in the late 1990's, companies over marketed pain pills like oxycontin to a significant population ofmericans here at >> there is no question that great a role in a lot of this to when you look at how many addictive substances were marketed and pushed into west virginia when our population is one of the smallest in the united states. >> slowly but surely, people began to be addicted to miracle drugs. people became so dependent on these bills they did horrible , things to attain them. it is better to say it and let other people here it to the get help. i literally ran over my ex-husband's arm. completely broke his whole hand. arm. over his so it looked like he got hurt so we could get painkillers. >> the government began to reelect the severity of the opioid addiction in the general population, so they took away drugs like oxycontin. lhe shutdown hill mills -- pil mills. the elimination of these drugs did not help solve this problem whatsoever. people looked to the next cheapest option for their fix, heroin. while local government and marketing played a huge role in the addiction epide

purdue the only maker of oxycontin. giving away trips and money and stuff and the cfo and the ceo of the hospital. i found that really shocking. of course, when you're on those type of jobs, you're kind of like the invisible person. you're not supposed to interrupt or disrupt. it's truly shocking. i kind of think that medcos need to be held responsible. they're the ones with the prescription padded. they're the ones that are causing all of this. i believe there should be capital punishment for medcos. thank you. host: thanks for calling. appreciate all your calls for this last hour on the opioid story. we'll continue to track it on capitol hill and see what else happens with this issue. you want to watch that joint economic hearing again with the attorney general of ohio has filed suit against the pharmaceutical companies who make these products. you can watch that at c-span.org. coming up shortly after a quick break, james gelfand of the erisa industry committee. we'll look at the senate as it

opioids, drugse like oxycontin, these are very good medicines for using suffering at the and of life.here is not much of a market in end-of-life cancer pain. the patients will not be on your drug for very long because there at the end of life. and of life cancer patient is not -- pain is not a common condition. they have been promoting opioids for chronic pain that is common and that is why we are in this mess. amy: what you say, dr. kolodny, thehose who question treatment for opioid addiction when african americans and other people of color have suffered from addiction, particularly heroin, for decades and have been criminalized for it? >> well, i think they are correct in questioning that because during our last two addiction epidics, the heroin of the 1970's, the crack cocaine epidemic of the 1980's, those epidemics disproportionately had low income, nonwhite inner-city communities. what we got from policymakers during those epidemics was a war on drugs -- which really made a war on drug users. it led to mass incarceration. now that we have an epidemic that disproportionately white

the family that owned oxycontin had made $51 billion off it. we ought to make this clear that this cannot be tolerated. i also agree with the attorney general that the local effort is where the culture will be named b you we don't need pharma companies -- >> it makes me cry when you see all of these rehab people and small town mayors and cops trying to do the right thing and these people get a difference message. and it has to change. >> thank you. honor to introduce my senator who has been a national leader as you know, attorney general on this issue and talked to me about introducing a bill which i did that you have been a leader on, the stop act it deals with this issue of fentanyl coming in from china. >> thank you. thank you for your leadership. and more recently taking the lead on the stop act. you have 123 sponsors i am told. thanks to crf with that legislation. keeping this poison out of our communities. but also someone who gets it that this is ultimately going to be solved on a comprehension approach and i was in this rooming 20 years

so-called black tar heroin, more powerful and less expensive, just as oxycontin was reduced in potency around the country. the prescription of drug expulsion started -- the prescription drug explosion started in the appalachian part of my state and spread to parts of kentucky and west virginia. black tar heroin started in the southwest and spread east across the mississippi in 1998. fentanyl can be poisonous and kill a person some by mere contact with the skin as attorney general dewine informed me earlier this year. we now face pure poisons massed as narcotics that are ships across our border. we introduced the stop act, which aims to stop dangerous drugs being shipped through our own postal service. half the members of this committee have signed on as dose sponsors in a bipartisan way, and we should continue to build support for this important legislation. but i would -- it would be a mistake to blame these drugs entirely for the rise in mortality that some groups are suffering. there are other causes apparently emanating from long-term challenges in and the composition of the econom

