(Luzerne) At least 10 Luzerne County residents have died this year from heroin mixed with a powerful new synthetic substance called furanyl fentanyl, county Coroner William Lisman said...(Times Leader)

(Cambria) Heroin has become the drug of choice. It's more accessible, stronger, and cheaper than ever. Drug users cross all boundaries: race, religion, and socioeconomic lines. Families and governments are dealing with the results...(WJAC)

(Franklin)...Gallagher was one of a dozen people at the Operation Save a Life training session sponsored by the Healthy Communities Partnership Tuesday night, where attendees learned how to recognize, prevent, and react to an opioid or painkiller overdose...(Public Opinion)

(Washington)...Forty-six first responders were honored in the Main Street Pavilion in Washington. Secretary Gary Tennis of the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs presided over the ceremony to recognize those who revived 61 overdose victims with the opiate antidote Narcan...(Post-Gazette)

(Northeast)...A Newswatch 16 investigation of counties in our area places the average age of a heroin overdose death at 37 over the past two years. In Lackawanna County, eight times as many people over 50 died of heroin overdoses than teenagers. In Lackawanna, Luzerne, and Schuylkill counties, as many people 60 and over died of heroin overdoses as teenagers...(WNEP)

(Statewide) In recent weeks, high-profile celebrity deaths have brought national attention to the abuse of prescription opioid painkillers such as Percocet. But overuse of these drugs has been a problem for decades, and Penn State's College of Nursing has pledged to address it...(Penn State)

(Philadelphia) Anita Gupta first suspected that the Philadelphia heroin trade could be taking a deadlier turn months ago, when she saw overdose patients at Hahnemann University Hospital who didn't respond as they should have to the antidote drug emergency workers gave them...(Philly)

(Statewide)...Under Pennsylvania law, children can reject their parents' efforts to get them into drug treatment, Turner said.  The law does allow parents and legal guardians to seek outpatient mental health treatment for kids under 14, but with drug treatment "kids retain their right to say no" at any age, Turner added...(Lehigh Valley Live)

(Statewide) The reports and studies about the deadly epidemic with heroin and opioid drug abuse across Pennsylvania have been coming in for several years, but the issue is just now reaching critical mass in terms of getting attention from policymakers...(Citizens Voice)

(National) A U.S. senator on Friday called for federal investigations of OxyContin's manufacturer in response to a Los Angeles Times report that found the bestselling painkiller wears off early in many patients, exposing them to increased risk of addiction...(LA Times)

(National) Eli Lilly and Co on Tuesday said it and partner Pfizer Inc aim to seek approval by 2018 for a new type of pain drug that could be an alternative to opioids for osteoarthritis, chronic back pain and cancer pain...(Fox News)

(Louisiana)...Last year, New Orleans Emergency Medical Services responded to around 800 drug overdose calls, according to records provided by Mayor Mitch Landrieu's administration...(NOLA)

(New York) More police detectives will be sent to Staten Island to investigate drug overdoses following a shocking surge in fatal and near-fatal cases recently...(SI Live)

(National) Congressional leaders from both sides of the aisle are entrusting a small number of their colleagues to compromise on crafting legislation that will address the opioid abuse crisis crippling cities and towns across the nation...(Reading Eagle)

(National)...Pharmacists are equipped to play an important role in reducing opioid misuse and abuse, but are often an underused resource. Pharmacists have unique clinical knowledge, as well as an obligation to ensure that all efforts are made to prevent substance abuse in their communities by providing education, using prescription drug monitor programs, and providing patients and families with lifesaving resources...(Pharmacy Times)

(Connecticut) Heroin and other opioid overdose deaths are projected to rise again in Connecticut this year after first quarter data results were compiled by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner...(Patch)

(Texas) A Houston doctor this week wrote a statewide prescription for a drug that almost immediately reverses the effects of an opioid overdose after state officials failed to implement a law passed by the Texas Legislature last year to make the drug widely available...(Houston Chronicle)