The two largest U.S. pharmacy chains, CVS Health and Walgreen Co., announced agreements in principle Wednesday to pay about $5 billion each to settle lawsuits nationwide over the toll of opioids, and a lawyer said Walmart, a third pharmacy behemoth, is in discussions for a deal.
The prospective settlements are part of a shift in the legal landscape surrounding the opioid epidemic. Instead of suspense over whether companies in the drug industry would be held to account through trials or settlements, the big question is now how their money will be used and whether it will make a difference in fighting a crisis that has only intensified.
The deals, if completed, would end thousands of lawsuits in which governments claimed pharmacies filled prescriptions they should have flagged as inappropriate. With settlements already proposed or finalized between some of the biggest drugmakers and distribution companies, the recent developments could be the among the last multibillion-dollar settlements to be announced.
They also would bring the total value of all settlements to more than $50 billion, with most of it required to be used by state and local governments to combat opioids, which have been linked to more than 500,000 deaths in the U.S. over the last two decades.
“It's one more culprit of the overdose crisis that is having to pay their dues," said Courtney Gary-Allen, organizing director of the Maine Recovery Advocacy Project. "Average Americans have been paying it for a long time."
Gary-Allen, who is a member of a council that will help determine how Maine uses its opioid settlement funds, said more money to address the problem will help. In her state, she said, the needs include more beds for medical detox and for treatment.
Neither Woonsocket, Rhode Island-based CVS nor Deerfield, Illinois-based Walgreens is admitting wrongdoing.
The plans spring from mediation involving a group of state attorneys general. Before they move ahead, state and then local governments would need to sign on. So far, the detailed, formal deals have not been presented to the government entities so they can decide whether to join.
Under the tentative plans, CVS would pay $4.9 billion to local governments and about $130 million to Native American tribes over a decade. Walgreens would pay $4.8 billion to governments and $155 million to tribes over 15 years. The exact amount depends on how many governments join the deals.
Both noted they have been addressing the crisis through such measures as starting educational programs and installing safe disposal units for drugs in stores and police departments. And both said the settlements would allow them to help while staying focused on their business.
“We are pleased to resolve these longstanding claims and putting them behind us is in the best interest of all parties, as well as our customers, colleagues and shareholders,” Thomas Moriarty, CVS chief policy officer and general counsel, said in a statement.
Walgreens said in a statement: “As one of the largest pharmacy chains in the nation, we remain committed to being a part of the solution, and this settlement framework will allow us to keep our focus on the health and wellbeing of our customers and patients, while making positive contributions to address the opioid crisis,” Walgreens said in a statement.
Paul Geller, a lawyer for governments in the lawsuits, said talks with Walmart continue. Walmart representatives would not comment Wednesday.
“These agreements will be the first resolutions reached with pharmacy chains and will equip communities across the country with the much-needed tools to fight back against this epidemic and bring about tangible, positive change,” lawyers for local governments said in a statement. “In addition to payments totaling billions of dollars, these companies have committed to making significant improvements to their dispensing practices to help reduce addiction moving forward.”
If these settlements are completed, they would leave mostly smaller drug industry players as defendants in lawsuits. Just this week, a group of mostly regional pharmacy chains sent to a judge, who is overseeing federal litigation, information about claims they face, a possible precursor to scheduling trials or mediating settlements involving some of those firms.
“One by one, we are holding every player in the addiction industry accountable for the millions of lives lost or devastated by the opioid epidemic,” Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said in a statement. “The companies that helped to create and fuel this crisis must commit to changing their businesses practices, and to providing the resources needed for treatment, prevention and recovery.”
Most of the nation's opioid overdose deaths initially involved prescription drugs. As governments, doctors and companies took steps to make them harder to abuse and obtain, people addicted to them increasingly switched to heroin, which proved more deadly.
In recent years, opioid deaths have soared to record levels around 80,000 a year. Most of those deaths involve illicitly produced version of the powerful lab-made drug fentanyl, which is appearing throughout the U.S. supply of illegal drugs.
Only a handful of opioid settlements have had bigger dollar figures than the CVS plan. Distributors AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson this year finalized a combined settlement worth $21 billion, and drugmaker Johnson & Johnson finalized a $5 billion deal.
Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, and members of the Sackler family who own the company have a proposed settlement that would involve up to $6 billion in cash, plus the value of the company, which would be turned into a new entity with its profits used to combat the epidemic. That plan has been put on hold by a court.
___
Associated Press writer Tom Murphy in Indianapolis contributed to this report.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Depends on your age. No one under 35 didn't know how addictive oxy's or heroin was when they took them. I feel bad for the people who were prescribed them for legitimate reasons a couple decades ago and got addicted. They weren't bombarded with how addictive and destructive they are like we are now.
