments play out before a jury.

    “This is a monumental inflection point in social media,” said Matthew Bergman of the Seattle-based Social Media Victims Law Center, which represents more than 1,000 plaintiffs in lawsuits against social media companies. “When we started doing this four years ago no one said we’d ever get to trial. And here we are trying our case in front of a fair and impartial jury.”

    On Wednesday Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified, mostly sticking to past talking points, including a lengthy back-and-forth about age verification where he said ““I don’t see why this is so complicated,” reiterating that the company’s policy restricts users under the age of 13 and that it works to detect users who have lied about their ages to bypass restrictions..

    At one point, the plaintiff’s attorney, Mark Lanier, asked Zuckerberg if people tend to use something more if it’s addictive.

    “I’m not sure what to say to that,” Zuckerberg said. “I don’t think that applies here.”

    A team led by New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez, who sued Meta in 2023, built their case by posing as children on social media, then documenting sexual solicitations they received as well as Meta’s response.

    Torrez wants Meta to implement more effective age verification and do more to remove bad actors from its platform.

    He also is seeking changes to algorithms that can serve up harmful material, and has criticized the end-to-end encryption that can prevent the monitoring of communications with children for safety. Meta has noted that encrypted messaging is encouraged in general as a privacy and security measure by some state and federal authorities.

    The trial kicked off in early February. In his opening statement, prosecuting attorney Donald Migliori said Meta has misrepresented the safety of its platforms, choosing to engineer its algorithms to keep young people online while knowing that children are at risk of sexual exploitation.

    “Meta clearly knew that youth safety was not its corporate priority … that youth safety was less important than growth and engagement,” Migliori told the jury.

    Meta attorney Kevin Huff pushed back on those assertions in his opening statement, highlighting an array of efforts by the company to weed out harmful content from its platforms while warning users that some dangerous content still gets past its safety net.

    A trial scheduled for this summer pits school districts against social media companies before U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California. Called a multidistrict litigation, it names six public school districts from around the country as the bellwethers.

    Jayne Conroy, a lawyer on plaintiffs’ trial team, was also an attorney for plaintiffs seeking to hold pharmaceutical companies responsible for the opioid epidemic. She said the cornerstone of both cases is the same: addiction.

    “With the social media case, we’re focused primarily on children and their developing brains and how addiction is such a threat to their wellbeing and … the harms that are caused to children — how much they’re watching and what kind of targeting is being done,” she said.

    The medical science, she added, “is not really all that different, surprisingly, from an opioid or a heroin addiction. We are all talking about the dopamine reaction.”

    Both the social media and the opioid cases claim negligence on the part of the defendants.

    “What we were able to prove in the opioid cases is the manufacturers, the distributors, the pharmacies, they knew about the risks, they downplayed them, they oversupplied, and people died,” Conroy said. “Here, it is very much the same thing. These companies knew about the risks, they have disregarded the risks, they doubled down to get profits from advertisers over the safety of kids. And kids were harmed and kids died.”

    Social media companies have disputed that their products are addictive. During questioning Wednesday by the plaintiff’s lawyer during the Los Angeles trial, Zuckerberg said he still agrees with a previous statement he made that the existing body of scientific work has not proven that social media causes mental health harms.

    Some researchers do indeed question whether addiction is the appropriate term to describe heavy use of social media. Social media addiction is not recognized as an official disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the authority within the psychiatric community.

    But the companies face increasing pushback on the issue of social media’s effects on children’s mental health, not only among academics but also parents, schools and lawmakers.

    “While Meta has doubled down in this area to address mounting concerns by rolling out safety features, several recent reports suggest that the company continues to aggressively prioritize teens as a user base and doesn’t always adhere to its own rules,” said Emarketer analyst Minda Smiley.

    With appeals and any settlement discussions, the cases against social media companies could take years to resolve. And unlike in Europe and Australia, tech regulation in the U.S. is moving at a glacial pace.

    “Parents, education, and other stakeholders are increasingly hoping lawmakers will do more,” Smiley said. “While there is momentum at the state and federal level, Big Tech lobbying, enforcement challenges, and lawmaker disagreements over how to best regular social media have slowed meaningful progress.”

    —

    AP Technology Writer Kaitlyn Huamani contributed to this story.

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  • FACT FOCUS: There’s no proof each strike on alleged drug boats saves 25,000 lives, as Trump claims

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    President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that military strikes on suspected drug boats his administration has been carrying out for more than two months in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean are saving the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S.

    He most recently cited these numbers on Monday while answering questions from reporters after announcing a new initiative that will allow foreigners traveling to the U.S. for the World Cup next year to get interviews for visas more quickly.

    But experts say that this is a grossly simplistic interpretation of the situation.

    Here’s a closer look at the facts.

    TRUMP: “Every boat we knock out, we save 25,000 American lives.”

    THE FACTS: The numbers to support Trump’s claim don’t add up, and sometimes don’t exist. For example, people in the U.S. who die from drug overdoses each year are far fewer than the amount Trump suggests have been saved by the boat strikes his administration has carried out since September.

    “The statement that each of the administration’s strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats saves 25,000 lives is absurd,” said Carl Latkin, a professor of public health at Johns Hopkins University who studies substance use. “The evidence is similar to that of the moon being made of blue cheese. If you look carefully, you will see a resemblance. However, a close analysis of this claim suggests that it lacks all credibility.”

    According to the latest preliminary data from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, there were about 97,000 drug overdose deaths in the U.S. during the 12-month period that ended June 30. That’s down 14% from the estimated 113,000 for the previous 12-month period.

    Final CDC data reports 53,336 overdose deaths in 2024 and 75,118 in 2023.

    The U.S. military has attacked 21 boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean since strikes began on Sept. 2, most recently on Nov. 15. Using Trump’s numbers, that would mean the strikes have prevented 525,000 fatal drug overdoses in the U.S — far more than the number of overdose deaths that have occurred in recent two-month periods. This essentially implies that the administration is saving more lives than would have ever been lost.

    Lori Ann Post, the director of the Institute for Public Health and Medicine at Northwestern University, explained that “there’s no empirically sound way to say a single strike ‘saves 25,000 lives,’” even if the statement is interpreted more broadly to mean preventing substance use disorders and resulting ripple effects. Among the issues she pointed to are a lack of verifiable cargo data or published models linking such boat strikes to changes in drug use, as well as markets that will adapt to isolated supply losses.

    “The math and the data are not there,” said Post, who studies drug overdose deaths and economic drivers of the opioid crisis.

    Latkin added that claiming one lethal dose of a drug automatically translates to one death is a “very simple way of looking at it,” as different people have different tolerances.

    Trump has justified the attacks by saying the U.S. is in “armed conflict” with drug cartels and claiming the boats are operated by foreign terror organizations that are flooding America’s cities with drugs. Neither Trump nor his administration have publicly confirmed the amount of drugs allegedly destroyed in the strikes.

    White House spokesperson Anna Kelly reiterated Trump’s numbers when asked for evidence to support his claims about how many lives are being saved. She wrote in an email: “President Trump is right — any boat bringing deadly poison to our shores has the potential to kill 25,000 Americans or more. The President is prepared to use every element of American power to stop drugs from flooding in to our country and to bring those responsible for justice.”

    Latkin noted that this estimate also ignores the reality that even if the Trump administration manages to shut off one source of illegal drugs with its boat strikes, there will still be others. He offered a comparison to the fast food industry, explaining that getting rid of a couple of restaurants would not greatly improve Americans’ health since there are so many other sources where consumers could get the same or similar products.

    “It’s incredibly naive to think that reducing the supply in one place will eradicate the problem because it’s such a massive business,” he said.

    Opioids accounted for 73.4% of drug overdose deaths in 2024, according to the CDC. That includes 65.1% from illegally made fentanyls. But while the boat strikes have targeted vessels largely in the Caribbean Sea, fentanyl is typically trafficked to the U.S. overland from Mexico, where it is produced with chemicals imported from China and India.

    Overdose death rates began steadily climbing in the 1990s because of opioid painkillers, followed by waves of deaths led by other opioids like heroin and — more recently — illicit fentanyl. New numbers from the CDC show that a decline that began in 2023 has continued. Experts aren’t certain about the reasons for the decline, but they cite a combination of possible factors. Among them are the end of the COVID-19 pandemic; years of efforts to increase the availability of the overdose-reversing drug naloxone and addiction treatments; and changes to the drugs themselves.