if it'd been properly enforcing the law when oxycontin hit the market, the fda would have told purdue great, you can market that drug for use in hospices. you can send your sales rep to the politics care doctors, to the hospices here but we will not let you promote oxycontin for back pain. we will not let you do this in primary care and family practice. because the risk of using opioids for back pain outweigh the benefits. so if it properly enforce the law, they would've done that. i don't think we would have an epidemic today. by 2001, 2002 it was clear that prescribing had taken off at a rate far beyond what could be clinically needed. fda is beginning to hear from members of congress whose constituents are overdosing. they are holding meetings and they are saying, should we be changing the way in which we allow these trucks to be marketed? should we be changing the way in which we are approving these drugs? they asked that at a meeting in 2002, and unfortunately the experts they called in to advise them with the same doctors who are leading the campaign to increase prescribing pick

and newly effective pain medication oxycontin, introduced in the mid-1990s had initially unacknowledged addictive qualities and was overprescribed. so-called black tar heroin, mora powerful and less expensive than other kinds, expanded its market share just as oxycontin was reduced in potency. the prescription drug explosion started in the appalachian part of ohio and spread to parts of kentucky and west virginia. stad black tar heroin entered theip southwest and spread westward but eventually also eastward, crossing the mississippi in 1998.t illegally distributed variations and counterfeit forms of prescription drugs like fentanyl can be poisonous and kill a person even in small doses, some by mere contact with the skin.us we now face pure poisons masked as narcotics that are shippedmee across our borders. senator portman and i have introduced the stop act, which aims to stop dangerous synthetic drugs from being shipped through our own postal service, keeping them out of the hands of drug traffickers in the united. states. but it would be a mistake to blame these drugs entirely for the

there were reports coming from appalachia, new england about oxycontin overdoses and addiction. and it was clear we were having a problem with opioids. from the beginning of the crisis the way the issue was framed, particularly by paying organizations that were getting funding from opioid manufacturers, the way the issue was framed for policymakers was that this, all of the bad things that we are hearing about, all of the opioid harms policymakers were told we are limited to so-called drug abusers. and that millions of patients were being helped by the increase in prescribing. and so policymakers were told that your challenge is to try and do something about this drug abuse problem without making the chronic pain problem, millions of americans are suffering from chronic pain. if you were to promote any kind of intervention that would result in reduced prescribing, you will be the pain patients for bad behavior of the drug abusers. so you've got to balance these two competing problems. the reality is that we don't have these two distinct groups. in opioids are not safe and effect

by theime he was a senior he had progressed to oxycontin. he was shooting it.e then went on to heroin. heroin is cheaper. by the time he finishedis first year of college, he was really addicted. the pathetic and scary thing is that my husband and i were totally clueless. we had no idea. in high school, we know kids did beer -- >> not your son, right? >> no. he was nice kid. involved in boy scouts as an eagle scout. so, we just thought, you know a little pot, a little beer, okay. >> you had a moment of trth. you found him. >> i did. the summer after he came back from school, he was in the bathroom. and taking a long time. i wentin there, he was on the floor. he was passed out. he had a syringe next to him and a bent spoon with a brown residue on it. i had no idea what i was looking at. i was completely clueless. we knew then wehad a problem. as a family we went through several yearof, you know, it was devastating emotionally, financially, our relationship really pretty much broke p. buthank goodness we found the doctor, he's doing better now. he recovered. he ha

they busted the suspects for heroin, oxycontin and morphine and many others. gary baker sr. was arrested the man who mocked and punched a man with cerebral palsy last month, that is gary baker jr. >> his son was beating up a man with a disability, harry baker sr. was selling us morphine. a hell of a family. >> he fears that overdoses will only go up until they can figure out how to stop the inflow of the deadly drug fentanyl. and many times that is cut into other drugs and the users don't know. >> take a little bit of it out into my han. if that was fentanyl that would be enough to kill for our five of us in this room. >> pretty scary stuff there. if you continue at the same pace with overdoses they will hit 150 this year. reporting live in westchester, bob brooks, channel 6 "action news." >> thank you. >>> coming up on channel 6 "action news" tonight. the results are in, tests reveal whether diesel contaminated gas pump at a gas station in bucks coins. and nba summer play gets underway next week. >>> and we are in the comforts zone and we have two days in a row of below nor