It's like people who smoke, get addicted and contract cancer. If your under the age of 50, there isn't any excuse for not knowing. I do feel bad for people over the age of 60 or so. They didn't have the same amount of information or warnings.
I do feel compassion for anyone dealing with any sort of serious addictions.
I was watching a recent network TV interview with Matthew Perry (of "Friends" fame). And he's struggled with addiction his whole life. It essentially started the first time he drank underaged. Somehow, his friends did it for fun from time to time and he just did it all the time. He was essentially born to be an alcoholic. He got into pills after they were subscribed for some kind of pain. I don't even think this was his goal, but it really conveyed how becoming chemically dependent can sneak up on a person and it kind of dulls the "well they made a choice to first use it." Sure, that first drink was his decision, but how many people have never taken a drink?
I get it; I've never used anything worse than alcohol...not even weed. And when I first drank (summer after junior year of high school) I made a conscious decision that I wasn't going to mess with anything else. Fear of addiction is a big part of that (and why I never became a tobacco user, too). You can suggest that others made those choices, but it's not necessarily that black and white. For example, I was scared of addiction but I drank and chose not to use marijuana? That's how ignorant I was. I really believe that it's pure luck that all my college drinking never brought me down the road to using booze to numb pain or overcome some sort of anxiety (and I do have OCD, an anxiety disorder). Really, the difference between Perry and me is luck. Now, yeah, it's a terrible idea to use heroin or other hard drugs but there's a little bit of gray there. My uncle has said "I thank god every day I never liked cocaine." He smoked a lot of weed and apparently tried coke twice. Is he any better than someone that ended up with a cocaine problem? Or just luckier?
Bad idea to ever get into hard drugs, but there are then a lot of people to judge.
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Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
US agency softens opioid prescribing guidelines for doctors
By MIKE STOBBE
Today
NEW YORK (AP) — The nation’s top public health agency on Thursday softened its guidelines for U.S. doctors prescribing oxycodone and other opioid painkillers.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention new recommendations are an update to 2016 guidelines that added momentum to a decline in opioid painkiller prescriptions.
Opioids painkillers can be addictive — even when used under doctors’ orders — and were identified as a big reason for a rise in U.S. drug overdoses that began more than two decades ago. Other drugs have overtaken them in overdose statistics, and illicit fentanyl is now the biggest driver of deaths.
The previous guidance succeeded in reducing inappropriate and dangerous prescribing, some experts say. But they also were seen as a barrier to care, with some pharmacists refusing to fill prescriptions as doctors wrote them.
The new guidelines are designed to ensure that patients get compassionate and safe pain care, CDC officials said.
A draft released in February received 5,500 public comments. Some modifications were made, but several main changes stayed in place, including:
—The CDC no longer suggests trying to limit opioid treatment for acute pain to three days.
—The agency is dropping the specific recommendation that doctors avoid increasing dosage to a level equivalent to 90 milligrams of morphine per day.
—For patients receiving higher doses of opioids, the CDC is urging doctors to not abruptly halt treatment unless there are indications of a life-threatening danger. The agency offers suggestions on tapering patients off the drugs.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
US agency softens opioid prescribing guidelines for doctors
By MIKE STOBBE
Today
NEW YORK (AP) — The nation’s top public health agency on Thursday softened its guidelines for U.S. doctors prescribing oxycodone and other opioid painkillers.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention new recommendations are an update to 2016 guidelines that added momentum to a decline in opioid painkiller prescriptions.
Opioids painkillers can be addictive — even when used under doctors’ orders — and were identified as a big reason for a rise in U.S. drug overdoses that began more than two decades ago. Other drugs have overtaken them in overdose statistics, and illicit fentanyl is now the biggest driver of deaths.
The previous guidance succeeded in reducing inappropriate and dangerous prescribing, some experts say. But they also were seen as a barrier to care, with some pharmacists refusing to fill prescriptions as doctors wrote them.
The new guidelines are designed to ensure that patients get compassionate and safe pain care, CDC officials said.
A draft released in February received 5,500 public comments. Some modifications were made, but several main changes stayed in place, including:
—The CDC no longer suggests trying to limit opioid treatment for acute pain to three days.
—The agency is dropping the specific recommendation that doctors avoid increasing dosage to a level equivalent to 90 milligrams of morphine per day.
—For patients receiving higher doses of opioids, the CDC is urging doctors to not abruptly halt treatment unless there are indications of a life-threatening danger. The agency offers suggestions on tapering patients off the drugs.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
So when doctors follow CDC guidelines and shit blows up again the doctors can't get sued now?
