"An addict is an addict first." Those were the words of State Representative Tommy Sankey, R-74 of Clearfield, to describe how drug users, particularly heroin, put using drugs before anything else in his or her life. Last evening, Sankey and State Representative Scott Conklin, D-77 of Philipsburg, hosted a public hearing on the heroin crisis facing the area at the Gethsemane United Methodist Church in Allport that included numerous speakers...(Progress News)

On Thursday night, county officials, law enforcement representatives, drug addiction specialists and scores of Upper Bucks residents gathered for a town hall meeting at Morning Star Fellowship church in Quakertown to discuss the heroin epidemic...(The Intelligencer)

But this coming year, families of victims hope that could change. Following the lead of 12 other states, lawmakers passed a bill this legislative session to give families and first responders access to naloxone, a drug, administered either by injection or nasal spray, that revives a person in the throes of an opioid overdose...(PennLive)

Holding flickering LED candles, family members and friends walked to the front of the gymnasium at the Upper Chichester township field house Thursday night to remember their loved ones who died as a result of drug addiction and overdose...(Delaware County News Network)

Over the past few months the Pennsylvania legislature has taken some important steps forward in addressing the burgeoning epidemic of opioid overdoses in this state. But before we start applauding-lets take a moment to review where we are, and what legislation will and will not do, and what could be done to properly address this critical threat to our national health and safety...(Philadelphia Inquirer)

Two young people on Friday dumped an unconscious man suffering from a heroin overdose along a Manheim Township road and left him, police said...(Lancaster Online)

A statewide prescription drug database signed by Gov. Tom Corbett today could be available to medical professionals and law enforcement by next summer. While 48 other states have similar databases to track addictive or dangerous drugs, Pennsylvania had previously only tracked certain drugs through the Attorney General's office. Now, a board will oversee the program and encourage prescribers to use it routinely to prevent "doctor shopping" and abuse...(PennLive)

Gov. Corbett signed a bill into law Monday that will create a prescription-drug-monitoring program that officials hope will help curb opioid abuse across the state. The program will create an electronic database within the state's Department of Health that will maintain a record of drugs prescribed to Pennsylvania patients...(Philly)

The first drop in overdose deaths from prescription medications in more than a decade nationally has yet to manifest in Western Pennsylvania, where a prolonged epidemic of heroin-related fatalities plagues morgues...(TribLive)

Civil rights advocates, doctors and some state lawmakers are at odds over a prescription drug monitoring program that passed the senate by a 46-2 vote earlier this month. Gov. Tom Corbett is expected to sign the bill early this week, his press office said Thursday...(York Daily Record)

Ten years ago, prescription painkiller dependence swept rural America. As the government cracked down on doctors and drug companies, people went searching for a cheaper, more accessible high. Now, many areas are struggling with an unprecedented heroin crisis...(The Atlantic)

(Connecticut) State Police said a trooper revived an apparent drug overdose victim in Griswold with an emergency antidote that all troopers learned how to use last month...(Boston Globe)

(Illinois) Some Lake County police officers may get to use a new device as part of the fight against heroin overdoses. Police in at least 28 Lake County departments have been trained to use the heroin overdose reversal drug naloxone, officials said...(JEMS)

Dartmouth medical school student is trying to bring affordable addiction treatment to clients in hard-to-reach rural areas, where a dearth of specialists and medication-assisted therapy centers can lead to long waitlists for addicts trying to get clean...(Newsworks)

(Georgia) A Canton police officer recently administered a dose of the anti-overdose drug Narcan-a first for the Canton force...Moments later, the man regained consciousness as Cherokee Fire Department rescue workers arrived...(Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Eventually, his music would, in fact, make it onto a CD, be played around the world and earn thousands of dollars in royalties. But Veatch wouldn't know any of that. On a September morning in 2008, just a few days into his senior year at Yorktown High, Veatch was found unresponsive in his bed, the victim of a heroin overdose...(LOHUD)

(Kentucky) The Kentucky Attorney General's Office and two other organizations are offering two $1,500 college scholarships to graduating high school students whose lives have been impacted by prescription drug abuse...(WBKO)

(New Jersey) Clark police were able to revive a drug overdose victim using nasal Narcan (naloxone) spray on Saturday, according to a department release...(Advance Media)

It was just another school day when Gee Vigna went to wake up her daughter Nicky, who was in high school, but Vigna knew something was wrong the moment she saw her daughter lying in bed...(ABC News)

Prescription opioid overdoses are now one of the leading causes of death in the United States, and those who abuse these drugs are more than a number in a statistic. They are your neighbor, your bus driver, your daughter. A recent national study of hospital emergency department visits from 2010 has given a human face to America's biggest drug problem...(Medical Daily)

Roughly two-thirds of emergency department admissions for overdoses involve prescription opioid medications, according to a research letter published online today by JAMA Internal Medicine...(Pharmacy Times)

(Wisconsin) The future of a very successful program could get expensive, now that the federal government has stopped funding it. It's the Drug Takeback Program, which collects unwanted or expired prescriptions so they can be safely disposed of...(WSAU)

Prescription drug overdoses, a dangerous side effect of the nation's embrace of narcotic painkillers, are a "substantial" burden on hospitals and the economy, according to a new study of emergency room visits...(Los Angeles Times)

(Michigan) On a single day in December last year a nurse and doctor both overdosed on stolen pain medication in different areas of the sprawling University of Michigan Health System..(MichiganLive)

(Norway) Every year, drug overdoses are responsible for roughly 1000 ambulance calls in Oslo," says Arne Skulberg, an anesthesiologist, a PhD candidate at NTNU and the 2014 winner of Norway's Researcher Grand Prix competition...(Science Daily)