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U.S. regulators have approved the first generic version of an under-the-tongue film for treating opioid addiction. The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved a generic version of Suboxone, a film strip that dissolves under the tongue. Used daily, it reduces withdrawal symptoms, cravings for opioids and the high from abusing them. (Johnson, 6/14)

Kentucky’s attorney general sued Walgreens Thursday, alleging that the company contributed to the state’s opioid epidemic. Attorney General Andy Beshear, a Democrat, sued Walgreens for its role as both a distributor and a pharmacy. The lawsuit alleges that the company failed to report suspicious shipments of opioids to authorities and that it dispensed large quantities of the painkiller. (Roubein, 6/14)

The lawsuit also asserts the company willfully ignored its own safeguard systems that are designed to protect consumers and monitor their drug consumption. The lawsuit, filed in Boone County, claims parent company Walgreens Boots Alliance fulfilled orders "for such large quantities of prescription narcotic pain medication that there could be no associated legitimate medical purpose for their use." (Romo and Saldivia, 6/14)

Everybody wants their name on a bill addressing the opioid crisis — especially Republicans facing tough reelection battles. That’s why House leadership will bring more than 70 such bills to the floor by the end of the month, many sponsored by the most vulnerable members of the GOP conference. (Ehley and Haberkorn, 6/14)

The House debate on opioids legislation turned contentious Thursday with the consideration of legislation to set aside housing vouchers for people with substance abuse disorder. The voucher bill (HR 5735) was ultimately approved, 230-173. The bill would allocate 10,000 housing vouchers to people recovering from a substance use disorder, but it would not increase the overall supply of vouchers or increase appropriations. (Raman, 6/14)

Kaiser Health News: In New Hampshire, Even Mothers In Treatment For Opioids Struggle To Keep Children

Jillian Broomstein starts to cry when she talks about the day her newborn son Jeremy was taken from her by New Hampshire’s child welfare agency. He was 2 weeks old. “They came into the house and said they would have to place him in foster care and I would get a call and we would set up visits,” she said. “It was scary.” Broomstein, who was 26 at the time, had not used heroin for months and was on methadone treatment, trying to do what was safest for her child. (Gotbaum, 6/15)

Hospitalizations for pain medication overdoses decreased by 2.2 percent from 2016 to 2017, while those for heroin overdoses increased by 12.7 percent. Those trends are in keeping with other research findings that use of prescription medicines — often blamed for fueling the opioid crisis — is being curtailed after years of legal and medical efforts, as well as heightened public awareness of the drugs’ addiction potential. (Whelan, 6/13)

New Hampshire will soon see a more than seven-fold increase in federal funds aimed at combatting the opioid crisis, up from about $3 million to $23 million for the fiscal year ending September 30. The money comes from $3 billion in additional funds for the crisis included in the federal budget deal negotiated in March. (Greene, 6/15)