Tag Archives: opioids

CNN Business reports: The Justice Department on Monday filed a lawsuit against Rite Aid for allegedly violating the Controlled Substances Act, alleging that the company “knowingly filled unlawful prescriptions for controlled substances.” In a statement, Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Department of Justice is “using every tool at our disposal” to hold Rite Aid accountable for contributing to the …

The Wall Street Journal reports: A pharmaceutical nonprofit was granted priority review from the Food and Drug Administration to make an inexpensive overdose-reversal drug for use without a prescription. Harm Reduction Therapeutics Inc. said its 3 milligram nasal spray naloxone formulation, called Rivive, had three times higher concentration in the blood of 36 participants than naloxone delivered as a shot. …

Houston’s ABC affiliate reports: After five years of testing and research, the University of Houston is announcing a breakthrough that could be a powerful, life-saving tool against the opioid epidemic. It’s a vaccine that stops fentanyl from getting into the brain. If the drug does not get into the brain, there are no effects. There are no euphoric effects, and …

CNN Business reports: Walmart agreed to the framework of a $3.1 billion settlement, which resolves allegations from multiple states’ attorneys general that the company failed to regulate opioid prescriptions contributing to the nationwide opioid crisis. The settlement, according to the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James, who co-led a coalition of attorneys general in the negotiation, will also …

Reuters reports: CVS Health Corp, Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc, and Walmart Inc have tentatively agreed to pay about $13.8 billion to resolve thousands of U.S. state and local government lawsuits accusing the chains of mishandling opioid painkillers, according to two people familiar with the negotiations. The proposed settlement calls for CVS to pay $5 billion over 10 years, Walgreens to …

Reuters reports: The first trial of four large pharmacy chains over the deadly U.S. opioid epidemic was set to begin on Monday, as two Ohio counties seek to convince jurors the companies are responsible for flooding their communities with addictive pain pills. The Ohio counties of Lake and Trumbull allege that oversight failures at pharmacies run by Walgreens Boots Alliance …

The Washington Post reports: More than two decades after Purdue Pharma launched its blockbuster pain pill OxyContin, preceding a deadly overdose crisis, a judge approved a bankruptcy plan Wednesday that will resolve thousands of lawsuits against the drugmaker and grant sweeping legal immunity to its billionaire owners. Negotiated until the 11th hour, the final terms of the settlement confirmed by …

Via press release from the DOJ: In a civil complaint filed today, the Department of Justice has alleged that Walmart Inc. unlawfully dispensed controlled substances from pharmacies it operated across the country and unlawfully distributed controlled substances to those pharmacies throughout the height of the prescription opioid crisis. The complaint alleges that this unlawful conduct resulted in hundreds of thousands …

ProPublica reports: Previously undisclosed emails, including some filed in lawsuits against Purdue and others provided by sources, reveal a little-known relationship, forged in part by mutual philanthropic interests, between the Sacklers and Michael Bloomberg. They show that when the Sacklers were facing critical media coverage, they looked to Bloomberg and his news and philanthropic organizations for help. Bloomberg advised Mortimer …

CNBC reports: First lady Melania Trump was greeted with resounding boos at an opioid awareness event in Baltimore on Tuesday, even as her husband, President Donald Trump, donated his salary for the third quarter of the year to combat the opioid crisis. Melania Trump was loudly booed as she was introduced at the B’More Youth Summit on Opioid Awareness at …

NBC News reports: Johnson & Johnson must pay over $572 million for its role in the Oklahoma opioid epidemic that officials claim led to more than 6,000 deaths in the state over nearly two decades, a judge ruled Monday. Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter claimed in court that Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and its pharmaceutical subsidiary, Janssen, marketed opioids to …

Reuters reports: OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP is exploring filing for bankruptcy to address potentially significant liabilities from thousands of lawsuits alleging the drug manufacturer contributed to the deadly opioid crisis sweeping the United States, people familiar with the matter said on Monday. The deliberations show how Purdue and its wealthy owners, the Sackler family, are under pressure to respond …

The Minnesota Star-Tribune reports: Carver County Attorney Mark Metz announced Thursday that he was closing the investigation into the death of musician Prince Rogers Nelson without issuing any criminal charges. Metz said county, state and federal investigators undertook an “extensive, painstaking and thorough” investigation but were unable to determine who provided Prince the fentanyl painkillers, disguised as counterfeit Percocet tablets, …

The Associated Press reports: A toxicology report from Prince’s autopsy, obtained by The Associated Press, shows he had what multiple experts called an “exceedingly high” concentration of fentanyl in his body when he died. Prince was 57 when he was found alone and unresponsive in an elevator at his Paisley Park estate on April 21, 2016. Public data released six …