opioids

Stories 41 - 60 | << Prev   Next >>

Deaths Spike as OD Antidote Price Soars

Expert attributes thousands of deaths to greed amid naxolone supply issues

(Newser) - The US has seen a record high in overdose deaths during the pandemic, and an addiction expert says "we can expect even more fatal overdoses" now that a medication that reverses overdoses has jumped up to 30 times in price. The Opioid Safety and Naloxone Network Buyers Club, a...

Judge Approves Settlement That Shields Sacklers

Purdue Pharma owners will be protected from future lawsuits over opioids

(Newser) - A federal bankruptcy judge gave conditional approval Wednesday to a sweeping, potentially $10 billion plan submitted by OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma to settle a mountain of lawsuits over its role in the opioid crisis that has killed a half-million Americans over the past two decades. Under the settlement, the Sackler...

Doctor Accused of Fraud Has Bigger Problems Now

FBI says Anatoly Braylovsky tried to hire a hitman to take out a witness

(Newser) - Connecticut doctor Anatoly Braylovsky got burned in a sting operation last year and was charged with making bogus opioid prescriptions. This year, the FBI says he got burned in yet another sting and is charged with trying to hire a hitman to help him beat the first charges. As the...

Johnson & Johnson Settles For $230M, Quits Opioid Business

Deal takes the pharmaceutical giant out of huge New York trial

(Newser) - Johnson & Johnson is going out of the opioid business in the US. It's also going to pay the state of New York a $230 million settlement, the New York Times reports. The agreement takes them out of a trial of several pharmaceutical makers slated to start next week....

Pharma Memos Mocked Customers as 'Pillbillies'

Disparaging rhymes and emails show contempt as opioid problem grew: lawyer

(Newser) - Pharmaceutical executives mocked their customers as hillbillies, disparaging them in rhymes even as the companies poured pills into Appalachia and opioid addiction rates and overdoses rose. One email told of Jed, for example, "a poor mountaineer" who "barely kept his habit fed." Another rhyme referred to Kentucky...

The 10 States With the Biggest Drug Problems

District of Columbia actually fares the worst on WalletHub list

(Newser) - Drug abuse has only gotten worse with the pandemic, with 87,000 overdose deaths in the 12 months ending in September—representing a 29% increase from October 2019 to September 2020, reports the New York Times . Breaking down the states most affected by drug abuse using 21 metrics—including per...

Many Have Lukewarm Reaction to OxyContin Maker's Offer

$10B plan calls for turning the pharmaceutical giant into a new company

(Newser) - Some state attorneys general and opioid addiction activists pushed back Tuesday against a settlement offer from OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, saying it didn't include enough money and goes too far in protecting the company and family members who own it from future liability. A group of nearly half the...

Prosecutor About Doctor: 'Basically, He's a Serial Killer'

Long Island doctor charged in connection with opioid deaths

(Newser) - A Long Island Doctor who saw patients in a hotel parking lot, a Dunkin’ Donuts, and an abandoned Radio Shack has been indicted on murder charges, the AP reports. Authorities say George Blatti, 75, prescribed massive amounts of opioids, leading to the deaths of five patients and endangering the lives...

Amid Opioid ODs, Firm Advised How to 'Supercharge' Sales: Report

Consulting firm McKinsey to pay $573M for role in crisis

(Newser) - The global business consulting firm McKinsey & Company has agreed to a $573 million settlement over its role in advising companies on how to "supercharge" opioid sales amid an overdose crisis, a person with knowledge of the deal told the AP on Wednesday. Sources told the New York Times...

Federal Lawsuit: Walmart Helped Fuel a National Crisis

Justice Department says company's pharmacies 'failed to follow basic legal rules'

(Newser) - The Justice Department is suing Walmart, alleging the company unlawfully dispensed controlled substances through its more than 5,000 pharmacies, helping to fuel the opioid crisis in America, reports the AP . Details of the allegations contained in the civil complaint being filed Tuesday:
  • The Justice Department alleges Walmart violated federal
...

