The Illinois Attorney General’s Office is seeking to add Irish pharmaceutical company Mallinckrodt to its lawsuit against opioid manufacturers and distributors for their role in the nation’s opioid epidemic.

In a report released Tuesday, the Justice Department’s inspector general faulted the Drug Enforcement Administration for cutting back use of a key enforcement tool and continuing to raise production quotas even as the number of deaths rose.

Illinois residents open up about their experiences with addiction and recovery in a new statewide video campaign that seeks to connect people who use drugs with services. 

The nation’s Republican state attorneys general have, for the most part, lined up in support of a tentative multibillion-dollar settlement with OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, while their Democratic counterparts have mostly come out against it, decrying it as woefully inadequate.

OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma and its owners expressed sympathy but not responsibility for the nation’s opioid crisis as the company filed for bankruptcy protection late Sunday night.

Opioid manufacturers carried out unfair and deceptive marketing campaigns while distributors flooded Illinois with opioids, according to a lawsuit filed this week by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul.

OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma reached a tentative deal Wednesday with about half the states and thousands of local governments over its role in the nation’s deadly opioid epidemic.

A federal judge overseeing litigation related to the nation’s opioid epidemic ruled Tuesday that lawsuits targeting Purdue Pharma and other drug companies can move to trial even as the OxyContin maker tries to reach a settlement.

A newly launched website seeks to convey the seriousness of the opioid epidemic locally while providing resources and honoring those who have died, says Dr. Kiran Joshi of the Cook County Department of Public Health.

The multibillion-dollar settlement that the maker of OxyContin is negotiating to resolve a crush of lawsuits over the nation’s opioid crisis contains formulas for dividing up the money among state and local governments across the country, The Associated Press has learned.

State attorneys general and lawyers representing local governments said Tuesday they are in active settlement talks with Purdue Pharma, the maker of the prescription painkiller OxyContin that is facing billions of dollars in potential liability for its role in the nation’s opioid crisis.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said the goal is to make it easier to share a patient’s drug treatment history with doctors treating that person for other problems. 

For years, OxyContin maker Purdue engaged in deceptive marketing practices, according to a lawsuit filed in April by Attorney General Kwame Raoul. Now, Raoul’s office is seeking to add members of the company’s founding family as defendants.

A new law signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker legalizes syringe exchange programs in Illinois, opening the door to an increase in operations aiming to serve a community at risk of overdoses and infection from unsafe supplies.

More than 70,000 people died from drug overdoses in the U.S. in 2017, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Now, a task force is recommending clinicians ask adult patients about illicit drug use.

A yearslong investigation by the Washington Post offers a state-by-state snapshot of the opioid crisis. What the data says about Illinois – and what the state is doing to fight back.