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    Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck

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  • After 8-year legal battle, Dracut doctor pleads guilty in landmark opioid case

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    WOBURN — A case that stretched more than eight years reached its conclusion this week, as retired Dracut physician, Dr. Richard Miron, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and other charges tied to the illegal prescribing of opioids that led to a Lowell patient’s death.

    Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s office said Miron, 83, became the first doctor in Massachusetts to be convicted on involuntary manslaughter for prescribing opioids — a conviction that stemmed from the 2016 death of 50-year-old Michelle Craib. He also pleaded guilty to defrauding MassHealth and illegally prescribing medication to patients for no legitimate medical purpose.

    Miron was ultimately sentenced in Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn on Monday to what amounts to five years of probation, allowing him to avoid prison time.

    Miron’s attorney, Stephen Weymouth, said on Wednesday that he was prepared and confident to go to trial in a case that has faced a series of delays over the years, but after a conversation with his client earlier this month, the main concern became the possibility of serving time behind bars.

    “From the very beginning he said, ‘I didn’t do anything wrong, and I want to go to trial,’” Weymouth said about Miron. “But then he said he did not want to go to jail.”

    Weymouth pointed out that Miron was facing 47 charges, and any one of them could have resulted in a jail sentence. He said that prosecutors had previously sought four to five years in a plea deal, and the involuntary manslaughter charge carried a maximum of 20 years.

    “Going to trial would have been a mistake because all it would have taken was one guilty hook and he would have gotten a pretty lengthy sentence, and I just couldn’t do that. I just couldn’t take any chances,” Weymouth said. “If he had gone to trial and lost, who knows what would have happened.”

    Miron was indicted by a Middlesex County grand jury in December 2018 following an investigation that began in September 2017 by the AG’s Office, then headed by now-Gov. Maura Healey. Aside from involuntary manslaughter, he was charged with 23 counts of illegally prescribing controlled substances and 23 counts of filing false Medicaid claims.

    From September 2015 to February 2016, the AG’s Office said Miron, a solo practitioner of internal medicine, was the largest provider of high-dose, short-acting oxycodone prescriptions among all MassHealth care providers statewide.

    The Chief Medical Examiner’s Office determined Craib’s death was caused by acute intoxication from the combined effects of fentanyl, morphine, codeine, and butalbital — all prescribed by Miron. The AG’s Office said Miron was aware that Craib had previously overdosed on opioids he had prescribed, yet he continued to issue large doses to her on multiple occasions leading up to her death.

    Prosecutors also said Miron illegally prescribed opioids to several other at-risk patients for no legitimate medical purpose. The illegal prescriptions Miron issued led pharmacies to unknowingly submit false bills to MassHealth for medication.

    MassHealth terminated Miron from its program in September 2017, and he stopped practicing medicine in November 2018, following an agreement with the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine.

    In 2023, Miron’s daughter, Linda Miron, penned a 17-page letter to the AG’s Office urging that the case be dropped. She argued that prosecuting her father — who had already relinquished his medical license and lived under pretrial probation since 2018 — was not in the interest of justice.

    “To bring this flawed case to trial does not seem to me to be the best use of the Commonwealth’s resources, and I urge you to drop your prosecution of this case in the interest of justice,” Linda Miron said in the letter. “More broadly, I fear that prosecuting someone who was willing to take on disenfranchised, medically and psychologically complicated patients here in the Commonwealth, when some other physicians refused to take on MassHealth patients, will further discourage other physicians from treating these patients who deserve compassionate care.”

    The case marched on until Monday, when Miron appeared in Middlesex Superior Court before Judge Cathleen Campbell, where it was finally resolved.

    According to the AG’s Office, Miron was sentenced to two and a half years in a house of correction on illegal prescribing, suspended for five years — meaning he will serve the term as probation rather than prison time, unless he violates probation, in which case the sentence could be imposed. He was sentenced to five years of probation on the involuntary manslaughter charge. For Medicaid fraud, Miron was sentenced to six months in a house of correction, suspended for five years.

    As part of his probation, Miron was ordered to pay full restitution to MassHealth and barred from practicing medicine or seeking reinstatement of his license.

    According to Weymouth, Miron was glad to put the case behind him and most of all to avoid prison time. He noted that Miron had already given up his medical career and had no intention of practicing again.

    “I’m glad it’s over,” Weymouth added. “I know he’s glad it’s over.”

    In a press release announcing the case’s conclusion on Tuesday, the AG’s Office said the case reflects their “commitment to addressing the root causes of the opioid crisis and holding companies and individuals accountable for their role in contributing to the nationwide epidemic.”

    Earlier this year, the release states, Campbell helped negotiate a $7.4 billion settlement in principle with Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family, which is expected to bring up to $105 million to Massachusetts. To date, the office said they have secured more than $1 billion in opioid-related recoveries, with more than $390 million already received. Those funds are being directed to the state’s Opioid Recovery and Remediation Fund and distributed to cities and towns to support prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery efforts.

    The AG’s Office added in the release that valuable assistance with the investigation into Miron’s case was provided by the Lowell Police Department, the State Police, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and MassHealth.

    Follow Aaron Curtis on X @aselahcurtis, or on Bluesky @aaronscurtis.bsky.social.

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    Aaron Curtis

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  • Judge approves opioid settlement for Purdue Pharma and Sackler family members who own the company

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    A federal bankruptcy court judge on Tuesday formally approved OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma’s plan to settle thousands of lawsuits over the harms of opioids.

    U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane gave reasoning Tuesday for approving the plan, which requires members of the Sackler family who own the company to contribute up to $7 billion over 15 years. Most of the money is to go to government entities to fight the opioid crisis that has been linked to 900,000 deaths in the U.S. since 1999.

    A portion of the money is to be distributed next year to some people who had OxyContin prescriptions and their survivors.

    “My heart goes out to all those who have suffered such pain,” Lane said.

    The new agreement replaces one the U.S. Supreme Court rejected last year, finding it would have improperly protected members of the family against future lawsuits. Under the current agreement, entities that do not opt into the payments can still sue members of the family.

    The deal, which the judge said he would accept last week, is among the largest in a series of opioid settlements brought by state and local governments against drugmakers, wholesalers and pharmacies that totaled about $50 billion.

    Sackler family members agreed to pay up to $7 billion over 15 years, providing most of the cash involved in the settlement.

    The funds distributed to state, local and Native Americans is to be used mostly to address the opioid crisis, as has been the case with other opioid settlements.

    About $850 million of that is to go to individual victims, including children born with opioid withdrawal.

    People with addiction and survivors of those who died must prove they were prescribed OxyContin to participate. Those who do could receive payments of around $8,000 or around $16,000, depending on how long they received the drug and how many other people qualify. The money for individual victims is to be distributed next year.

    Members of the Sackler family are agreeing to give up ownership of Purdue.

    For them, that won’t be a major change since no family member has served on Purdue’ board or received money from the company since 2018. The plan calls for Purdue to be replaced with a new company, Knoa Pharma, to be controlled by a board appointed by states and with a mission of benefiting the public.

    Sackler family members are also agreeing not to have their name put on institutions in exchange for contributions — something they’ve done often in the past, though many institutions have cut ties with them.

    The company has also agreed to make public a trove of internal documents that could shed additional light into how the company promoted and monitored opioids.

    One feature that won’t be repeated under this new deal that was in a previous one: forcing members of the Sackler family to hear directly from people harmed by OxyContin.

    Purdue filed for bankruptcy protection in 2019 when it was facing thousands of opioid-related lawsuits from state and local governments and others.

    A judge approved a settlement two years later. But the U.S. Supreme Court later rejected that plan because it gave members of the Sackler family protection from lawsuits over opioids even though they were not personally declaring bankruptcy.

    The latest plan allows lawsuits against Sackler family members by those who don’t opt into the deal. That change was a key to getting the new version approved in the aftermath of the high court’s ruling.

    This time, few parties objected to the settlement, although some people who represented themselves and who were addicted to opioids — or had loved ones who were — raised concerns during the three-day confirmation hearing last week.

    One of those self-represented people told Lane during the virtual hearing Tuesday that she planned to appeal.

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  • Judge to explain why he’s approving Purdue Pharma settlement plan

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    A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge is set to give his reasoning Tuesday for approving OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma’s plan to settle thousands of lawsuits over the toll of opioids.

