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In the end, the executive team at Endo International blinked. The drug maker has voluntarily agreed to withdraw its Opana ER opioid painkiller in response to an unusual request last month from the Food and Drug Administration over concerns the pill is too easily abused. (Silverman, 7/6)

The company said in a statement posted on its website it still believes in the efficacy and safety of Opana ER, or oxymorphone hydrochloride. The FDA said the request was the first time it had asked that an opioid pain medication be pulled because of "the public health consequences of abuse." (Almasy, 7/6)

North Carolina leaders unveiled a multi-part plan last week to combat the rise in opioid overdoses and substance abuse across the state. Gov. Roy Cooper called it “flexible” and said it would be updated frequently with new statistics and solutions. The plan calls for everyone to work together, from federal and state lawmakers to law enforcement, local health departments, pharmacists, physicians, businesses, philanthropic groups and community activists. (Knopf, 7/6)

The Mt. Juliet Police Department has equipped officers with opioid overdose kits to administer to people or fellow officers. The department purchased 90 kits for individual officers, two kits for K-9 units and two wall-mount kits for just over $6,300, Lt. Tyler Chandler said. (Humbles, 7/6)

By the time Elvis Rosado was 25, he was addicted to opioids and serving time in jail for selling drugs to support his habit.“I was like, ‘I have to kick this, I have to break this,’ ” he said. For Rosado, who lives in Philadelphia, drugs had become a way to disassociate from “the reality that was life.” He’d wake up physically needing the drugs to function. (Gordon, 7/7)