Drugs
The commonwealth’s fatal overdose rate rose 3.5% from 2020 and emphasizes the growing problem of drug and opioid abuse in the state and the lack of an effective solution.
All 67 counties will share in the $1.07 billion the state will receive from pharma distributors Cardinal Health, McKesson, and AmerisourceBergen, along with manufacturer Johnson & Johnson.
All 67 counties have signed on to receive a portion of the $1.07 billion Pennsylvania is slated to receive from the opioid settlement agreement.
Sarah Laurel was a thriving professional who hit rock bottom due to addiction. Having turned her life around, she’s now working on behalf of those in recovery and on the streets with Savage Sisters.
Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf first issued a disaster declaration in January 2018 after Pennsylvania set a record for opioid deaths, then renewed it more than a dozen times as the state battled an epidemic that has worsened during the coronavirus pandemic.
State officials anticipate 2020 opioid overdose death totals will exceed those of each of the past three years, including 2017, a year many consider the height of the opioid crisis.
Dr. Rick Bright alleges he was reassigned to a lesser role because he resisted political pressure to allow widespread use of hydroxychloroquine, a malaria drug favored by President Trump.