    The deal calls for members of the Sackler family who own the company to pay up to $7 billion over time.

    Judge Sean Lane said last week that he would accept the plan, which ranks among the largest opioid settlements ever and would do something other major ones don’t: Pay some victims of the crisis.

    Sackler family members agreed to pay up to $7 billion over 15 years, providing most of the cash involved in the settlement.

    The funds distributed to state, local and Native Americans is to be used mostly to address the opioid crisis, as has been the case with other opioid settlements.

    About $850 million of that is to go to individual victims, including children born with opioid withdrawal.

    People with addiction and survivors of those who died must prove they were prescribed OxyContin to participate. Those who do could receive payments of around $8,000 or around $16,000, depending on how long they received the drug and how many other people qualify. The money for individual victims is to be distributed next year.

    Members of the Sackler family are agreeing to give up ownership of Purdue.

    For them, that won’t be a major change since no family member has served on Purdue’ board or received money from the company since 2018. The plan calls for Purdue to be replaced with a new company, Knoa Pharma, to be controlled by a board appointed by states and with a mission of benefiting the public.

    Sackler family members are also agreeing not to have their name put on institutions in exchange for contributions — something they’ve done often in the past, though many institutions have cut ties with them.

    The company has also agreed to make public a trove of internal documents that could shed additional light into how the company promoted and monitored opioids.

    One feature that won’t be repeated under this new deal that was in a previous one: forcing members of the Sackler family to hear directly from people harmed by OxyContin.

    Purdue filed for bankruptcy protection in 2019 when it was facing thousands of opioid-related lawsuits from state and local governments and others.

    A judge approved a settlement two years later. But the U.S. Supreme Court later rejected that plan because it gave members of the Sackler family protection from lawsuits over opioids even though they were not personally declaring bankruptcy.

    The latest plan allows lawsuits against Sackler family members by those who don’t opt into the deal.

    This time through, few parties objected to the settlement, though some people who represented themselves and who were addicted to opioids — or had loved ones who were — raised concerns during the three-day confirmation hearing last week.

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  • Latest opioid settlement plan with OxyContin maker Purdue and Sackler

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    NEW YORK — Lawyers representing OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, branches of the Sackler family that own it, cities, states, counties, Native American tribes, people with addiction and others across the U.S. are expected to deliver a nearly unanimous message for a bankruptcy court judge Friday: Approve a plan to settle thousands of opioid-related lawsuits against the company.

    If U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane abides, it will close a long chapter — and maybe the entire book — on a legal odyssey over efforts to hold the company to account for its role in an opioid crisis connected to 900,000 deaths in the U.S. since 1999, including deaths from heroin and illicit fentanyl.

    Closing arguments were expected Friday in the third day of a hearing over a bankruptcy plan for the company, which filed for protection six years ago as it faced lawsuits with claims that grew to trillions of dollars.

    The saga has been emotional and full of contentious arguments between the many groups that took Purdue to court, often exposing a possible mismatch between the quest for justice and the practical role of bankruptcy court.

    The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a previous deal because it said it was improper for Sackler family members to receive immunity from lawsuits over opioids. In the new arrangement, entities who don’t opt into the settlement can sue them. Family members are collectively worth billions, but much of their assets are held in trusts in offshore accounts that would be hard to access through lawsuits.

    This time, the government groups involved have reached an even fuller consensus and there’s been mostly subdued opposition from individuals. Out of more than 54,000 personal injury victims who voted on whether the plan should be accepted. just 218 said no. A larger number of people who are part of that group didn’t vote.

    A handful of objectors spoke Thursday at the hearing, sometimes interrupting the judge. Some said that only the victims, not the states and other government entities, should receive the funds in the settlement. Others wanted the judge to find the members of the Sackler family criminally liable — something Lane said is beyond the scope of the bankruptcy court, but that the settlement doesn’t bar prosecutors from pursuing.

    A Florida woman whose husband struggled with addiction after being given OxyContin following an accident told the court that the deal isn’t enough.

    “The natural laws of karma suggest the Sacklers and Purdue Pharma should pay for what they have done,” Pamela Bartz Halaschak said via video.

    A flood of lawsuits filed by government entities against Purdue and other drugmakers, drug wholesalers and pharmacy chains began about a decade ago.

    Most of the major ones have already settled for a total of about $50 billion, with most of the money going to fight the opioid crisis.

    The Purdue deal would rank among the largest of them. Members of the Sackler family would be required to pay up to $7 billion and give up ownership of the company. None have been on its board or received payments since 2018. Unlike a similar hearing four years ago, none were called to testify in this week’s hearing.

    The company would get a name change and new overseers who would dedicate future profits to battling the opioid crisis.

    There are also some non-financial provisions. Certain members of the Sackler family would be required to give up involvement in companies that sell opioids in other countries.

    Family members would also be barred from having their names added to institutions in exchange for charitable contributions. The name has already been removed from museums and universities.

    And company documents, including many that would normally be subject to lawyer-client privilege, are to be made public.

    Unlike the other major opioid settlements, individuals harmed by Purdue’s products would be in line for some money as part of the settlement. About $850 million would be set aside for them, with more than $100 million of that amount carved out to help children born dealing with opioid withdrawal.

    About 139,000 people have active claims for the money. Many of them, however, have not shown proof that they were prescribed Purdue’s opioids and will receive nothing. Lawyers expect that those who had prescriptions for at least six months would receive about $16,000 each and those who had them more briefly would get around $8,000. Legal fees would reduce what people actually receive.

    One woman who had a family member suffer from opioid addiction told the court by video Thursday that the settlement doesn’t help people with substance use disorder.

    “Tell me how you guys can sleep at night knowing people are going to get so little money they can’t do anything with it,” asked Laureen Ferrante of Staten Island, New York.

    Most of the money is to go to state and local governments to be used in their efforts to mitigate damage of the opioid epidemic. Overdose death numbers have been dropping in the past few years, a decline experts believe is partly due to the impact of settlement dollars.

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  • US appeals court overturns West Virginia landmark opioid lawsuit decision

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    CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A federal appeals court on Tuesday overturned a landmark decision in West Virginia that had rejected attempts by an opioid-ravaged area to be compensated by U.S. drug distributors for a influx of prescription pain pills into the region.

    The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, ruled that a lower court judge erred when he said West Virginia’s public nuisance law did not apply to the lawsuit involving the distribution of opioids.

    “West Virginia law permits abatement of a public nuisance to include a requirement that a defendant pay money to fund efforts to eliminate the resulting harm to the public,” the 4th Circuit wrote. “West Virginia has long characterized abatement as an equitable remedy.”

    The ruling sends the case back to U.S. District Court in Charleston for “further proceedings consistent with the principles expressed in this opinion.”

    Thousands of state and local governments have sued over the toll of opioids. The suits relied heavily on claims that the companies created a public nuisance by failing to monitor where the powerful prescriptions were ending up. Most of the lawsuits were settled as part of a series of nationwide deals that could be worth more than $50 billion. But there wasn’t a decisive trend in the outcomes of those that have gone to trial.

    In July 2022, U.S. District Judge David Faber ruled in favor of three major U.S. drug distributors who were accused by Cabell County and the city of Huntington of causing a public health crisis by distributing 81 million pills over eight years in the county. AmerisourceBergen Drug Co., Cardinal Health Inc. and McKesson Corp. also were accused of ignoring the signs that Cabell County was being ravaged by addiction.

    Faber said West Virginia’s Supreme Court had only applied public nuisance law in the context of conduct that interferes with public property or resources. He said to extend the law to cover the marketing and sale of opioids “is inconsistent with the history and traditional notions of nuisance.”

    Last year the federal appeals court sent a certified question to the state Supreme Court, which states: “Under West Virginia’s common law, can conditions caused by the distribution of a controlled substance constitute a public nuisance and, if so, what are the elements of such a public nuisance claim?”

    The state justices declined to answer. That 3-2 opinion in May returned the case to the federal appears court.

    “We hold that West Virginia’s highest court would not exclude as a matter of law any common law claim for public nuisance caused by the distribution of a controlled substance,” the 4th Circuit wrote Tuesday. “Therefore, we necessarily conclude that the district court erred when it held that a public nuisance claim based on the distribution of opioids was per se legally insufficient under West Virginia law.”

