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John Moore tried several prescriptions to treat his recurring, excruciating headaches. But each came with its own drawbacks. The side effects of one prescription put him on the verge of tears; another made him feel like he "wanted to shoot myself; another made me want to shoot everybody else," Moore said. When he finally found one with side effects that he could manage, there was another problem — the doctor prescribed nine pills, but he was having about 20 headaches a month. (Fletcher, 4/8)

In 1995, the Food and Drug Administration approved OxyContin for prescription use. Its active ingredient, oxycodone, has been deemed highly addictive since the 1960s. The drug hit the market at a time of increasing recognition by the U.S. medical community that many patients in pain were being inadequately treated. In 1996, the American Pain Society argued for medical providers to view pain as a "fifth vital sign." The organization urged medical providers to routinely assess and respond to pain levels in their patients in the same way they monitored blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate and temperature. (Wadhwani and Whiteny, 4/8)

In this once prosperous West Virginia coal town of 1,900 people, residents say it's not just the decades-long demise of mining that hurt the community — it's the scourge of drug use that came with it. Here, almost everyone knows someone who became addicted. And the Appalachian town is fighting back by suing some of the biggest U.S. drug distributors, hoping to make them pay for the damage done by addiction. Lawyers say growing pushback by communities, many in West Virginia, could ultimately rival the scope of litigation against tobacco companies over smoking. (Virtanen, 4/7)

In less than eight hours last June, Yale New Haven’s emergency department treated 12 patients who had overdosed on opioids. Three died; nine were saved.With opioids in wide circulation, Dr. Gail D’Onofrio, chief of emergency medicine at the hospital and chair of emergency medicine at Yale School of Medicine, isn’t sure that one-day spike will stand as a record. (Chedekel, 4/9)

A gap in addiction treatment in Southwest Ohio will shrink soon with the opening of expanded services at the Cincinnati Center for Addiction Treatment. The center helps people with substance use disorders of all kinds and includes medication assisted treatment with psycho-social help, which scientists say is the best careavailable  for those with opioid and heroin addiction. (DeMio, 4/7)

The surge in government-funded coverage has come at a time when Ohio and many other states are reeling from an opioid epidemic that has lead to a rash of overdose deaths, largely from heroin and newer synthetics such as fentanyl. The problem has become so pervasive that a public-private partnership in Cuyahoga County has mounted a major public service campaign called "Know the Risks" to warn about the dangers of taking prescription opioids and to detail what is being done to curb their use. (Krouse, 4/7)

Longtime advocates for measures that address an opioid crisis plaguing both the nation and the Show-Me state are cautiously optimistic that they’ll become law this year. A fervent opponent to a prescription drug-monitoring database, Sen. Rob Schaaf announced last week that he would no longer resist a proposal that would establish one in Missouri. Schaaf, R-St. Joseph, has stifled similar bills for the past five years, citing privacy concerns. (Bott and Huguele, 4/10)

Officials in New York arrested 12 people on Friday in what was described as a conspiracy involving three Brooklyn medical clinics that helped flood the streets with prescription painkillers while defrauding Medicare and Medicaid out of millions of dollars. (Rosenberg and Schweber, 4/7)

A New Jersey doctor has pleaded not guilty to charges that he sold prescriptions for highly addictive opioid painkillers to people who had no medical need for them, including one man who died from an overdose. An attorney representing Dr. Byung Kang, of Little Falls, entered the plea during a court hearing Friday. (4/7)