Opioid Crisis

Testimony in an ongoing opioid trial in Charleston suggests supply had more to do with the opioid crisis in West Virginia than any other factor.

Federal and state stakeholders met in Morgantown Thursday to identify solutions to the state’s substance abuse crisis.

On this West Virginia Morning, Dopesick is a new series streaming on Hulu. It details the rise of prescription opioids, namely Oxycontin, and the wreckage it has caused in Appalachia and across the nation. We talk with author Beth Macy, who helped create the show and wrote the book it's based on.

She will be speaking in Charleston this Sunday with Kentucky author Robert Gipe. The event is set for 2 p.m. at Taylor Books.

While a judge considers his ruling in the Huntington-Cabell case, the crisis continues and lawsuits are pending in places like Mingo County.

On this West Virginia Morning, COVID-19 concerns, an ethics investigation and the sounds of summer. You will also hear an excerpt from the Us & Them episode “Grandfamilies of the Opioid Crisis.”

On this West Virginia Morning, a quick response team program has been introduced to the rural county of Wayne to help combat the opioid crisis. Also, we speak with Ethan Barton, the wildlife disease specialist for the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, to discuss the latest on why a growing number of birds across the mid-Atlantic are becoming sick or even dying.

On this West Virginia Morning, the opioid crisis is at the center of a new film project currently in production. It focuses on human connections. Also, in this show, we continue with our summer-long education radio series “Closing the COVID Gap” with a story about federal money flowing into schools.

West Virginia is in the spotlight for taking on major drug distributors. But outside the courtroom, it’s business as usual as residents work to help their community heal.

West Virginia consistently has one of the worst rates of drug overdose deaths in the nation, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data show that toll has only been increasing in recent years. The West Virginia Center for Budget and Policy released a report on the economic toll of drug-related deaths and illnesses on the state. The center estimates that in 2019, that amount was more than $11 billion.