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2016 was the worst year for drug overdose deaths in America — at least, until 2017 came along. According to preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 72,000 people in the US are predicted to have died from drug overdoses in 2017 — nearly 200 a day. That’s up from 2016, which was already a record year in which roughly 64,000 people in the US died from overdoses. At least two-thirds of drug overdose deaths in 2016 and 2017 were linked to opioids. (Lopez, 8/16)

The ever-rising death toll from the synthetic opioid fentanyl showed graphically this week how vulnerable the United States has become to powerful drugs concocted in laboratories. On the same day that more than two dozen people were raced from a New Haven, Conn., park to emergency rooms after violent reactions to synthetic marijuana, federal authorities announced that more than 72,000 people had died of drug overdoses nationwide in 2017. Leading the death toll is the increasing number of fatalities from fentanyl. (Zezima, Bernstein and Schmidt, 8/16)

Kaiser Health News: Purdue Pharma’s Sales Pitch Downplayed Risks Of Opioid Addiction

Two decades ago, Purdue Pharma produced thousands of brochures and videos that urged patients with chronic pain to ask their physicians for opioids such as OxyContin, arguing that concerns over addiction and other dangers from the drugs were overblown, company records reveal. Kaiser Health News earlier this year posted a cache of Purdue marketing documents that show how the pharmaceutical company sought to boost sales of the prescription painkiller, starting in the mid-1990s. ... This week, the New York attorney general’s office filed another suit that accuses Purdue of operating a “public nuisance” in it sales tactics and marketing of opioids. (Schulte, 8/17)

The US Food and Drug Administration has raised alarm about one way people might access opioids to misuse and abuse: their pets. As America's opioid epidemic rages, some pet owners could be stealing pain medications intended for their furry friends, according to a statement from FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb. (Howard, 8/16)

The United States Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb issued a statement Wednesday, warning veterinarians that some pet owners may be using their animals to get prescriptions for opioid drugs. (Pirani, 8/16)

Over the past five years, 219 people have gone through the Dane County Jail opiate treatment program. Of them, 43 percent have accomplished their treatment goals, according to Todd Campbell, the county’s adult community services administrator. (Luthern, 8/16)