PATRICK KENNEDY

The office of Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman says he has checked himself into the hospital for clinical depression.

In this image from video, retiring Rep. Joe Kennedy III, D-Mass., speaks on the floor of the U.S. House Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (House Television via AP)WASHINGTON – Retiring Rep. Joe Kennedy III used his farewell speech from Congress on Wednesday to deride the “great lie of our times” that the government lacks the resources and will to help people in need. Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for former Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., said he is pursuing the post of director of the federal Office of National Drug Control Policy under President-elect Joe Biden. Patrick Kennedy, cousin of the retiring congressman, battled drug addiction and has worked privately to bolster mental health substance abuse programs. ___Associated Press writer Michelle R. Smith contributed to this report from Providence, R.I.___This story has been corrected to show that Patrick Kennedy is Joe Kennedy's cousin, not his great-uncle.

That has overshadowed debate over how to handle the nation's drug overdose crisis, which has contributed to the deaths of more than 470,000 Americans over the last two decades. The exchange over Hunter Biden's struggle with addiction was brief, and neither candidate was asked a follow-up question about their plan to tackle the nation's drug addiction and overdose crisis. Yet drug addiction continues its grim march across the U.S., having contributed to the deaths of more than 470,000 Americans over the past two decades. Ohio, a battleground state in the presidential contest, is on track to have one of its deadliest years of opioid drug overdoses. For example, his policies eased access to drugs that are meant to control opioid addiction, especially for people receiving health coverage through Medicaid.

NEW YORK Jean Kennedy Smith, who was the last surviving sibling of President John F. Kennedy and who as a U.S. ambassador played a key role in the peace process in Northern Ireland, has died, relatives said Thursday. Sen. Edward Kennedy, the youngest of the Kennedy siblings, died of brain cancer in August 2009, the same month their sister Eunice Kennedy Shriver died. Patrick Kennedy highlighted her role in the Irish peace process as the crux of her enormous legacy." She knew it was crucial to bring everybody in in order for there to be lasting peace, Patrick Kennedy told the AP. Her son, Dr. William Kennedy Smith, made headlines in 1991, when he was charged with rape at the Kennedy estate in Palm Beach, Florida.

Saoirse Kennedy Hill, the granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy, has died, the Kennedy family said in a statement. Now, after his relative Saoirse Kennedy Hill died this week, he's praising her for having written about her depression a few years ago. Saoirse Kennedy Hill, a 22-year-old granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy, died after being found unresponsive Thursday at the Kennedy family compound on Massachusetts' Cape Cod. Patrick Kennedy, a cousin of Saorise's mother Courtney Kennedy Hill, saluted Saoirse on social media and in a TV interview Friday for addressing her mental health struggles publicly in 2016. On Friday, he urged people to read Saoirse Kennedy Hill's own account of her battle with depression, which she wrote in 2016 as a senior at the Deerfield Academy, a Massachusetts college-preparatory school.