U.S. regulators want a narcotic painkiller involved in the opioid epidemic off the market.

The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday it has asked Endo Pharmaceuticals to stop selling its reformulated, extended-release painkiller, Opana ER.

It’s the first time the FDA has asked for the removal of an opioid painkiller.

Endo had touted the new formulation as abuse-resistant, though the FDA did not allow the company to market it as such when granting approval for sales several years ago.

The FDA says it has seen a “significant shift” from people crushing and snorting Opana ER to get high to injecting it.

Abuse of Opana ER was blamed for a 2015 outbreak of HIV and hepatitis C in southern Indiana linked to sharing needles.

Endo officials did not immediately respond.

A two-car crash on Interstate 80 one-half mile west of Cozad in Dawson County has claimed one life and sent another person to the hospital. The crash occurred just before 1:00 a.m. Thursday, June 8, 2017.

A car driven by Deloyce Robinson, 89, of North Platte, entered the westbound lanes of I-80 traveling the wrong direction when it collided with a pickup driven by Nicholas Yonce, 28, of Garner, North Carolina.

Robinson was killed in the accident. Nebraska State Patrol investigators determined that Robinson had not been wearing his seat belt.

Yonce was treated at the Cozad Hospital for non-life-threatening injuries. Yonce was wearing his seat belt at the time of the crash.

“This is a tragic crash, but an important reminder that all motorists should wear their seat belt,” said Major Mike
Gaudreault, Nebraska State Patrol Field Services Division Commander. “Of the 79 fatalities on Nebraska roadways in 2017, 80 percent have not been wearing seat belts. Properly wearing your seat belt dramatically increases your chances of surviving an accident.”

All lanes of I-80 at Mile Marker 222 have reopened after a two-hour closure of the westbound lanes to complete the investigation.

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have recovered the body of a man from a creek on the south side of Kearney.

The body was spotted Tuesday in debris about three-quarters a mile (1 kilometer) east from where the man was last seen Monday afternoon. Officers had found a bicycle and clothing on the embankment near where he was originally seen. The search was called off Monday night and resumed around 7 a.m. Tuesday.

The man’s name hasn’t been released yet. Kearney police Sgt. Dennis Byrne says it’s unclear what circumstances led to the man’s death.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Senior U.S. District Court Judge Lyle Strom says he’ll transition to inactive senior status in December.

The Nebraska District Court announced Strom’s decision Tuesday.

The 92-year-old Strom has served as a district judge in Nebraska for 32 years. He was chief judge from 1987 to 1994.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska prisoner serving time for robbery and weapons convictions has died at a Lincoln hospital.

Officials say 22-year-old Daelan Lamere died Tuesday. Authorities have not confirmed the cause of his death, but prison officials say he tested positive for methamphetamine and ecstasy.

Prison officials say Lamere was found unresponsive in his cell at the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution on May 27. He was taken to a nearby hospital in Johnson County and later transferred to Bryan West in Lincoln, where he died.

Lamere was sentenced to 6 to 11 years in prison for four counts of robbery and one count of use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony in Douglas County. He was scheduled for release in September 2020.

The Nebraska State Patrol will investigate Lamere’s death.