    During arguments earlier this year before the state Supreme Court over the certified question, Steve Ruby, an attorney for the companies, called “radical” the plaintiffs’ arguments to extend the public nuisance law to opioid manufacturers. If allowed, he said, that would “create an avalanche of activist litigation.”

    The appeals court previously noted that the West Virginia Mass Litigation Panel, which works to resolve complex cases in state court, has concluded in several instances that opioid distribution “can form the basis of a public nuisance claim under West Virginia common law.”

    In his 2022 decision, Faber also said the plaintiffs offered no evidence that the defendants distributed controlled substances to any entity that didn’t hold a proper registration from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration or the state Board of Pharmacy. The defendants also had suspicious monitoring systems in place as required by the Controlled Substances Act, he said.

    But the 4th Circuit Court found Tuesday that the lower court “misconstrued the distributors’ duties” under the Controlled Substances Act.

    The plaintiffs had sought more than $2.5 billion that would have gone toward opioid use prevention, treatment and education over 15 years.

    In 2021 in Cabell County, an Ohio River county of 93,000 residents, there were 1,059 emergency responses to suspected overdoses — significantly higher than each of the previous three years — with at least 162 deaths.

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  • Ex-wife of Angels employee to face cross examination in trial over pitcher’s overdose death

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    SANTA ANA, Calif. — The ex-wife of a Los Angeles Angels employee at the center of the overdose death of one of the team’s star pitchers will face more cross examination Tuesday after testifying she saw players and clubhouse attendants passing pills and alcohol while partying on the team plane.

    Camela Kay told jurors in a Southern California courtroom on Monday she had traveled on the Angels team plane with her then-husband Eric Kay, who was convicted of providing drugs that led to the 2019 death of Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs. She said she had seen players partying, playing card games, gambling and drinking.

    “They’re treated like kings,” Camela Kay said of her observations on the plane. “I had seen them passing out pills or drinking alcohol excessively.”

    The testimony came in a trial for a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by Skaggs’ family contending the Angels should be held responsible for letting Eric Kay, then the team’s communications director, stay on the job and access players while he was addicted to and dealing drugs. The Angels have said team officials did not know Skaggs was taking drugs and that any drug activity involving him and Eric Kay happened on their own time and in the privacy of the player’s hotel room.

    Camela Kay testified she told an Angels employee that her then-husband may have been intending to sell drugs to Skaggs on at least one occasion. That was based on information Eric Kay told his sister during a hospital stay for a drug overdose, she said. Camela Kay said the sister then told her, and she told an Angels employee.

    Defense attorneys for the Angels began their cross examination of Camela Kay on Monday and questioned her direct knowledge of Eric Kay’s interactions with Skaggs.

    Camela Kay said she was concerned that her then-husband had a drug problem after observing his erratic behavior, and family members mounted an intervention with him in 2017. The next day, she said, two team officials came over to speak with him and one of them pulled a series of plastic baggies containing white pills from the bedroom, which fueled her concerns that Eric Kay was not only struggling with substance abuse but selling drugs to make money.

    “Him being in the clubhouse with the players, my guess would be he is supplying to them,” she said.

    Camela Kay also described how her then-husband was driven home by an Angels employee after he was dancing in his office, shirtless, at the stadium in 2019. After he got home, she found a bottle with blue pills inside and called police to press him to go to the hospital, where doctors diagnosed an overdose involving six different drugs, she said.

    He was hospitalized for three days and then went to rehab, which was communicated in text messages between Camela Kay and team officials shown to jurors.

    She said her sister-in-law told her after visiting Eric Kay in the hospital that he told her the pills were for Skaggs. She said she found text messages on his phone about him getting his “candy” at the stadium and relayed the information about both to Angels officials.

    She said she was concerned about Eric Kay heading on the road with the Angels after completing a six-week stint in rehab, adding he was still acting erratic and she suspected he was abusing a drug meant to treat opioid addiction.

    After Skaggs’ death, Camela Kay filed for divorce, according to Orange County court records.

    The trial comes more than six years after Skaggs, then 27, was found dead in the suburban Dallas hotel room where he was staying as the Angels were supposed to open a four-game series against the Texas Rangers. A coroner’s report said Skaggs choked to death on his vomit and a toxic mix of alcohol, fentanyl and oxycodone was found in his system.

    Eric Kay was convicted in 2022 of providing Skaggs with a counterfeit oxycodone pill laced with fentanyl and sentenced to 22 years in prison. His federal criminal trial in Texas included testimony from five MLB players who said they received oxycodone from him at various times from 2017 to 2019, the years he was accused of obtaining pills and giving them to Angels players.

    Skaggs had been a regular in the Angels’ starting rotation since late 2016 and struggled with injuries repeatedly during that time. He previously played for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

    Skaggs’ family is seeking $118 million in lost earnings, compensation for pain and suffering and punitive damages against the team.

    After Skaggs’ death, the MLB reached a deal with the players association to start testing for opioids and to refer those who test positive to the treatment board.

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  • Ex-wife of Angels employee expected to testify over pitcher’s drug overdose death

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    SANTA ANA, Calif. — The ex-wife of a Los Angeles Angels employee is expected to testify in a trial over whether the MLB team should be held responsible for the drug overdose death of one of its star pitchers.

    Camela Kay is expected to take the stand Monday to speak about her ex-husband, Angels’ communication director Eric Kay, who was convicted of providing a fentanyl-laced pill that led to the death of pitcher Tyler Skaggs. He was later sentenced to 22 years in federal prison.

    After Skaggs’ death, Camela Kay filed for divorce, according to Orange County court records.

    The testimony is expected in a civil trial for a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by Skaggs’ family contending the Angels should be held responsible for letting a drug-addicted and dealing employee stay on the job and access its players. The Angels say team officials did not know Skaggs was taking drugs and that any drug activity involving him and Kay happened on their own time and in the privacy of the player’s hotel room.

    The trial comes more than six years after Skaggs, then 27, was found dead in the suburban Dallas hotel room where he was staying as the Angels were supposed to open a four-game series against the Texas Rangers. A coroner’s report said Skaggs choked to death on his vomit and a toxic mix of alcohol, fentanyl and oxycodone was found in his system.

    Eric Kay was convicted in 2022 of providing Skaggs with a counterfeit oxycodone pill laced with fentanyl. His federal criminal trial in Texas included testimony from five MLB players who said they received oxycodone from him at various times from 2017 to 2019, the years he was accused of obtaining pills and giving them to Angels players.

    Skaggs had been a regular in the Angels’ starting rotation since late 2016 and struggled with injuries repeatedly during that time. He previously played for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

    Skaggs’ family is seeking $118 million in lost earnings, compensation for pain and suffering and punitive damages against the team.

    After Skaggs’ death, the MLB reached a deal with the players association to start testing for opioids and to refer those who test positive to the treatment board.

    The trial is expected to take weeks and has included testimony from Angels outfielder Mike Trout.

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  • MBTA balks at expanding overdose prevention kiosks

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    BOSTON — MBTA officials are pouring cold water on a legislative push to make the opioid overdose reversing drug naloxone available at subway stations, citing a lack of proper staff and a shortage of funding.

    The T recently wrapped up a federally funded pilot project that installed 15 kiosks with doses of the medicine – also known by its brand name, Narcan – at several Red Line stations to help reduce fatal drug overdoses.


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  • Ecuador Says It Has No Evidence That Survivor of a US Strike in the Caribbean Committed Any Crime

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    QUITO (AP) — The survivor of a U.S. strike on a submersible vessel accused by the Trump administration of transporting drugs in the Caribbean was released by authorities in Ecuador after prosecutors said they had no evidence he committed a crime in the South American nation, a government official said Monday.

    The official, who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to speak on the matter, told The Associated Press that the Ecuadorian man, identified as Andrés Fernando Tufiño, was in good health after medical evaluations.

    A document from the Ecuadorian government obtained by AP said “there is no evidence or indication that could lead prosecutors or judicial authorities to be certain” of any violation of current laws by Tufiño.

    AP requested comment from the Attorney General’s Office, but did not immediately receive a response.

    The man was repatriated by the United States over the weekend following a U.S. military attack on a submersible vessel suspected of transporting drugs in the Caribbean. A Colombian citizen also survived the attack and remains hospitalized after being repatriated to that country.