the company is being sued, make oxycontin, perk set, and pain pillars. most declined to comment about the suit. >> appears roll back of the birth control mandate is in the works. a draft resolution would allow any employer to deny the free birth control for moral or religious issues. hundreds of thousand of women receive free contraception under aca. >> president trump will make a big announcement on paris climate accord. sources say likely to pull out of the landmark deal. under it the u.s. pledged to cut green house gas emissions by 30% by 2025. some top aides want the u.s. to withdraw saying it will hurt economy. others are lobbying to stay along with big companies lake apple, wal-mart, and exxon mobile. nearly every country has signed that agreement to fight global warming. experts say it could take years to formally withdraw from the deal. >> abc news learned former fbi director james comey will testify in an open congressional hearing. we could hear his first public comment since his firing since early next week. comey's testimony expected to cente

in fact, it's twice as strong as oxycontin. the fda warns that the drug is being crushed up and injected by people seeking to abuse it. that has led to several public health problems. >>> one in ten households used a prepaid debit card as their primary card and they don't have the same protections and credit cards. consumerwatch reporter julie watts on new rules that could change that. >> reporter: alvin is one of the millions of americans without a bank account. so his paycheck is direct deposited to a prepaid debit card but when he tried to get his money. >> i was sick. >> reporter: he says someone drained his card leaving him with no way to payment. >> i'm going to get kicked out find a new place to live. >> reporter: when he called the card company he said they said they couldn't do anything. >> i have no idea what to do. i have never been in addition situation. >> reporter: while credit and debit cards do provide protection from fraud when it comes to the prepaid debit cards used by 23 million americans. >> the truth is th

just like the boiling budweiser gulping oxycontin and rat addled deplorable in the flat boring parking lot wastelands of their room drive and utopia saw their lives rendered into a brown and yellow school bus running hot down the toilet of history there you go. oh mentors are able to be collateralized in the soul look at that by the fraud but by the frog is a mean coin it's an avatar that's what james howard kunstler is failing to see i mean i like my idea of the goal of this nation i mean that's another neo loge ism that i can count unaided on this right program for the folks out there and the audience who watching this and airports and hotel rooms around the world some of them in compromising positions that they can collateralized to sell forward as a compromise position futures contract and probably make a billion dollars and sell that to james howard kunstler he can put it in his pipe and smoke it states a turn for the second half john titus is up he made a brilliant shell oh it's so great. start to. write. him a cool discoveries over the last century made every day. but at what co

suing five opioid makers claiming they misled customers and oxycontin.nson. 3050 people died from drug overdoses in 2015. >> cnn firing comedian kathy griffin for this disturbing image of her posing with a replica of the president's severed bloodied head. and did she go too far. a fair and balanced debate. radio talkshow host and comedian been kissel, thanks for coming on. i want to give you a chance to defend what kathy griffin did and she is calling it art. what do you have to say? >> i won't defend what she did was i will defend her right to do it. she has a first amendment right to freedom of speech and this is an opportunity for individuals on the right to rail against the political correctness of the left, stand up against political correctness and embrace and accept the kathy griffin did something they may not approve of but allow her to do it because of her constitutional right, the first amendment of the united states, no different than what ted nugent did regarding barack obama when he requested barack obama suck the barrel of his gun and a ser

