Study Probes 20-Year FDA Practice of Approving Opioids With Little Safety Data
(CN) — The coronavirus pandemic has been front and center these past six months, but America is still in the midst
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opioids
Sixth Circuit Tosses Class Approval in Sprawling Opioid Settlement
The Sixth Circuit ruled Thursday against the use of a novel form of settlement class devised to pursue opioid manufacturers for their role in the U.S. opioid addiction crisis.
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Mexico Sees Fentanyl Seizures Quadruple, Denies Making Drug
Mexican authorities say seizures of the synthetic opioid fentanyl so far this year are 465% higher than in 2019, but progress against another big Mexican export to the U.S. market — methamphetamines — is slower.
Read moreOpioid Payments
The Second Circuit reversed a ruling that had blocked the enforcement of part of New York’s Opioid Stewardship Act, which requires opioid manufacturers and distributors to collectively pay $100 million annually to support statewide programs that provide opioid treatment, recovery, prevention and education services.
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Big Pharma Blames Drug Users for San Francisco Opioid Woes
In a case that will determine if cities across the nation can sue drugmakers, distributors and pharmacies on civil conspiracy claims related to the opioid crisis, a lawyer told a federal judge Thursday that drug users, not licensed sellers, are the ones to blame for San Francisco’s opioid problems.
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Former LA Angels Staffer Charged in Overdose Death of Pitcher
A former communications director with the Los Angeles Angels baseball club was arrested Friday, accused of dealing opioids to pitcher Tyler Skaggs before he overdosed and died last year at a Dallas-area hotel prior to a game with the Texas Rangers.
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Sixth Circuit Hears Challenge to Class in Massive Opioid Case
Prescription opioid manufacturers and distributors argued before a Sixth Circuit panel Tuesday that a so-called negotiation class of state and local governments created by a federal judge is unconstitutional.
Read moreOpioid Crisis
Various cities in West Virginia failed to prove that pain treatment standards approved by a nonprofit health care accrediting organization caused the “widespread societal ills and costs” associated with the opioid crisis, a federal court in the state ruled.
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Federal Judge Puts Hold on Philly Safe-Injection Site
A federal judge ruled it is in the public’s best interest that the nation’s first supervised drug-injection site in Philadelphia be barred from opening while federal prosecutors appeal the site’s legality.
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Ninth Circuit Hints at Reviving NFL Painkillers Class Action
A Ninth Circuit panel hinted Thursday that a prior ruling holding USA Water Polo liable for failing to protect young athletes from concussions could open the door to reviving a class action over painkillers pushed on hurt football players.
Read moreTennessee Opioid Suit
A group of Tennessee prosecutors suing pharmaceutical companies for the damages opioid use has inflicted on their communities said Tuesday the Tennessee Supreme Court has refused to hear the companies’ bid to be dismissed as defendants, which will allow the case to move forward after two years of attempted delays.
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US Attorney Announces $145M Settlement in Opioid Case
A San Francisco-based health information technology company will pay $145 million to resolve criminal and civil charges that it helped set up an electronic health records system that encouraged physicians to prescribe opioids to patients who might not need them, federal prosecutors in Vermont said Monday.
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Pharma Exec Gets 5½ Years for Pushing Opioid
The founder of an Arizona pharmaceutical company was sentenced to 5½ years in prison Thursday for orchestrating a bribery and kickback scheme prosecutors said helped fuel the opioid crisis.
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Opioid Money Can Be Used to Fight Meth & Cocaine
Alarmed by a deadly new twist in the nation’s drug addiction crisis, the government will allow states to use federal money earmarked for the opioid epidemic to help growing numbers of people struggling with meth and cocaine.
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Oklahoma Takes on More Opioid Makers in New Lawsuit
Oklahoma officials sued opioid distributors McKesson, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen in state court Monday, claiming the companies failed to stop and report suspiciously large orders of opioid prescription drugs that were diverted and killed scores of addicts.
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Oklahoma Reaches $8.75 Million Settlement With Opiate Maker
The state of Oklahoma will receive $8.75 million from two pharmaceutical companies in a deal announced Friday that will end legal action the state was considering against the opioid manufacturers.
Read morePharmacies Blame Doctors for Opioid Crisis
Doctors and other health care practitioners who write prescriptions bear ultimate responsibility for improper distribution of opioids to patients, not pharmacists who are obliged to fill those prescriptions, a series of pharmacy chains claim in federal court.
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Slew of New Laws Take Effect Nationwide on New Year’s Day
The new year will bring new fees for some owners of electric vehicles, as an increasing number of states seek to plug in to fresh revenue sources to offset forgone gas taxes. In Hawaii, the charge will be $50. In Kansas, $100. In Alabama and Ohio, $200.
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Veteran Bankruptcy Judge Presides Over Purdue Pharma Case
The judge overseeing the bankruptcy of OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma warns that real-life court cases don’t unfold like “Perry Mason.” But he’s afraid this one might come to resemble “Dr. Strangelove.”
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Australia Fines Sackler-Owned Opioid Maker Over Advertising
Australia’s drug regulator has fined a pharmaceutical company owned by the billionaire Sackler family over what it dubbed misleading advertising for one of its opioid painkillers, as the country grapples with surging rates of opioid prescriptions and related deaths.
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