Seattle first responder reunites with man he saved from heroin overdose
"I told myself I was going to die a heroin addict," Zachary Oehrke's fate changed forever at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on November 2.
Recovering homeless addicts in Everett giving 'The Hand Up' to others still on the street
This week Snohomish County announced a new approach: treat the opioid crisis there like a natural disaster.
Seattle budget includes money for safe-injection sites
SEATTLE -- The Seattle City Council has passed a 2018 budget that includes $1.3 million to create what could be the nation's first authorized safe-injection site for drug users.Our news partner The Seattle Times reports that the $5.6 billion budget approved Monday also increases city spending on programs that address homelessness to $63 million, a nearly 40 percent jump over four years ago.King County is considering two supervised sites where people can use heroin and other drugs under the care of trained staff that can treat an overdose if necessary.
Snohomish County announces plan to combat opioid crisis
SNOHOMISH COUNTY, Wash. -- As the opioid problem continues to grow across the nation, Snohomish County leaders are working to try and confront the issue.On Monday, public health, law enforcement and emergency officials announced they plan to partially activate the Emergency Coordination Center to support the efforts in dealing with the growing problem.Snohomish County leaders have been collaborating with partners and stakeholders over the last few months to develop a coordinated strategy necessary to address the opioid crisis.Officials said they plan to collect data about what various agencies are seeing so they can get a better idea of what works and what doesn’t work.Snohomish County Executive David Somers said the problem is something he’s dealt with first hand.“My brother struggled throughout his life.
FDA warns that popular botanical substance could have same effects as opioids
OLYMPIA , Wash. -- A consumer alert says a dietary supplement growing in popularity is now linked to deaths.U.S. Marshals, at the request of the FDA, have begun seizing a plant-based substance called kratom.Right now the product is not regulated, and the FDA says kratom could have the same effects as opioids.
Elderly woman likely died after cleaning up son’s drug overdose
A 69-year-old Pennsylvania woman likely died as a result of making contact with drug paraphernalia while cleaning up after her own son's overdose
Troopers seize 4.8 pounds of fentanyl during Missouri traffic stop
State troopers in Missouri seized 4.8 pounds of pure fentanyl during a traffic stop earlier this month on Interstate 55 in New Madrid County.
Drugstore pain pills as effective as opioids in ER patients
CHICAGO -- Emergency rooms are where many patients are first introduced to powerful opioid painkillers, but what if doctors offered over-the-counter pills instead?
Opioid epidemic brings new safety concerns this Halloween
As parents get ready to take their kids trick-or-treating for Halloween, new dangers around the opioid epidemic in Western Washington like needles on the streets and stickers laced with drugs serve as a reminder to parents to check what kids collect in their Halloween candy bags.
Seattle program collects 32,000 hypodermic needles
A collection program in Seattle brought in more than 32,000 hypodermic needles in its first 15 months.
Ex-addicts assisting homeless cleanup: 'The only way I can stay sober is helping somebody else'
A local non-profit is taking measures into its own hands to fight homelessness while trying to curb Washington’s substance abuse and opioid epidemic.
Sen. Murray tackles opioid crisis, says it isn’t ‘somebody else’s problem. It’s all of ours’
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The federal government is working to fight the opioid crisis.
Seattle's safe injection sites debate
King County leaders are hoping to open at least two "safe injection sites" for heroin addicts. One would be located in Seattle and one in a suburban location.
Washington state files suit against giant Purdue Pharma over opioid epidemic
SEATTLE -- Doctors saved a 12-year-old boy from leukemia but his mother says the treatment also made him an addict.“I know he is suffering,” Rose Dennis said.Dennis says doctors prescribed her son opioids, specifically OxyContin, to manage the pain.
Washington state and Seattle sue the nation’s largest opioid manufacturers
Washington state's attorney general and the city attorney for Seattle filed separate lawsuits against the makers of opioids seeking to recoup costs incurred by the government when the drugs are abused.
Everett can proceed with lawsuit against opioid maker, judge finds
SEATTLE (AP) — Everett can proceed with its lawsuit seeking to hold the maker of the pain medication OxyContin liable for damages to the community, a federal judge ruled in Seattle.Everett sued Purdue Pharma in January, alleging the company knowingly allowed pills to be funneled into the black market and into the city and did nothing to stop it.The city argues the drugmaker should be responsible for social and economic costs.
OxyContin maker asks court to dismiss Everett lawsuit
EVERETT, Wash. - The manufacturer of the pain medication OxyContin is asking a federal judge to dismiss the City of Everett's lawsuit seeking to hold it accountable for damages from the illegal trafficking of its painkiller.Everett, a city of about 108,000 north of Seattle, sued Purdue Pharma in January, alleging the drugmaker knowingly allowed pills to be funneled into the black market and into the city and did nothing to stop it.A lawyer for Purdue Pharma, Patrick Fitzgerald, told U.S. District Court Judge Ricardo S.
Tacoma sues top drug manufacturers, alleging lies about opioids
TACOMA, Wash. – Tacoma on Wednesday became at least the second Western Washington city to file a lawsuit against prescription drug manufacturers in an effort to stem the opioid abuse crisis.The city said the lawsuit, which was filed against Purdue, Endo and Janssen, is intended to hold them accountable for “false and misleading information” to both doctors and patients about the safety of prescription opioids over the last 20 years."We will vigorously pursue these claims and are exploring all of our available options at this time as we work to protect our community members from the harm caused by the companies that put their profits ahead of our community’s safety,” city manager Elizabeth Pauli wrote in a press release.Everett filed a similar lawsuit against Purdue in March.A press release from Tacoma said an estimated 50 percent of Tacoma’s homeless population is addicted to opioids.
Groups seek ban on high-dose opioids citing overdose danger
CHICAGO -- Safety advocates and state health officials are formally calling on the Food and Drug Administration to ban high-dose opioid painkillers to prevent accidental overdose deaths among patients and people who abuse drugs.A petition filed Thursday asks the FDA to ban opioid pills that, when taken as directed, would add up to a daily dose of more than 90 milligrams of morphine.
3 Arlington officers hospitalized after violent reaction to secondhand heroin smoke
Three Arlington police officers were taken to the hospital after suffering a violent reaction to secondhand heroin smoke.