Walgreens Boots Alliance reached a $683 million settlement with Florida to resolve claims that the pharmacy chain exacerbated an opioid epidemic in the state.

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Pharmacy chain Walgreens Boots Alliance and other defendants on April 26 said they were not to blame for the opioid crisis in San Francisco, and that they acted responsibly when providing legal medications to patients in pain.

San Francisco squared off on April 25 against Walgreens Boots Alliance and three other companies accused of fueling an opioid crisis in the city, the first trial to target manufacturers, distributors and pharmacies over the addictive pain medicines.

Endo International plc announced that the Tennessee Court of Appeals reversed a trial court judge’s order denying a motion for recusal by Endo’s wholly owned subsidiaries Endo Health Solutions Inc. and Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc. in Clay County et al. v. Purdue Pharma, L.P., et al, pending in the Circuit Court for Cumberland County, Tennessee, and remanded the case for transfer to a different judge.

West Virginia’s attorney general on April 4 urged a judge to hold Johnson & Johnson, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., and AbbVie Inc.’s Allergen liable for causing a “tsunami” of opioid addiction in the state.

AbbVie Inc. settled claims by New York and two of the state’s counties that the company fueled an epidemic of opioid addiction in the state, on the day jurors were expected to hear closing arguments at the end of a five-month trial.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Athena Bioscience LLC’s Qdolo (tramadol hydrochloride) Oral Solution 5mg/1mL C-IV, an opioid agonist indicated in adults for the management of pain severe enough to require an opioid analgesic and for which alternative treatments are inadequate.

New York state filed civil charges accusing Endo International Plc of insurance fraud for misrepresenting the safety and efficacy of the company’s opioid drugs, adding fuel to the nation’s opioid crisis.

A U.S. judge rejected efforts by major drugmakers, pharmacies and distributors to dismiss claims that they caused the nation’s opioid crisis, clearing the way for a scheduled landmark trial even as he pushes for a nationwide settlement.

With the opioid crisis gripping the United States, many doctors have been looking at alternate treatments to help patients with long-term chronic pain. A new study shows that the venom from a scorpion sting could provide a solution.