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California, Hawaii, Maine and the District of Columbia filed lawsuits Monday against the maker of OxyContin and the company's former president, alleging the firm falsely promoted the drug by downplaying the risk of addiction while it emerged as one of the most widely abused opioids in the U.S. The lawsuits were the latest by states and local governments against drugmaker Purdue Pharma as the country grapples with an opioid epidemic. (Oxford, 6/3)

Researchers posing as heroin users seeking help contacted hundreds of treatment clinics in U.S. states with the highest overdose death rates. The study found the "secret shoppers" were denied appointments much of the time, especially if they said they were insured through Medicaid. Scientists wanted to understand why more people aren't treated with an effective anti-addiction drug available in doctor's offices. (Johnson, 6/3)

The medication Suboxone can help patients addicted to opioids stop using the drugs. But a study from the Harvard Chan School of Public Health shows how hard it can be to find a doctor or nurse in this state to prescribe it. (Brody and Bebinger, 6/3)

A former physician assistant from Dover was sentenced Monday to four years in federal prison for his role in a kickback scheme involving fentanyl, federal officials said. Christopher Clough, 45, of Dover was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Concord for participating in a scheme where he received kickbacks in exchange for prescribing a powerful fentanyl spray to patients in violation of federal law, U.S. Atty. Scott Murray announced. According to court filings and statements made in court, Clough worked as a physician assistant in New Hampshire. After being approached by a representative of a drug manufacturer in June of 2013, he became a frequent prescriber of a fentanyl spray that had been approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat breakthrough cancer pain. (Feely, 6/3)