US agency softens opioid prescribing guidelines for doctors
By MIKE STOBBE
Today
NEW YORK (AP) — The nation’s top public health agency on Thursday softened its guidelines for U.S. doctors prescribing oxycodone and other opioid painkillers.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention new recommendations are an update to 2016 guidelines that added momentum to a decline in opioid painkiller prescriptions.
Opioids painkillers can be addictive — even when used under doctors’ orders — and were identified as a big reason for a rise in U.S. drug overdoses that began more than two decades ago. Other drugs have overtaken them in overdose statistics, and illicit fentanyl is now the biggest driver of deaths.
The previous guidance succeeded in reducing inappropriate and dangerous prescribing, some experts say. But they also were seen as a barrier to care, with some pharmacists refusing to fill prescriptions as doctors wrote them.
The new guidelines are designed to ensure that patients get compassionate and safe pain care, CDC officials said.
A draft released in February received 5,500 public comments. Some modifications were made, but several main changes stayed in place, including:
—The CDC no longer suggests trying to limit opioid treatment for acute pain to three days.
—The agency is dropping the specific recommendation that doctors avoid increasing dosage to a level equivalent to 90 milligrams of morphine per day.
—For patients receiving higher doses of opioids, the CDC is urging doctors to not abruptly halt treatment unless there are indications of a life-threatening danger. The agency offers suggestions on tapering patients off the drugs.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
So when doctors follow CDC guidelines and shit blows up again the doctors can't get sued now?
well here in ohio theres a process where a separate doctor reviews cases and records and I think interviews patients to gauge thereputic use and avoid abuse.
the clapdown fucked those in true need. pain the drug was initially designed to treat.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
US agency softens opioid prescribing guidelines for doctors
By MIKE STOBBE
Today
NEW YORK (AP) — The nation’s top public health agency on Thursday softened its guidelines for U.S. doctors prescribing oxycodone and other opioid painkillers.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention new recommendations are an update to 2016 guidelines that added momentum to a decline in opioid painkiller prescriptions.
Opioids painkillers can be addictive — even when used under doctors’ orders — and were identified as a big reason for a rise in U.S. drug overdoses that began more than two decades ago. Other drugs have overtaken them in overdose statistics, and illicit fentanyl is now the biggest driver of deaths.
The previous guidance succeeded in reducing inappropriate and dangerous prescribing, some experts say. But they also were seen as a barrier to care, with some pharmacists refusing to fill prescriptions as doctors wrote them.
The new guidelines are designed to ensure that patients get compassionate and safe pain care, CDC officials said.
A draft released in February received 5,500 public comments. Some modifications were made, but several main changes stayed in place, including:
—The CDC no longer suggests trying to limit opioid treatment for acute pain to three days.
—The agency is dropping the specific recommendation that doctors avoid increasing dosage to a level equivalent to 90 milligrams of morphine per day.
—For patients receiving higher doses of opioids, the CDC is urging doctors to not abruptly halt treatment unless there are indications of a life-threatening danger. The agency offers suggestions on tapering patients off the drugs.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
So when doctors follow CDC guidelines and shit blows up again the doctors can't get sued now?
well here in ohio theres a process where a separate doctor reviews cases and records and I think interviews patients to gauge thereputic use and avoid abuse.
the clapdown fucked those in true need. pain the drug was initially designed to treat.
A doctor should understand how to administer the drugs and see signs of abuse. Jumping patients through multiple hoops is just CYA for the CDC.
US agency softens opioid prescribing guidelines for doctors
By MIKE STOBBE
Today
NEW YORK (AP) — The nation’s top public health agency on Thursday softened its guidelines for U.S. doctors prescribing oxycodone and other opioid painkillers.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention new recommendations are an update to 2016 guidelines that added momentum to a decline in opioid painkiller prescriptions.
Opioids painkillers can be addictive — even when used under doctors’ orders — and were identified as a big reason for a rise in U.S. drug overdoses that began more than two decades ago. Other drugs have overtaken them in overdose statistics, and illicit fentanyl is now the biggest driver of deaths.
The previous guidance succeeded in reducing inappropriate and dangerous prescribing, some experts say. But they also were seen as a barrier to care, with some pharmacists refusing to fill prescriptions as doctors wrote them.
The new guidelines are designed to ensure that patients get compassionate and safe pain care, CDC officials said.
A draft released in February received 5,500 public comments. Some modifications were made, but several main changes stayed in place, including:
—The CDC no longer suggests trying to limit opioid treatment for acute pain to three days.