    U.S. military personnel rescued both men after destroying the submersible on Thursday. Trump said on social media that U.S. intelligence confirmed the vessel was carrying “mostly fentanyl and other illegal drugs.”

    There is little evidence to indicate that fentanyl is produced in the Andes, as the vast majority of it flows into the U.S. through Mexico.

    Trump said that two people on board were killed, and the two survivors were being repatriated to their home countries “for detention and prosecution.”

    The attack on the submersible was at least the sixth of its kind since September. A seventh that occurred Friday, was reported over the weekend, bringing the total deaths from the attacks to at least 32. The strikes have set off tensions in the region, particularly between Trump, Venezuela and Colombia, once one of the American government’s tightest allies in the Western Hemisphere.

    The Colombian government said its survivor “will be prosecuted according to the law” for alleged drug trafficking. It noted that the man was seriously wounded.

    Colombia’s government said Monday that it had recalled its ambassador to the United States following an increasingly angry back-and-forth between its president, Gustavo Petro, and Trump over the strikes.

    Tensions increased Sunday when Trump called Petro “an illegal drug leader” and “a lunatic” after Petro accused the U.S. government of killing a Colombian citizen in a Sept. 16 strike on a boat the U.S. said was allegedly carrying drugs.

    Meanwhile, Ecuador’s conservative president, Daniel Noboa, said Monday in a message on X addressed to his U.S. counterpart: “President Trump, Ecuador remains firm in the global fight against drug trafficking.” He added that such challenges “require unity among nations committed to peace and prosperity.”

    Trump has justified the actions, saying the United States is engaged in an “armed conflict” against drug cartels.

    He has relied on the same legal reasoning used by the George W. Bush administration when it declared war on terrorism after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. It includes the authority to capture and detain combatants and use lethal force to eliminate their leaders.

    Associated Press journalist Astrid Suárez in Bogota, Colombia contributed to this report.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – Oct. 2025

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  • New York woman accused of incapacitating 4 men with fentanyl-laced drugs, killing 3

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    A New York woman is accused of using fentanyl-laced drugs to incapacitate and then rob four men of cash, phones, sneakers and other belongings, killing three of the men in the process.

    Tabitha Bundrick, 36, was indicted Wednesday on 11 counts of murder, robbery, burglary and assault charges. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg called her alleged actions “extremely calculated” and noted other recent cases in New York where people died after being drugged and robbed, including outside nightclubs.

    “This type of callous behavior will not be tolerated in Manhattan,” he said during a news conference.

    Bundrick, who pleaded not guilty on Wednesday, is accused of targeting men between 2023 and 2024. On April 20, 2023, prosecutors said she approached two men on the street in Washington Heights under the guise of selling them soap. Prosecutors said she then offered to have sex in exchange for money and led them to an empty apartment she broke into, offering them fentanyl-laced drugs she claimed were cocaine.

    One of the men told police he woke up the next morning to find his friend, Mario Paullan, 42, dead beside him and their belongings missing. Prosecutors said the man had no memory of what had occurred.

    Prosecutors said the second death occurred on Sept. 27, 2023, in Washington Heights when Bundrick met Miguel Navez, 39, and went back to his apartment where she allegedly provided him with fentanyl-laced drugs. Navez’s brother found him dead three days later and his personal belongings missing.

    During a third fatal incident, which occurred on Feb. 25, 2024, prosecutors said Bundrick followed Abrihan Fernandez, 34, to his apartment building where she allegedly provided him with fentanyl-laced drugs. Prosecutors said she took several large bags from the apartment.

    Prosecutors said Bundrick used Fernandez’s credit card multiple times, as well as stolen cellphones belonging to the other men.

    An email was sent seeking comment to her city public defender.

    Bundrick pleaded guilty in February to federal drug-related charges stemming from the same deaths and was sentenced on Aug. 6 to serve 156 months in prison.

    Her lawyers said in a sentencing memo that Bundrick “is not a calculated killer, a cold-hearted manipulator, or someone who lacks a conscience,” but rather a victim of childhood sexual abuse who functions intellectually at a third-grade level.

    They said Bundrick, a mother, is also is not a drug dealer and only used the drugs to get through the experience of having to prostitute herself.

    “Ms. Bundrick undoubtedly made a poor decision when she shared her drugs with men who were just ‘looking for a good time.’ But she never intended to kill anyone,” the lawyers said in the memo. “Indeed, she used the same exact drugs alongside each of them.”

    Federal prosecutors said in a separate sentencing memo that even though Bundrick “may not have specifically intended to kill her victims when she drugged them with fentanyl,” she knew the drug could kill them and she gave it to them anyway and continued to give it to more men.

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  • Central Florida doctor unveils kratom research findings, potential dangers

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    Central Florida doctor unveils kratom research findings, potential dangers

    Orlando Health Orlando Regional Medical Center emergency medicine physician and toxicologist, Dr. Josef Thundiyil, joins WESH 2 to discuss the potential dangers of kratom.