. >> the first opioid pain pills including oxycontin, and then access to pills were restricted and then from mexico, and a couple years ago traffickers mixed fentanyl into the heroin. >> you live around here? >> uh-huh. >> you said you have a nickname for this street? >> morgue avenue. it's not morgan, honey, it's morgue. >> which houses have people died in? >> which houses have they not died in. in the last five years, it's unreal. i mean, in 47 minutes there was already nine dead. >> in 47 minutes. >> on this street. >> people are dying from what? >> drugs. >> as the death rate skyrockets, the bodies come to the coroner who performs tests to detect over two fentanyl. >> every one of these represents a different one? >> yes. >> every day, bodies are cycling through here? >> correct. >> what is the percentage of the bou bodies in here that are overdosed from heroin or fentanyl. >> 70% of the people. >> 70% of the people in this room died probably of fentanyl? >> that's correct. >> how many people across ohio family will be killed this year? >> we are estimating about 2,000 overdoses thi

the -- oxycontin. it says it must take all necessary steps to reduce the scope of misuse and abuse in 2015 the overdoses killed more than 33,000 people. >>> time is is 6:43, a gilroy mother is hoping to raise awareness about her son's rare skin condition. after they had a difficult encounter at gilroy gardens. ktvu smith talked with the mother, other families complained about her son. >> by all accounts two-year-old wyatt is your normal boy who likes to play on the playground, he has a condition that makes him appear different. >> so when people shy away from us of course it makes me feel sad. >> wyatt was born with a rare disease, too many mass cells in his body creating dark colored patches on his skin. his mother says his condition draws mixed reaction from curiosity to fear. >> sometimes we have other reactions where people will move away from him or move their children away from him. >> last sunday the family was at gilroy gardens when wyatt and his father were asked to get out of the pool to spea

. >> you take a 17-year-old and give them 30 days of oxycontin because they had their wisdom teeth out. pretty good chance you have created an addict that will end up on heroin. >> one suspect is harry baker sr. his son was arrested for punching a man with cerebral palsy at a convenience store last month. >>> and a way to cut down on violence in new jersey. encouraging people to get guns off the streets and churches are playing a big role in the push. nora muchanic is live in trenton and nora you have the details on this. >> reporter: hi there brian we are outside of friendship baptist church. a location for the big gun buy back planned for later this month. it's a place you can turn in your guns and make money on it. >> there is no doubt that the fewer guns on the street means that people are safer. >> friday and saturday, july 28th and 29th a buy back for guns will be held in mercer and burlington county newark and trenton. citizens can turn in as many as three firearms at baptist church in camden and friendship baptist church in trenton. >> it can't be stashed in a vacant building o

it is about twice as powerful as oxycontin. according to the fda the country is facing an opioid epidemic and public health crisis, it must takes all necessary steps to reduce the scope of opioid misuse and abuse in 2015. opioid overdoses killed more than 33,000 people. >>> hyundai issuing two separate recalls covering santa fe and at that fay sport suvs, there are problem with the hood latches and overtime corrosion could cause them to fail. the second recall covers some genesis and sonata model from 2015 to 2016 causing problems with the parking brake warning lights impacting 600,000 vehicles in the united states. >>> a birth control pill is being recalled because of a packaging error. one that could lead to unintended pregnancies. pulling the bella 24 se. lupin explains the package got rotated which reversed the placement of the pills. four nonhormonal placebo tablets are in place of the first four pills in the packet instead of the last four. they can't be read. anyone with questions should contact their doctor. >>> there a

oxycontin comes out in 1996 and they marketed it as take as much as you want.rs to decide. but from there, it went out of control. again, once people stopped prescribing it, those people are going to go somewhere else. ainsley: now, you have laid out three ways that the wall is going to keep drugs out. will you go through those with us, please? >> one way is going to drive up the price of drugs. and once you drive up the price, people will start to look for treatment. the wall cannot -- somebody seeking treatment is not going to be able to go seek treatment if getting opioids is so much easier. brian: exactly. something else you talk about, it's easier for the border control to catch drug cartels because you're going to funnel them into a certain area because the wall will prevent easy access. >> correct. if you cut off an entire area where customs does not have to look, that narrows it down and people talk about tunnels, we can put sensors in the ground to detect. but putting the walls funneled bad guys into an area and makes it a lot easier for our guys. ains