—The agency is dropping the specific recommendation that doctors avoid increasing dosage to a level equivalent to 90 milligrams of morphine per day.
—For patients receiving higher doses of opioids, the CDC is urging doctors to not abruptly halt treatment unless there are indications of a life-threatening danger. The agency offers suggestions on tapering patients off the drugs.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
So when doctors follow CDC guidelines and shit blows up again the doctors can't get sued now?
well here in ohio theres a process where a separate doctor reviews cases and records and I think interviews patients to gauge thereputic use and avoid abuse.
the clapdown fucked those in true need. pain the drug was initially designed to treat.
A doctor should understand how to administer the drugs and see signs of abuse. Jumping patients through multiple hoops is just CYA for the CDC.
nah. it removes the personal connection between doctor and patient. reviewer can be more objective
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
US agency softens opioid prescribing guidelines for doctors
By MIKE STOBBE
Today
NEW YORK (AP) — The nation’s top public health agency on Thursday softened its guidelines for U.S. doctors prescribing oxycodone and other opioid painkillers.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention new recommendations are an update to 2016 guidelines that added momentum to a decline in opioid painkiller prescriptions.
Opioids painkillers can be addictive — even when used under doctors’ orders — and were identified as a big reason for a rise in U.S. drug overdoses that began more than two decades ago. Other drugs have overtaken them in overdose statistics, and illicit fentanyl is now the biggest driver of deaths.
The previous guidance succeeded in reducing inappropriate and dangerous prescribing, some experts say. But they also were seen as a barrier to care, with some pharmacists refusing to fill prescriptions as doctors wrote them.
The new guidelines are designed to ensure that patients get compassionate and safe pain care, CDC officials said.
A draft released in February received 5,500 public comments. Some modifications were made, but several main changes stayed in place, including:
—The CDC no longer suggests trying to limit opioid treatment for acute pain to three days.
—The agency is dropping the specific recommendation that doctors avoid increasing dosage to a level equivalent to 90 milligrams of morphine per day.
—For patients receiving higher doses of opioids, the CDC is urging doctors to not abruptly halt treatment unless there are indications of a life-threatening danger. The agency offers suggestions on tapering patients off the drugs.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
So when doctors follow CDC guidelines and shit blows up again the doctors can't get sued now?
well here in ohio theres a process where a separate doctor reviews cases and records and I think interviews patients to gauge thereputic use and avoid abuse.
the clapdown fucked those in true need. pain the drug was initially designed to treat.
A doctor should understand how to administer the drugs and see signs of abuse. Jumping patients through multiple hoops is just CYA for the CDC.
nah. it removes the personal connection between doctor and patient. reviewer can be more objective
I'm failing to see how this makes anything better. It makes a patient, like you said, in true need have to wait longer. That's how I read it as.
US agency softens opioid prescribing guidelines for doctors
By MIKE STOBBE
Today
NEW YORK (AP) — The nation’s top public health agency on Thursday softened its guidelines for U.S. doctors prescribing oxycodone and other opioid painkillers.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention new recommendations are an update to 2016 guidelines that added momentum to a decline in opioid painkiller prescriptions.
Opioids painkillers can be addictive — even when used under doctors’ orders — and were identified as a big reason for a rise in U.S. drug overdoses that began more than two decades ago. Other drugs have overtaken them in overdose statistics, and illicit fentanyl is now the biggest driver of deaths.
The previous guidance succeeded in reducing inappropriate and dangerous prescribing, some experts say. But they also were seen as a barrier to care, with some pharmacists refusing to fill prescriptions as doctors wrote them.
The new guidelines are designed to ensure that patients get compassionate and safe pain care, CDC officials said.
A draft released in February received 5,500 public comments. Some modifications were made, but several main changes stayed in place, including:
—The CDC no longer suggests trying to limit opioid treatment for acute pain to three days.
—The agency is dropping the specific recommendation that doctors avoid increasing dosage to a level equivalent to 90 milligrams of morphine per day.
—For patients receiving higher doses of opioids, the CDC is urging doctors to not abruptly halt treatment unless there are indications of a life-threatening danger. The agency offers suggestions on tapering patients off the drugs.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
So when doctors follow CDC guidelines and shit blows up again the doctors can't get sued now?
well here in ohio theres a process where a separate doctor reviews cases and records and I think interviews patients to gauge thereputic use and avoid abuse.
the clapdown fucked those in true need. pain the drug was initially designed to treat.