Sacklers Infuriate Lawmakers
Sacklers Infuriate Lawmakers
Dec 17, 2020 4:38 PM CST

Sacklers Infuriate Lawmakers

Family behind Purdue Pharma has no regrets over opioid crisis

(Newser) - The opioid epidemic has killed more than 400,000 Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Prescription opioids including Oxycontin, which Purdue Pharma put on the market about 25 years ago, caused about 230,000 of the deaths. The company's marketing pitched the pills to doctors...

OxyContin Maker Pleads Guilty to 3 Criminal Charges

Company admits role in opioid epidemic

(Newser) - Purdue Pharma pleaded guilty Tuesday to three criminal charges, formally taking responsibility for its part in an opioid epidemic that has contributed to hundreds of thousands of deaths but also angering critics who want to see individuals held accountable, in addition to the company. In a virtual hearing with a...

Landmark Opioid Settlement Is Close

4 companies would pay $26B

(Newser) - Four companies are closing in on a $26 billion settlement of lawsuits over their roles in the opioid crisis. The deal would prevent state and local governments from suing the companies in the future. Some of the governments had rejected a similar package last year; the companies added $4 billion...

Walmart Sues Feds in Opioid Abuse Battle

Lawsuit is 'pre-emptive strike'

(Newser) - Walmart is suing the US government in a pre-emptive strike in the battle over its responsibility in the opioid abuse crisis. The government is expected to take civil action against the world's largest retailer, seeking big financial penalties, for the role its pharmacies may have played in the crisis...

Inside Purdue Pharma&#39;s $8B Settlement With the Feds
It Makes OxyContin. Now It's
Made a Deal With the Feds
the rundown
Oct 21, 2020 12:20 PM CDT

It Makes OxyContin. Now It's Made a Deal With the Feds

Inside the $8.3B Purdue Pharma settlement

(Newser) - OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma will plead guilty to three federal criminal charges, the Justice Department said Wednesday in announcing an $8.3 billion deal that settles the federal investigation of how the company marketed opioids, Politico reports. Those charges include conspiracy to defraud the US and violating federal anti-kickback laws....

Melissa Etheridge on Son's Death: 'You Can't Die and Give Up'

Singer talks to 'Rolling Stone' about 21-year-old Beckett Cypher succumbing to opioid addiction

(Newser) - Melissa Etheridge continues to mourn the loss of her 21-year-son, Beckett Cypher, who died in May due to an opioid addiction, and in a new Rolling Stone video interview, the 59-year-old singer reveals it's still "a struggle." "You want to help your child," she tells...

Secret US Safe Injection Site Saved Dozens of Lives

Researcher say clandestine site reversed 33 overdoses

(Newser) - For years, addicts have been injecting themselves with drugs at a secret location in an undisclosed US city. Researchers say the clandestine safe injection site has saved dozens of lives and has probably prevented many HIV and hepatitis C infections. The site, based on legal ones in Europe and Canada,...

Drug Raids Reveal 'Unprecedented' Fentanyl Production

Asian syndicates might be treating pandemic as a 'business opportunity'

(Newser) - Raids on clandestine labs in Myanmar resulted in drug seizures that were "truly off the charts," authorities say. AFP reports that the raids on dozens of labs in remote Shan state between February and April unearthed hundreds of pounds of heroin and raw opium, along with the largest...

Mom of The Flash Actor: This Is How He Died

Marlyse Williams speaks out about Logan's death

(Newser) - Logan Williams' death remains tragic, but at least the cause is known—and might help others avoid the same fate. His grieving mother, Marlyse, has stepped into the media spotlight to explain how The Flash star died suddenly on April 2 at age 16. "His death is not going...

Guy's Joker 'Performance' Ends in Charge of Terrorist Threat

'I'm planning on killing a bunch of people,' Jeremy Garnier said on livestream

(Newser) - A man in a Joker costume threatened to kill people on a nearly hourlong livestream as he drove around a St. Louis suburb on Monday, according to University City police. "I'm going to start killing people until this reaches a thousand [viewers] and once it reaches a thousand,...

Stories 41 - 60 | << Prev   Next >>