opioid addiction

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Supreme Court Tosses Controversial Opioid Settlement

5-4 ruling blocks nationwide deal with Purdue Pharma over opioid epidemic

(Newser) - The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a nationwide settlement with OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma that would have shielded members of the Sackler family who own the company from civil lawsuits over the toll of opioids but also would have provided billions of dollars to combat the opioid epidemic. After deliberating...

There's a Big Downside to Demonizing Opioids
We May Have Gone Too Far
in Demonizing Opioids
longform
Jun 9, 2024 3:20 PM CDT

We May Have Gone Too Far in Demonizing Opioids

Too many people are dying painful deaths, writes Ann Neumann in the Baffler

(Newser) - The stigma in America against opioid use is an understandable one, writes Ann Neumann in the Baffler . After all, the devastating toll of addiction over the last two decades by drugs such as OxyContin has been well chronicled. Neumann covers that familiar territory in her piece, but in the context...

Report: McKinsey Is Target of Opioid-Related Criminal Probe

Grand jury has been empaneled after years-long federal investigation, sources say

(Newser) - McKinsey & Company, the consulting firm that advised companies how to "supercharge" opioid sales , is the target of a criminal investigation into its role in a crisis that has killed more Americans than any war, insiders say. Sources tell the Wall Street Journal that the Justice Department is investigating...

Washington Announces $150M Opioid Settlement With Drugmaker

It's about $20M more than state would have received under national settlement

(Newser) - More than four years after suing Johnson & Johnson over the drugmaker's role in the opioid crisis, Washington state has reached a $149.5 million settlement with the company. The deal, which must still be approved by a judge, would send $123.3 million to state and local governments...

One Woman's Controversial Mission to Help Drug Addicts

Louise Vincent focuses on 'harm reduction' approach instead of abstinence

(Newser) - One way to help addicts off of drugs is to get them to quit cold turkey, an approach favored by many US politicians as they push for legislation and tougher prison sentences to combat the emergence of such drugs as fentanyl and xylazine (aka "tranq," or "zombie...

US to Study Controversial Idea for Drug Users

$5M will go toward looking at 2 'safe injection sites' in New York and Rhode Island

(Newser) - For the first time, the US government will pay for a large study measuring whether overdoses can be prevented by so-called safe injection sites, places where people can use heroin and other illegal drugs and be revived if they take too much. As the AP reports, the grant provides more...

Opioid Distributors That 'Turned on the Faucets' Win Big Case

Plaintiffs lose complaint in Georgia in which they'd sued distributors as if they were drug dealers

(Newser) - A trio of opioid distributors emerged victorious at a Georgia trial on Wednesday, in the first lawsuit from private individuals against pharma companies that made it to trial. Per Reuters , the verdict was handed down in Glynn County Superior Court in favor of Cardinal Health, McKesson Corp., and the regional...

Another Big Pharma Chain Is About to Fork Over Billions

Walmart agrees to $3.1B settlement with states, tribes regarding opioid crisis

(Newser) - Walmart has joined two other big pharmacy chains in opening its wallet wide to help fix the opioid epidemic that many say they helped cause. The Wall Street Journal reports that Walmart has agreed to fork over $3.1 billion to settle lawsuits from multiple states, municipalities, and Native American...

Matthew Perry Spills More on the 'Big Terrible Thing'

'Friends' actor's book is out, and he goes into more detail on the substance abuse that nearly killed him

(Newser) - Excerpts had leaked in advance of Matthew Perry's book, and he'd openly mentioned in interviews that he'd be talking about his drug and alcohol addiction in it. Now, after the Tuesday release of Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, more on the Friends star's extensive...

Victims Deal With Emotions After Facing Sacklers

Purdue owners had to sit through family statements

(Newser) - After telling the Sacklers how they and family members had suffered from or lost relatives to opioid addiction, some of the roughly two dozen people who made court statements Thursday were left to deal with the emotions and assess the value of the confrontations. Some who spoke emerged exhausted, others...

CDC Proposes Softening Guidance on Opioids

Strict 2016 guidelines were 'misused and misapplied'

(Newser) - The nation's top public health agency on Thursday proposed changing—and in some instances softening—guidelines for US doctors prescribing oxycodone and other opioid painkillers. The CDC's previous guidance, issued six years ago, helped slow the kind of prescribing that ignited the worst overdose epidemic in US history,...

Counties Win 'Landmark Victory' Against Pharmacy Chains

Federal jury found chains responsible for role in opioid crisis

(Newser) - CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart pharmacies recklessly distributed massive amounts of pain pills in two Ohio counties, a federal jury said Tuesday in a verdict that could set the tone for US city and county governments that want to hold pharmacies accountable for their roles in the opioid crisis. Lake and...

Court Overturns $465M Opioid Ruling Against Johnson & Johnson

It's the second blow to a case like this in the past month

(Newser) - The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Tuesday overturned a $465 million opioid ruling against drugmaker Johnson & Johnson, finding that a lower court wrongly interpreted the state's public nuisance law in the first case of its kind in the US to go to trial. The ruling was the second blow...

This Could Be First State to Pay Addicts to Stay Sober

'Contingency management' bill sits before California state assembly

(Newser) - Frustrated by out-of-control increases in drug overdose deaths, California's leaders are trying something radical: They want the state to be the first to pay people to stay sober. The federal government has been doing it for years with military veterans, and research shows it is one of the most...

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...

Family Doctor's Big Secret: $9K a Week Pushing Fentanyl

'Toronto Life' recounts the case of George Otto

(Newser) - About a decade ago, the province of Ontario, Canada, set up a monitoring system to prevent bogus opioid prescriptions, a system designed to flag shady doctors or pharmacists. "But what happens when a bad doctor meets a bad pharmacist?" writes Brett Popplewell in Toronto Life . "The system wasn’...

Etheridge Opens Up About 'Nightmare' of Son's Addiction

Beckett Cypher died of an overdose at 21

(Newser) - Eight months after the death of 21-year-old son Beckett Cypher from an opioid overdose, "it feels like two weeks," Melissa Etheridge says. "I miss him. It's something that you have to grow with every day." In an interview with People , the singer discusses Beckett's...

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
...

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...

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