makers of intentionally misleading patients about the dangers of pain pillars like percocet and oxycontind promoting the benefits of the drug that's are not supported by science. >> it is just and it is right that the people who play a significant role in creating this mess in the state of ohio should pay to clean it up. >> now, one of the drug makers says the lawsuit is legally and factually unfounded. another company is working with communities to try to solve the crisis over opiates. critics of the attorney general accuse him of filing the lawsuit to improve his chances of becoming governor next year. >>> it is 6:59. as it gets warmer, cables are going up on yosemite's half dome. starting tomorrow, they will be available for you climbers. you need a permit to climb half dome. and the daily lotteries for the permits began wednesday. the cables allow you to climb the rock face without using special equipment. there's a limited number of permits available through the lottery. you have to apply two days before your intended hiking date. a preseason lottery was held in march for people who

in previous segments we told you the major role that the oxycontin creator purdue pharma and other drugpanies have played in wide acceptance and distribution of highly addictive painkillers. they argued for both of those and they work with terrible consequences. the attorney general of ohio wants to take them to task for that, his estate is suing at purdue pharma and for other drug companies and accusing them of responsibility of creating a drug epidemic, it's killed more ohioans than the vietnam war did. thanks a lot for joining us. what's the essence of your case against purdue pharma and the other four companies here? >> the essence of our case is this -- historically these pain meds were used for end-of-life situations, someone has cancer, they are dying of cancer, they are also used for someone have the wisdom tooth out, they might take one or two. beginning in the late 90s, what the drug companies did in a very concerted way, they spent hundreds of millions of dollars to do this, the doctors they were targeting were not really the payment specialists, they were the general practit

. >> the first was pain pills, including oxycontin.media attention, access to pills restricted. in their place, heroin from mexico, cheaper, more powerful. couple years ago, traffickers began to mix fentanyl into the heroin. and fentanyl is by far the most fatal drug of abuse america has ever seen. >> you live here? >> uh-huh. >> you have a nickname for this street. >> morgue. >> not morgan, morgue. >> which houses have people died in? >> which houses have people not died in. >> really? >> really. >> i lived here about five years, in the last five years, it is unreal. in 47 minutes, there was already nine deaths. >> on this street. >> people are dying from what? >> drugs. >> as the death rate skyrockets, they come to the coroner who performs tests to detect over two dozen varieties of fentanyl. >> every vile represents somebody that died. >> correct. >> this is what you call the cooler. >> this is our cooler, main cooler. >> when did the bodies around us come in here. >> over the last 24 to 48 hours. >> and every day bodies cycle throu

three major drug companies specifically targeting the makers of oxycontin.the suit. the missouri attorney general says they are suing for over $100 million. the money will go to people affected. the drug sales are fueling the opioid epidemic. >>> weapons in yemen. the conflict being hidden from the cameras. stay with us. . ... spendy weekenders. the tranquility awaits. hanging with our mates weekenders and the it's been quite a day... ...so glad we got away weekenders. whatever kind of weekender you are, there's a hilton for you. book your weekend break direct at hilton.com and join the weekenders. usaa gives me the and the security just like the marines did. the process through usaa is so effortless, that you feel like you're a part of the family. i love that i can pass the membership to my children. we're the williams family, and we're usaa members for life. you myour joints...thing for your heart... or your digestion... so why wouldn't you take something for the most important part of you... your brain. with an ingredient originally found in jellyfish, pr

it's twice as strong as oxycontin. the drug is being crushed up and injected by people abusing it. >>> still ahead. governor brown is back in california energized on his mission to fight climate change. the new agreements he celebrates. >>> no collusion, no obstruction, he's a leaker. >> and president trump attacking the credibility of james comey, his fired fbi director. the latest from washington after the break. >>> he leads the home loans team. the prospect of buying a new home can feel daunting. you have some suggestions for home buyers, what are they? >> if you remember four key steps, first understand credit and credit scores, address any errors and blemishes. know how much you have for a down payment and closing costs. next get preapproved with a qualified lender, bank, or credit union. that letter will help your when making an offer on a new home. and knowing what you can afford will drive what you're going to buy. if you remember these four key steps you'll be well on your way to achieving your financial goal