    ALERT AND FOCUSING ON A SUBSTANCE CALLED KRATOM. ACCORDING TO THE U.S. FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, THE FDA HERE SAYS THIS SUPPLEMENT IS TYPICALLY MARKETED AS AN ENERGY BOOSTER, MOOD LIFTER, PAIN RELIEVER, AND OPIOID WITHDRAWAL REMEDY. IT’S FOUND AT DISPENSARIES, EVEN RESTAURANTS, SOMETIMES INFUSED WITH DRINKS. AND DESPITE ITS GROWING POPULARITY, THERE ARE MANY QUESTIONS WHEN IT COMES TO THE SUBSTANCE. SO HERE TO GIVE US ANSWERS AND SHARE RESEARCH AND FINDINGS, WE HAVE EMERGENCY MEDICINE PHYSICIAN AND TOXICOLOGIST AT ORLANDO REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER, DOCTOR JOSEPH DUNHILL. GREAT TO SEE YOU, DOCTOR. THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME. OKAY, SO YOU’VE DONE THE WORK HERE. THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE’VE HEARD A GOOD BIT ABOUT LATELY. THE KRATOM PRODUCTS. WHAT ARE YOUR FINDINGS IN TERMS OF LOOKING INTO THIS SUBSTANCE THAT IS REALLY WIDELY POPULAR AND WIDELY AVAILABLE? YEAH. AS A BACKGROUND, THERE’S A FEW CONCERNS THAT HAVE COME UP. NUMBER ONE, IT’S VERY UNREGULATED. THERE’S ABOUT 40 DIFFERENT CHEMICAL ALKALOIDS IN THIS. THE SECOND IS THAT WE KNOW IT’S ADDICTIVE. SOME OF THE REPORTS FROM PEOPLE IS THAT IT’S COMPULSIVELY ADDICTIVE. PEOPLE SPENDING HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS A DAY TO GET SORT OF A FIX WITH IT. THE OTHER THING WE KNOW IS THAT IT INTERACTS WITH EXISTING MEDICATIONS THAT MANY PEOPLE ARE ON. WE DON’T KNOW EXACTLY WHAT THOSE INTERACTIONS ARE. AND THEN THE FINAL THING, EVEN BEFORE I GOT INTO THIS RESEARCH, IS THAT WE KNOW THAT THERE’S NO PROVEN MEDICAL BENEFITS. SO PEOPLE ARE USING THIS WITH THE THOUGHT IT MIGHT BE HELPING, BUT WE DON’T KNOW THAT IT’S HELPING THEM WITH ANYTHING. AND YOU WORKED WITH A LOT OF MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS TO PUT THIS TOGETHER. MORE THAN TWO DOZEN, I BELIEVE. YEAH. WE WORKED ACTUALLY. IT WAS A GROUP OF US PHYSICIANS. WE ESSENTIALLY REACHED OUT TO 25 MEDICAL EXAMINERS IN THE STATE OF FLORIDA. REALLY TO TRY TO ANSWER THE QUESTION IS, ARE PEOPLE DYING FROM KRATOM? AND WE FOUND SOME VERY INTERESTING THINGS. WE ACTUALLY HAD THE MEDICAL EXAMINER SEND US ANY REPORTED DEATHS, AND WE FOUND ALMOST 40 DEATHS IN THE STATE OF FLORIDA OVER A PERIOD OF ABOUT FIVE YEARS. OKAY. AND WAS THIS TIED TO ANYTHING SPECIFIC? THE SUBSTANCE AND OPIOIDS OR ANYTHING ALONG THOSE LINES? NO, THESE ARE DEATHS IN THE ABSENCE OF OPIOIDS. NOW, WE KNOW THAT THE CHEMICAL STRUCTURE RESEMBLES OPIOIDS. AND THAT’S WHAT GAVE US THIS CONCERN THAT IT COULD CAUSE DEATH. AND WE STILL ARE LEFT WITH NOT KNOWING EXACTLY WHY SOME PEOPLE DIE AND SOME PEOPLE DON’T. BUT THE BOTTOM LINE IS IT STILL HAS SOME SIGNIFICANT DANGERS WITH IT. RIGHT. AND, YOU KNOW, AS A PHYSICIAN, YOU KNOW, WHAT IS YOUR ADVICE TO SOMEONE WHO’S, YOU KNOW, THERE’S SOMETHING THAT MAY CAUSE SOMETHING AS SEVERE AS DEATH? WHAT WHAT ARE YOU ADVISING PEOPLE? I WOULD ADVISE TREMENDOUS CAUTION. IT IS UNREGULATED. MOST OF THESE PRODUCTS DON’T HAVE ANY DOSING LISTED ON IT. WE KNOW IT INTERACTS WITH MEDICATIONS. YOU KNOW, MY TYPICAL ADVICE WOULD BE TALK TO YOUR PHYSICIAN ABOUT IT. BUT WHAT I’M FINDING IN THE COMMUNITY IS THIS THERE’S ENOUGH UNKNOWNS ABOUT THE SUBSTANCE THAT EVEN YOUR PHYSICIAN MAY NOT KNOW WHAT ALL THE INTERACTIONS WITH OTHER SUBSTANCES ARE. SO MAKE SURE YOU KNOW WHAT THEY ARE. AND AT THE MOMENT, I PERSONALLY WOULD ADVOCATE FOR SAFETY. BE VERY, VERY CAREFUL WITH THIS BECAUSE WE KNOW THERE IS HARM. WE KNOW THERE’S ADDICTION. ANYTIME THERE’S A POTENTIAL FOR ADDICTION AND ESCALATING USE, WE NOW KNOW THAT IT CAN ALSO CAUSE DEATH. YEAH. WHAT ARE THE MOST VULNERABLE POPULATIONS YOU’RE SEEING WHEN IT COMES TO THE SUBSTANCE? YEAH. FROM A PUBLIC HEALTH STANDPOINT, WE ALWAYS THINK ABOUT VULNERABLE POPULATIONS IN TERMS OF WHO MIGHT BE AT RISK. SO PEOPLE WHO ALREADY SUFFER FROM ADDICTION BECAUSE THEY MAY BE LOOKING FOR ANYTHING TO HELP THEM GET OFF OF SUBSTANCE USE. I ALWAYS AM CONCERNED ABOUT ADOLESCENTS AND YOUNG ADULTS. FOR THIS REASON, PEOPLE WHO ARE ON OTHER MEDICATIONS BECAUSE OF THE POTENTIAL TO INTERACT. AND SO THAT INCLUDES NOT ONLY YOUNG PEOPLE WHO ARE ON MEDICINES, BUT ESPECIALLY PEOPLE WHO ARE OLDER AND THE ELDERLY. THOSE ARE SOME OF THE HIGHEST RISK GROUPS THAT WE GET CONCERNED ABOUT. YEAH, WELL, THIS IS REALLY AMAZING FINDINGS AND GREAT RESEARCH THAT YOU AND ALL THESE OTHER PHYSICIANS AND MEDICAL EXAMINERS HAVE WORKED ON COLLECTIVELY. WE’RE GOING TO POST SOME MORE INFORMATION ON OUR WEBSITE SO YOU CAN FIND OUT AND HELP NAVIGATE YOUR JOURNEY. IF YOU IF YOU HAV

    Central Florida doctor unveils kratom research findings, potential dangers

    Orlando Health Orlando Regional Medical Center emergency medicine physician and toxicologist, Dr. Josef Thundiyil, joins WESH 2 to discuss the potential dangers of kratom.

    Updated: 10:00 AM EDT Sep 15, 2025

    Editorial Standards ⓘ

    Orlando Health Orlando Regional Medical Center emergency medicine physician and toxicologist, Dr. Josef Thundiyil, joins WESH 2 to discuss the potential dangers of kratom.Click here to learn more.

    Orlando Health Orlando Regional Medical Center emergency medicine physician and toxicologist, Dr. Josef Thundiyil, joins WESH 2 to discuss the potential dangers of kratom.

    Click here to learn more.

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  • Their son died of an overdose. Now, this Fairfax Co. family is warning others to prevent similar tragedies – WTOP News

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    Cayden Foster, Sean and Afrodita’s only child, died of a fentanyl overdose in early 2023. Now, the parents are working with schools and police to prevent similar tragedies.

    This story is Part 2 of WTOP’s four-part series, “Fighting Fentanyl” which explores how the drug is impacting students, families and schools in the D.C. area.

    When Sean and Afrodita Foster prepare to speak to Loudoun County Public Schools students about the dangers of fentanyl, the kids anticipate “another boring assembly.”

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    Va. couple who lost their son is raising awareness to make sure nobody has to feel their pain

    But instead, students share.

    “This is exactly what we needed to hear. We had no idea that these pills were as dangerous as they were,” Sean Foster said.

    There’s one student, though, who didn’t get that message in time.

    Cayden Foster, Sean and Afrodita’s only child, died of a fentanyl overdose in early 2023 at 18 years old. Afrodita found him dead in his bed one morning when he should have been getting ready for school.

    Sean said his son’s death had left him and his wife without purpose, but now, their mission is to make sure other parents don’t have to feel their pain.

    “We don’t want this to happen to anybody else,” Afrodita said. “I want to believe that if there would have been more awareness at the time, around the time when this happened with Cayden, our son, that it might have not happened.”

    Sharing their stories to other students

    She and her husband have spoken to thousands of Loudoun County Public School students, as part of programming that brings community members into schools. They also communicate with college students and stay in touch with the Fairfax County Police Department’s overdose task force.

    Sometimes, after a presentation, school officials follow up with small group classroom discussions to debrief. The feedback from students has been positive, and many kids have opened up about their experiences with drugs.

    One student had heard about fake blue Percocet pills, which were found in Cayden’s wallet at the time of his death, but shared that’s the reason they take Xanax. It gave Sean the opportunity to explain that if pills aren’t from a prescription bottle, they’re likely fake.

    In other cases, the assembly has led students to approach school counselors with concerns about their friends.

    “We stress that, in Cayden’s case, if one person would have said something to us that he was hanging out with these people, or that night, it was preventable,” Afrodita said. “But nobody said anything.”

    ‘You’ve got an obligation to say something’

    Cayden Foster’s parents, Sean and Afrodita, stand in front of posters and flowers given to them by Cayden’s peers following his death. (WTOP/Scott Gelman)

    The Fosters remain in touch with Cayden’s friends, who are now in college. When they come back to their hometowns for breaks, the Fosters continue to warn them about fentanyl. Some of the students describe seeing cocaine use on college campuses across the country.

    “We keep on stressing that you don’t know where that deadly amount of fentanyl is,” Afrodita said. “You can be first, you can be last. It can be your first time, your third time, but it can get you. Just don’t trust anybody with your life.”

    They also rely on Fairfax County police’s overdose task force to learn about the latest trends. Officials told them that, along with pills, powder is getting mixed into substances, such as cocaine and marijuana. They’ve testified before state lawmakers too.

    After learning new information about Cayden’s death about a year ago, the couple has tweaked their messaging. They found out Cayden was on FaceTime with someone when he started going into respiratory distress, and that person looped in another friend.

    “They essentially watched him die and didn’t do anything. Even more so in our messaging is, you’ve got an obligation to say something to your friend, who thinks you’re their friend,” Sean said.

    Cayden’s parking spot at Centreville High School has been retired, so nobody else can park there. Last year, students painted on it. The Fosters placed a binder there with Cayden’s story inside, as one last reminder.

    “We just try to speak to as many students and adults — so that they can speak to their children — as we can,” Afrodita said. “That’s the only thing we can do.”

    In Part 3 of WTOP’s “Fighting Fentanyl” series, schools and community groups warn about emerging substances. 

    Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.

