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This is the human toll of the illegally made painkiller fentanyl, a synthetic narcotic that presents a new level of peril in the opioid crisis ravaging the U.S. Up to 50 times as powerful as heroin, and cheaper to produce, fentanyl is the end result of a drug trade that has proven wildly innovative and difficult to stop. ... Fentanyl-related fatalities are soaring in many parts of New England, the Midwest and the South. ... For Joel and Kathy Murphy, the downward spiral included disruption at work, marital strains and a trip through bankruptcy court—not to mention a family video that shows their son overdosing. Before it was over, Mr. Murphy was sleeping with a gun nearby. (Kamp and Campo-Flores, 5/14)

A news organization that set up a database to track prescribing habits of doctors found out some people were using it to shop around for doctors more likely to give them addictive painkillers. (Fox, 5/13)

The first time Dr. Peter Grinspoon experimented with Vicodin was with a fellow medical student at Harvard. “It said, 'Careful: Causes extreme euphoria,' ” Grinspoon said. “And once we read that we were sort of destined to try it.” Then, as a primary-care physician based in Boston, Grinspoon tried to replicate the euphoria the drug indeed delivered, at first, during nine years of regular drug use. He ultimately resorted to writing prescriptions under a false name to feed his habit. It all came to a head in February 2005 when law enforcement agents came to his office and arrested him for fraudulently obtaining a controlled substance. (Johnson, 5/14)

The Minnesota Department of Health released numbers Friday showing another increase in overdose deaths last year. The department said 572 people died in 2015 of all drug overdoses, up from 516 the year before. (Collins, 5/13)

Grammy Award-winning rapper and Seattle native Macklemore joined President Barack Obama in the president’s weekly address to discuss drug addiction and call for politicians to fund recovery programs. (Cornwell, 5/13)