Covid-19 and the ongoing opioid epidemic have combined to form a single crisis that is overwhelming health providers: People who were predisposed to turn to drugs in the hope of alleviating feelings of isolation and despair were pushed further in that direction by stress and social distancing. Although this “twindemic” has posed enormous challenges for […]
Omnicare will pay $ 15 million to settle allegations that it allowed controlled substances to be dispensed to patients without a valid prescription. The Cincinnati, Ohio-based company provides pharmacy services for long-term care facilities, such as nursing homes and assisted living facilities. It was acquired by CVS Health in 2015. The settlement was reached on […]
Drug-making giant Purdue Pharma has reportedly reached a tentative multi-billion dollar agreement in the US to settle a host of lawsuits against it. The firm owned by the billionaire Sackler family is accused of helping fuel the US opioid crisis through drugs like painkiller OxyContin. The deal would remove Purdue from the first federal trial […]
Media playback is unsupported on your device Drugmaker Johnson & Johnson must pay $ 572m (£468m) for its part in fuelling Oklahoma’s opioid addiction crisis, a judge in the US state has ruled. The company said immediately after the judgement that it would appeal. The case was the first to go to trial out of […]
Hours after Purdue Pharma agreed to pay a $ 270 million settlement to the state of Oklahoma in a lawsuit that accuses the company of fueling a nationwide opioid crisis, a family that has profited immensely from this epidemic sent a sternly worded warning to HuffPost. An attorney at Farrer & Co., the high-powered U.K. […]
March 26 (Reuters) – Purdue Pharma LP has agreed to settle a lawsuit by the state of Oklahoma accusing the maker of painkiller OxyContin of helping fuel an opioid abuse epidemic, a person familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. The settlement is the first stemming from a wave of recent lawsuits over the drugmaker’s […]
The charity tied to the multibillionaire Sackler family ― of which some members own opioid manufacturer Purdue Pharma ― said Monday that it will suspend its donations in the U.K., days after several top museums on both sides of the Atlantic announced they would no longer accept its financial support. The company and several members […]
Following backlash from patients with chronic pain and people in the disability community, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) on Wednesday found herself backpedaling on her recently introduced legislation to put a time limit on opioid prescriptions. The 2020 presidential contender sought to help “end the opioid epidemic” with legislation she introduced with Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) […]
After protests and public pressure from artists, Britain’s National Portrait Gallery said Tuesday that it has “jointly agreed not to proceed” with a $ 1.3 million grant from the Sackler family, which owns OxyContin manufacturer Purdue Pharma. The company and some of the Sackler family members face scores of lawsuits from U.S. states, counties and […]
By Christine Vestal In the legal battle to hold drug companies responsible for the country’s raging opioid epidemic, media attention largely has focused on a national lawsuit set for a late October trial in federal court in Cleveland, Ohio. But it may be upstaged by a lesser-known opioid case: Oklahoma v. Purdue Pharma, scheduled for […]
By Christine Vestal Editor’s Note: This is part three of the State of the States 2019 series. CHARLESTON, S.C. — Dozens of doctors, nurses and researchers here at the Medical University of South Carolina are working on new opioid treatment projects many say they never dreamed possible. “For a small state without Medicaid expansion to […]
Accidental opioid overdoses are not only on the rise but are now the most common preventable cause of death in the U.S. for the first time ever, according to a new report. The latest numbers from the National Safety Council, which analyzed 2017 data from the National Center for Health Statistics, place accidental opioid overdoses […]
On her first full day in office, Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) took a promising and decisive step toward tackling the state’s opioid crisis. In a reversal of the prior administration’s recalcitrant stance, Mills signed an executive order to expand the state’s Medicaid program, which would extend health care coverage to tens of thousands more […]
After a federal judge ruled Friday that the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional, President Donald Trump enthusiastically praised the decision as “Great news for America!” The ruling will inevitably be appealed and most likely overturned. Should it stand, however, that “great news” would translate to more than 17 million Americans losing health care coverage and […]
As drug overdose deaths in the United States soar and life expectancy drops, researchers are looking to unconventional approaches to help stem the nation’s opioid crisis ― including making heroin available by prescription. A report released by the nonprofit Rand Corporation this week analyzed the literature on two interventions ― prescription heroin and supervised consumption […]