    © 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

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    Scott Gelman

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  • Opioid overdoses are declining across the DC region. What’s behind the trend? – WTOP News

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    Overdoses among young people appear to be falling across the D.C. region since schools tackled the issue with education and Narcan training, according to a WTOP analysis of local data.

    This story is Part 1 of WTOP’s four-part series, “Fighting Fentanyl” which explores how the drug is impacting students, families and schools in the D.C. area.

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    Opioid overdoses are declining across DC region. What’s behind the trend?

    It’s been over two years since a large group gathered outside Wakefield High School holding colorful signs.

    They had messages in both English and Spanish, hoping to show support to students at the Arlington, Virginia, school. Some hoped for increased security and new rules. The event came days after Sergio Flores, a student at the school, was suspected to have overdosed in a school bathroom in early 2023. He later died.

    The incident prompted Arlington Public Schools leaders to change their approach in response to a troubling rise in youth overdoses. They allowed students to carry Narcan, the opioid overdose reversal medication, and emphasized to students just how dangerous substance use can be.

    It’s been a few years since school districts across the D.C. region started hosting community meetings, having teachers and other staff trained in how to administer Narcan, and educating students about the dangers of opioids and other drugs at a younger age. Now, overdoses among young people appear to be falling, according to a WTOP analysis of local data.

    “The global altitude of this crisis has really affected so many people that students in our classrooms are going to know somebody who’s been affected by the opioid crisis,” said Jenny Sexton, a substance abuse counselor in Arlington Public Schools. “So helping them understand the data and how that connects them to the reality of this happening right in their hometown.”

    That approach has produced positive results. There were 11 juvenile overdoses, two of which were fatal, in Arlington in 2023, according to police data. There were two overdoses overall, both nonfatal, last year. As of this summer, there haven’t been any in 2025.

    Staff members in Arlington are trained on administering naloxone, the opioid overdose reversal medication, and students hear about substances as young as third grade. The division hosts community presentations and distributed Narcan to parents in drop-off lines twice last year at high schools.

    The biggest challenge, Sexton said, was getting people not to fear Narcan.

    “The initial concern was causing harm to someone,” Sexton said. “‘What if I hurt somebody by giving it to them?’ Or what if it doesn’t work? Am I liable for that?’”

    Nearby Fairfax County is reporting similarly positive trends. There weren’t any fatal overdoses among kids 17 and younger last year, down from five in 2023. There weren’t any overdoses that occurred during school hours or school-sanctioned activities last year either, compared to six during what the district considered its peak year.

    However, it remains a challenge. In a message to families last week, superintendent Michelle Reid said a student in the West Springfield community died of an overdose outside of school.

    “It’s still a problem, in the sense that there are still youth who use fentanyl, and fentanyl continues to be the primary opioid responsible for fatal and nonfatal overdoses in Fairfax County,” said Michael Axler, Fairfax County Public Schools’ director of intervention and prevention services. “However, holistically, we’re definitely seeing that fewer youth are being impacted by fentanyl, certainly in the calendar year 2024 compared to 2023.”

    Virginia’s largest school district keeps naloxone in every school, AED cabinet and clinic, and Axler said there are expanded treatment options for young people. All staff, including athletic coaches and trainers and security personnel, are trained to administer naloxone, and school leaders helped parents learn how to talk to their kids about the sensitive issue.

    “We always have to remember that we’re dealing with people, and so if we say we’ve reduced it by 30%, there’s still a percentage who are being affected by it,” Axler said.

    Meanwhile, it’s been over two years since a cluster of suspected overdoses involving Loudoun County Public Schools students prompted Gov. Glenn Youngkin to issue an executive order on the subject. The move outlined a time requirement for school systems to notify parents of a suspected overdose.

    In 2023, there were 22 juvenile overdoses in the county, according to sheriff’s department data. In 2024, there were six. So far this year, there have been two, including one fatal overdose.

    In Loudoun, students hear from families who have lost loved ones to an overdose. All staff are trained to administer Naloxone, and students can carry it with a parent’s permission. The district boosted the number of student assistant specialists, who have an expertise in substance use and assessment, and boosted parent engagement.

    “It was coming in here manufactured, and kids weren’t realizing what they were getting,” said Jennifer Evans, Loudoun County schools’ director of student mental health services. “And I do think the pharmaceutical companies have a role in that, and what they were prescribing, or how much they’re prescribing, and families have a role in that, locking up medication so kids can’t get to it. So there’s so many layers to that, but I do think there was a lack of information about fentanyl out there.”

    In D.C., there have been 276 deadly overdoses among all ages in the last 12 months, compared to 479 in the previous 12, according to data from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

    Ginny Atwood, co-founder of the Fairfax-based Chris Atwood Foundation, said naloxone becoming available over the counter and improved access to treatment for opioid-use disorder have likely helped contribute to the declines.

    “A lot of times if somebody revives a friend, they’re not going to the state to report the overdose reversal. So we really, truly don’t have a very good idea of how many people are surviving overdoses behind closed doors,” Atwood said.

    “It’s still a problem,” Atwood said. “It’s still something we should be talking about.”

    In Part 2 of WTOP’s “Fighting Fentanyl” series, a couple from Fairfax County speaks out after losing their son to an overdose.

    Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.

    © 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

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    Scott Gelman

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  • Trump administration agrees to restore health websites and data

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    NEW YORK — Federal officials have agreed to restore health- and science-related webpages and data under to a lawsuit settlement with doctors groups and other organizations who sued.

    The settlement was announced this week by the lead plaintiffs in the case, the Washington State Medical Association.

    Soon after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, federal health officials deleted or removed information on a range of topics including pregnancy risks, opioid-use disorder and the AIDS epidemic. The move was made in reaction to a Trump executive order that told agencies to stop using the term “gender” in federal policies and documents.

    The administration saw it as a move to end the promotion of “gender ideology.” Doctors, scientists and public health advocates saw it as an “egregious example of government overreach,” says Dr. John Bramhall, the organization’s president, said in a statement.

    “This was trusted health information that vanished in a blink of an eye — resources that, among other things, physicians rely on to manage patients’ health conditions and overall care,” Bramhall said.

    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has agreed to restore more than 100 websites and resources to the state they were in, said Graham Short, a spokesperson for the Washington State doctors’ group.

    “We expect the sites will be restored in the coming weeks,” Short said in an email.

    The case was filed in federal court in Seattle. The plaintiffs include, among others, the Vermont Medical Society, the Washington State Nurses Association and the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care.

    The defendants included U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and federal health agencies and officials who work under him.

    Federal officials responded to questions about the settlement with this statement: “HHS remains committed to its mission of removing radical gender and DEI ideology from federal programs, subject to applicable law, to ensure taxpayer dollars deliver meaningful results for the American people.”

    The case is similar to one filed in Washington, D.C., by Doctors for America and others against the government. That lawsuit also sought to force the government to restore health information to the public, and the two cases overlapped somewhat in the websites they targeted, Short said.

    In July, a judge in the Doctors for America case ordered restoration of websites. As of last week, 167 of the websites at issue had been restored and 33 were still under review, according to a court filing.

    ___

    The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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  • Lawmaker hosts naloxone training at Statehouse

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    BOSTON — Rep. Kate Donaghue has a trick for always ensuring naloxone is on hand and ready to deploy if she encounters someone experiencing an opioid overdose: she keeps a dose tucked into the laminated pouch holding her Statehouse ID.

    Donaghue, whose son, Brian, died in 2018 to an overdose, on Tuesday hosted dozens of her colleagues, administration officials, public health workers and others for a training session about how and when to use naloxone.


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    By Chris Lisinski | State House News Service

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  • Cannabis Use in Older Patients Associated With Lower Demand for Prescription Drugs

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    The use of medical cannabis products by qualified patients ages 50 and older is associated with a reduced need for prescription medications and significant health-related quality of life improvements, according to data published in the scientific journal Cannabis.

    Canadian investigators assessed medical cannabis use patterns and its effect on health outcomes in a cohort of 200+ older patients (average age: 67). Study participants primarily suffered from chronic pain-related conditions. Patients’ health data was collected at baseline and again at three months and at six months. Most patients in the study consumed orally administered cannabis products containing significant percentages of CBD.

    Researchers reported, “Most patients experienced clinically significant improvements in pain, sleep, and quality of life and reductions in co-medication,” including pain medications, antidepressants, and sleep aids. No serious adverse events were reported.