prescription painkiller manufacturers, accusing the firms of downplaying the effects of drugs like oxycontino is the second state to go after pharmaceutical companies. they claim they violated several state laws and defrauded medicaid. >>> as the fight over the house republicans' repeal of obamacare rages on, white house office manager mick mulvaney is taking aim at cbo. in an interview he says the days of nonpartisan authority on scoring legislation has, quote, probably come and gone. he went on to describe the cbo's scoring of the gop health care bill as absurd. saying it was a perfect example of why lawmakers should not be so compliant with the agency. he was especially critical of the estimate that the house bill would result in 23 million people losing their health insurance saying the model assumed the mandate require individuals have coverage has a lot more influence on people's decision than it actually does. >>> still ahead, more fallout for kathy griffin over her shocking photo of president trump. how the stunt has cost the comedienne one of her most lucrative gigs. >>> nasa lookin

in the late 1990s abuse of pain pills surged and it became an epidemic when oxycontin became more availableescriptions, cheaper street drugs, crystal meth are an ternative, cut p. it's not difficult to find someone affected by drugs but it's difficult to find someone to talk about it on tv, but we did. jackie is a single mother of a 5-year-old who has decided to leave beattyville and now she's agreed to share with me why. >> what's your daughter's name? >> gabrielle, gabby. people with a substance abuse problems and you encountered that? >> i'm a recovering addict. >> rofring is a good part of that. how easy it to find drugs? >> walk down the street. >> you live in these apartments. other people dealing with drug abuse problems? >> yes. >> you see people do it in public? >> sometimes. you can't leave your doors unlocked. you can't leave nothing outside. >> really? >> you can't even let your own friends into your house. in the past two months i let friends move in who have tooken everything i have. >> people who you thought were your friends? >> why are you talking to us today? people don't

. >> reporter: the first opioid was oxycontin but in response to media attention access to pills wereicted and in their place came heroin from mexico. cheaper and more powerful. then a couple years ago, traffickers began mixing fentanyl into the heroin. and fentanyl is by far the most fatal drug of abuse america has ever seen. >> you live around here? you said you have a nickname for this street. >> morgue avenue. >> morgue avenue. >> it's not morgan. it's morgue. >> which houses have people died in? >> what houses have people not died in really. >> really. >> look at all these places. i lived here for five years and in the last five years, it is unreal. in 47 minutes there was already nine deaths. >> in 47 minutes. >> and then on this street. >> people are dying from what? >> drugs. >> as the death rate sky rockets the body come to the montgomery county coroner who performs tests to detect over two dozen varieties of fentanyl. every vial represents somebody who has died. >> correct. >> this is what you call the cooler. >> this is our cooler. the main cooler. >> when did the bodies al

. >> reporter: prescription pain pills including oxycontin.came heroin from mexico. eaper and more powerful. then a coupleears ago, traffickers began mixing fentanyl into the heroin. and fentanyl is by far the most fatal drug of abuse america has ever seen. you live around here? you said you have a nickname for this street. >> morgue avenue. not morgan. morgue avenue. >> which houses have people died in? >> which houses have people not died in. >> really. >> really. i lived here for about five years and in the last five years, it's unreal. i mean, in 47 minutes there was already nine deaths. >> in 47 minutes. people are dying from what? >> drugs. >> as the death rate skyrockets the bodies come to dr. kent harshbarger who performs tests to detect two dozen viles. this is what you call the cooler. >> this is our main cooler. >> when did the bodies all around us come in here? >> over the last 24 to 48 hours. >> and every, every day bodies are cycling through here? >> correct. these trays will mostly be full by tonight. >> what is the percentage o

