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Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan on Wednesday escalated his administration’s response to the opioid-addiction crisis, declaring a state of emergency and committing an additional $50 million over the next five years to beef up enforcement, prevention and treatment services. Hogan (R) signed an executive order calling for the state of emergency, an instrument many jurisdictions use to coordinate anti-opioid and heroin strategies. The action fulfills a campaign promise he made in 2014 but temporarily shelved after taking office in favor of other legislative and executive initiatives. (Turque, 3/1)

Amid mounting overdose deaths, Gov. Larry Hogan pledged Wednesday to spend an extra $10 million a year to battle Maryland's problem with heroin and prescription pill abuse. The Republican governor also declared a state of emergency because of the epidemic, which officials believe led to some 2,000 overdose deaths last year...Hogan said the emergency declaration would allow authorities across the state to "cut through the red tape" while the extra money would give teams more flexibility to address what he called "the rapid escalation of the heroin and opioid crisis in our state." (Ian Duncan, 3/1)

Newly focused on an issue that is ravaging its members, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters on Thursday plans to challenge one of the world’s biggest pharmaceutical wholesalers, demanding that AmerisourceBergen Corp. investigate its own sales practices and potential supply chain diversions, and factor compliance into its executives’ pay. The Chesterbrook-based company, ranked 12th by revenue on the Fortune 500, is holding its annual shareholder meeting in Philadelphia, and the union pension and benefits funds own an undisclosed share. But any shareholder can attend the closed meeting. Representatives said they will question the board and hold an afternoon rally outside. (Sapatkin, 3/1)

A former Midlothian physician was convicted Wednesday of writing 52 prescriptions over 1½ years for highly addictive opioid drugs in a fraud scheme that involved six accomplices and netted the doctor a cut of the narcotics. Dr. Kyle Douglas Compton, 40, whose license to practice has been suspended, issued unlawful prescriptions from his former home-based practice in Midlothian to people not under his care between Dec. 1, 2013, and May 31, 2015. All of the prescriptions were for hydrocodone or oxycodone, two highly addictive opioid drugs used for pain relief. (Bowes, 3/1)