    “To the best of our knowledge, the present report describes one of the largest longitudinal study of authorized older medical cannabis patients to date,” the study’s authors concluded. “The results of this multi-site, prospective, longitudinal study of medical cannabis patients ages 50 years and older indicate that cannabis may be a relatively safe and effective treatment for chronic pain, sleep disturbances, and other conditions associated with aging, leading to subsequent reductions in prescription drug use and healthcare costs, as well as significant improvements in quality of life.”

    The findings are consistent with those of several other studies similarly reporting quality of life improvements and reduced prescription drug use among older cannabis consumers.

    Commenting on the latest study, NORML’s Deputy Director Paul Armentano said: “There is a growing body of evidence showing that cannabis can provide health-related quality of life improvements in older adults. Many older adults struggle with pain, anxiety, restless sleep, and other conditions for which cannabis products often mitigate. Many older adults are also well aware of the litany of serious adverse side-effects associated with available prescription drugs, like opioids or sleep aids, and they recognize the role medical cannabis can play as a potentially safer alternative.”

    The full text of the study, “Medical cannabis for patients over age 50: A multi-site, prospective study of patterns of use and health outcomes,” is available from The Research Society on Marijuana. Additional information is available from the NORML Fact Sheet, ‘Marijuana Use by Older Adult Populations.’

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    NORML

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  • Data: Fewer opioids prescribed in Mass., NH

    Data: Fewer opioids prescribed in Mass., NH

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    BOSTON — While the scourge of opioid addiction continues to affect Massachusetts, the number of people getting legal prescriptions for heavily addictive medicines is falling, according to the latest federal data.

    Massachusetts had the second lowest opioid prescription rate in New England in 2022, following Vermont, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. Health care providers in the Bay State wrote 30.8 opioid prescriptions for every 100 residents, the federal agency reported.

    That’s a slight drop from the previous year but a substantial decline from the 66 per 100 prescription rate in 2006, when the CDC began tracking the data, which lags by two years.

    New Hampshire, which has also seen declining numbers of opioid prescriptions in recent years, had the third-lowest rate in New England in 2022, with 32 prescriptions for every 100 residents. Maine had the highest rate in the region, or 35.2 per 100 residents.

    Nationally, the overall prescription rate was 39.5 prescriptions per 100 people in 2022, according to the CDC data.

    Curbing opioid addiction has been a major focus on Beacon Hill for a number of years, with hundreds of millions of dollars being devoted to expanding treatment and prevention efforts.

    For many, opioid addiction has its roots in prescription painkillers such as Oxycontin and Percocet, which led them to street-bought heroin and fentanyl once those prescriptions ran out.

    In 2016, then-Gov. Charlie Baker and lawmakers pushed through a raft of rules to curb over-prescribing of opioids. Those included a cap on new prescriptions written in any seven-day period and a requirement that doctors consult a state prescription monitoring database before prescribing an additive opioid.

    Meanwhile opioid manufacturers have been hammered with hundreds of lawsuits from the states and local governments over their role in fueling a wave of opioid addiction. Attorney General Maura Healey’s office recently agreed to a multi-billion dollar settlement with OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma.

    Supporters of the tougher requirements say they have saved lives by dramatically reducing the number of heavily addictive opioids being prescribed.

    Pain management groups say the regulatory backlash has made some doctors worried about writing prescriptions for opioids, depriving patients of treatment.

    There were 2,125 confirmed or suspected opioid-related deaths in 2023 — which is 10%, or 232, fewer fatal overdoses than the same period in 2022, according to the latest data from the state Department of Public Health.

    Last year’s opioid-related overdose death rate also decreased by 10% to 30.2 per 100,000 people compared with 33.5 in 2022, DPH said.

    Health officials attributed the persistently high death rates to the effects of an “increasingly poisoned drug supply,” primarily with the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl. Fentanyl was present in 90% of the overdose deaths where a toxicology report was available, state officials noted.

    Nationally, there were 107,543 overdose deaths reported in the U.S. in 2023, a 3% decrease from the estimated 111,029 in 2022, according to CDC data.

    On Beacon Hill, state lawmakers are being pressured to take more aggressive steps to expand treatment and prevention options for those struggling with opioid addiction.

    Last month, a coalition of more than 100 public health and community-based organizations wrote to House and Senate leaders urging them to pass substance abuse legislation before the Dec. 31 end of the two-year session.

    “There isn’t a day that goes by without several people in the Commonwealth dying from an overdose or losing loved ones to this disease,” they wrote. “As individuals and institutions working to combat the opioid epidemic, we know the Commonwealth must do more to prevent addiction, help people find pathways to treatment and recovery, and save lives.”

    Christian M. Wade covers the Massachusetts Statehouse for North of Boston Media Group’s newspapers and websites. Email him at cwade@cnhinews.com.

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    By Christian M. Wade | Statehouse Reporter

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  • Data: Fewer opioids prescribed in Massachusetts

    Data: Fewer opioids prescribed in Massachusetts

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    BOSTON — While the scourge of opioid addiction continues to affect Massachusetts, the number of people getting legal prescriptions for heavily addictive medicines is falling, according to the latest federal data.

    Massachusetts had the second lowest opioid prescription rate in New England in 2022, following Vermont, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. Health care providers in the Bay State wrote 30.8 opioid prescriptions for every 100 residents, the federal agency reported.

    That’s a slight drop from the previous year but a substantial decline from the 66 per 100 prescription rate in 2006, when the CDC began tracking the data, which lags by two years.

    New Hampshire, which has also seen declining numbers of opioid prescriptions in recent years, had the third-lowest rate in New England in 2022, with 32 prescriptions for every 100 residents. Maine had the highest rate in the region, or 35.2 per 100 residents.

    Nationally, the overall prescription rate was 39.5 prescriptions per 100 people in 2022, according to the CDC data.

    Curbing opioid addiction has been a major focus on Beacon Hill for a number of years, with hundreds of millions of dollars being devoted to expanding treatment and prevention efforts.

    For many, opioid addiction has its roots in prescription painkillers such as Oxycontin and Percocet, which led them to street-bought heroin and fentanyl once those prescriptions ran out.

    In 2016, then-Gov. Charlie Baker and lawmakers pushed through a raft of rules to curb over-prescribing of opioids. Those included a cap on new prescriptions written in any seven-day period and a requirement that doctors consult a state prescription monitoring database before prescribing an additive opioid.

    Meanwhile opioid manufacturers have been hammered with hundreds of lawsuits from the states and local governments over their role in fueling a wave of opioid addiction. Attorney General Maura Healey’s office recently agreed to a multi-billion dollar settlement with OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma.

    Supporters of the tougher requirements say they have saved lives by dramatically reducing the number of heavily addictive opioids being prescribed.

    Pain management groups say the regulatory backlash has made some doctors worried about writing prescriptions for opioids, depriving patients of treatment.

    There were 2,125 confirmed or suspected opioid-related deaths in 2023 — which is 10%, or 232, fewer fatal overdoses than the same period in 2022, according to the latest data from the state Department of Public Health.

    Last year’s opioid-related overdose death rate also decreased by 10% to 30.2 per 100,000 people compared with 33.5 in 2022, DPH said.

    Health officials attributed the persistently high death rates to the effects of an “increasingly poisoned drug supply,” primarily with the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl. Fentanyl was present in 90% of the overdose deaths where a toxicology report was available, state officials noted.

    Nationally, there were 107,543 overdose deaths reported in the U.S. in 2023, a 3% decrease from the estimated 111,029 in 2022, according to CDC data.

    On Beacon Hill, state lawmakers are being pressured to take more aggressive steps to expand treatment and prevention options for those struggling with opioid addiction.

    Last month, a coalition of more than 100 public health and community-based organizations wrote to House and Senate leaders urging them to pass substance abuse legislation before the Dec. 31 end of the two-year session.

    ”There isn’t a day that goes by without several people in the Commonwealth dying from an overdose or losing loved ones to this disease,” they wrote. “As individuals and institutions working to combat the opioid epidemic, we know the Commonwealth must do more to prevent addiction, help people find pathways to treatment and recovery, and save lives.”

    Christian M. Wade covers the Massachusetts Statehouse for North of Boston Media Group’s newspapers and websites. Email him at cwade@cnhinews.com.

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    By Christian M. Wade | Statehouse Reporter

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