When the history of America’s long, devastating opioid crisis is finally written, 2022 may be remembered as both a low point and a turning point.
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests the avalanche of overdose deaths — driven largely by the spread of illicit fentanyl — may have crested in March.
Researchers found a staggering 110,236 people died in a single 12-month period, a stunning new record.
But there are signs help may finally be on the way.
The avalanche of drug deaths spurred a series of major reforms in 2022 to the way drug addiction is treated in the U.S., changes designed to reduce stigma and improve access to care.
2022 was also a year of corporate accountability.
Major drug companies, distributors and pharmacy chains reached settlements of opioid lawsuits filed by state and local governments totaling more than $50 billion.
Experts say that money, paid out over the next two decades, will fund treatment programs and other services that are desperately needed, especially in poor rural towns and urban neighborhoods.
Here are the major developments in 2022 that made it a pivotal year for the overdose epidemic.

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