use in hospices and send your sales reps to the hospices, but we're not going to let you promote oxycontin for back pain or in family practice because the risks of using opioids for back pain outweigh the benefits. if they properly enforced the law, they would have done that, and i don't think we'd have an epidemic today. by 2002, it was clear the prescribing took off at a rate far beyond what could be clinically needed. fda is beginning to hear from members of congress whose constituents are overdosing. they're holding meetings and saying should we be changing the way in which we allow these drugs to be marketed? should we be changing the way in which we're approving these drugs? and they asked that at a meeting in 2002 and unfortunately the experts they called in to advise them were the same doctors who were leading the campaign to increase prescribing, and fda decided not to make any changes, and, in fact, they went in the opposite direction. other pharmaceutical companies saw how well it was working for purdue. they wanted their extended released opioids on the market as well, and fda

they took away jocks like oxycontin. people just look to the next cheapest option for their fix, heroine. while local government and ,arketing played a huge role they also heavily affected the current heroine prices. >> west virginia is such an economy that is based on cold. yearson making $80,000 per all of a sudden loses his job. >> recreational or experimental use of drugs can also cause addiction. >> i think it started out with marijuana. i'm sure a lot of people can use marijuana and stop. and i had physical back pain. that was the catalyst of an addiction that nearly destroyed her life. >> i couldn't get to quit matter what i would do. >> caused by genetic predisposition to addiction. >> substance use disorder runs in my family. folks are genetically predisposed to have dependency issues. >> the addiction crisis hit a staggering piece. a matter of just over four hours. luckily there were only two deaths. most believe this was not a normal batch of heroine. mixed overdoses are to be did to the initial -- like fentan

you know, oxycontin was made in the 1990's.&j is implicated in this, purdue, allergan, and my blame falls on the physician. i'm a primary care doctor. 47% of the opioid prescriptions are written by primary care doctors. i'm not one of them. i don't tend to do that. i tend to be the varney of medicine, meaning, stuart, i look at the cause. is it muscular, the bone? what's the problem. i don't throw opioids at patient. stuart: we've been through this before. i come to you, i'm a patient that comes to your office, look, i've got chronic back pain. you don't relieve back pain with anything except opioids. they work. what are you going to do to those people. >> couple of points, there are new drugs on the pipeline right now that are going to take care of this without addiction. stuart: they're on the pipeline. >> in the meantime, heat, muscle relack-- relaxants. stuart: do they work as well as opioids. >> yes, chiropractic, and other approaches work as well opioid. opioid is a primary care doctor throwing a pill at the problem rathe

claiming they mislead customers to think pain pills like oxycontin weren't addictive it comes after fourfor bodies because some people are i doing from overdoses. 3050 people died in that state in 2015. the say of california wants free healthcare for all there is a catch. they want you to pay for it democratic state senator ricardo proposing the new 406 billion-dollar plan that rewoo replace insurance companies with government funded healthcare. the plan would be funded with a sales tax hike and a new tax on business revenue. the state senate's deadline to vote on that bill is tomorrow. a look at your headlines on this thursday. i will see you guys in a little bit. ainsley: hand it over to janice dean who has some weather for us to tell us what our weekend is going to look like. janice: guess what? ainsley: what? janice: there is sunshine in new york city and it's going to be 80 degrees today in new york city. let's take a look at the maps. we're excited because it's been a very wet, rainy springtime. temperatures right now 59. but it's getting to get up to 80 degrees in new york city. d

oxycontin leading the list. we barely ever touched. i remember one patient in my entire oncology career we gave fentanyl to and she had widely disseminated cancer. that of doctors writing prescriptions too freely and some doing pill mills. drug companies pushing it and drug cartels taking over has been a total disaster, especially in places where people have no hope, people have been laid off jobs and all they have are disability to file and they need a pain excuse. it's been a terrible -- it's not going to be so easy to get out of. >> not limited just to that demographic. >> oh, not at all. >> the book is "prescription for the future:the 12 transformational practices of highly medical practices." great to see you. >> it's great to be back on "morning joe." >> good to see you. >>> robert f. kennedy died 49 years ago today. up next, one of our show's producers out with a great new book on why rfk's message still resonates today. that's next. i can't wait for her to have that college experience that i had. the cla