A doctor should understand how to administer the drugs and see signs of abuse. Jumping patients through multiple hoops is just CYA for the CDC.
nah. it removes the personal connection between doctor and patient. reviewer can be more objective
I'm failing to see how this makes anything better. It makes a patient, like you said, in true need have to wait longer. That's how I read it as.
this was implemented when ohio began cracking down on the pill mills. I dont know if its still in place
the problem for the chronics as stated in the article was/is pharmacies refusing to fill. these. guidelines look to address that and more.
but I posted as a marker of sorts to see where we are now and what this ultimately contributes to.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
US agency softens opioid prescribing guidelines for doctors
By MIKE STOBBE
Today
NEW YORK (AP) — The nation’s top public health agency on Thursday softened its guidelines for U.S. doctors prescribing oxycodone and other opioid painkillers.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention new recommendations are an update to 2016 guidelines that added momentum to a decline in opioid painkiller prescriptions.
Opioids painkillers can be addictive — even when used under doctors’ orders — and were identified as a big reason for a rise in U.S. drug overdoses that began more than two decades ago. Other drugs have overtaken them in overdose statistics, and illicit fentanyl is now the biggest driver of deaths.
The previous guidance succeeded in reducing inappropriate and dangerous prescribing, some experts say. But they also were seen as a barrier to care, with some pharmacists refusing to fill prescriptions as doctors wrote them.
The new guidelines are designed to ensure that patients get compassionate and safe pain care, CDC officials said.
A draft released in February received 5,500 public comments. Some modifications were made, but several main changes stayed in place, including:
—The CDC no longer suggests trying to limit opioid treatment for acute pain to three days.
—The agency is dropping the specific recommendation that doctors avoid increasing dosage to a level equivalent to 90 milligrams of morphine per day.
—For patients receiving higher doses of opioids, the CDC is urging doctors to not abruptly halt treatment unless there are indications of a life-threatening danger. The agency offers suggestions on tapering patients off the drugs.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
So when doctors follow CDC guidelines and shit blows up again the doctors can't get sued now?
well here in ohio theres a process where a separate doctor reviews cases and records and I think interviews patients to gauge thereputic use and avoid abuse.
the clapdown fucked those in true need. pain the drug was initially designed to treat.
A doctor should understand how to administer the drugs and see signs of abuse. Jumping patients through multiple hoops is just CYA for the CDC.
nah. it removes the personal connection between doctor and patient. reviewer can be more objective
I'm failing to see how this makes anything better. It makes a patient, like you said, in true need have to wait longer. That's how I read it as.
this was implemented when ohio began cracking down on the pill mills. I dont know if its still in place
the problem for the chronics as stated in the article was/is pharmacies refusing to fill. these. guidelines look to address that and more.
but I posted as a marker of sorts to see where we are now and what this ultimately contributes to.
If you were a doctor would you want to prescribe this? I sure as hell wouldn't.
Cherokee Nation announces plans for $18M treatment center
By SEAN MURPHY
1 hour ago
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — As a child welfare specialist for the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma more than a decade ago, Juli Skinner saw firsthand the impact of the opioid crisis on Cherokee families.
Parents who began using the powerful painkillers after a surgery or injury became hooked and were losing custody of their children, babies were being born addicted and young people who ended up in foster care were aging out of the system and becoming addicted themselves, resulting in a generational impact.
“We didn’t know what hit us. We were just floundering,” recalled Skinner, now the director of behavioral health for the Cherokee Nation, which is headquartered in Tahlequah in northeast Oklahoma.
Now, the nation's largest Native American tribe, with more than 440,000 enrolled citizens, plans to use a portion of its $98 million in opioid settlement funds to construct a 50-bed, 17,000-square-foot treatment facility in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, where the tribe is headquartered. The facility, which tribal officials announced on Monday, will be completely operated by the tribe and provide no-cost treatment for Cherokee Nation citizens struggling with substance abuse.
The $18 million treatment center is part of $73 million the tribe plans to spend building facilities across its reservation to address behavioral health needs, including drug treatment and prevention. Another $5 million will go into a tribal endowment to help pay for Cherokees to go to college and grad school to become therapists and medical professionals needed to staff the facilities.
“These will truly be drug treatment centers developed by Cherokees, for Cherokees,” said Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin. "It's not a federal government-imposed facility.
“The symbolism is also important, which is we are paying for this over the next five years and making the opioid industry pay for everything. There's a real sense of justice just making that statement.”
Native American tribes across the country settled with drugmaker Johnson & Johnson and the nation's largest drug distribution companies for $590 million that will be divvied up among hundreds of tribal nations, but the Cherokee Nation negotiated its own separate settlement with drug manufacturers and distributors.
One of the things Hoskin and other Cherokee Nation officials are excited about is incorporating aspects of the tribe's culture into the recovery program. In addition to having peer recovery specialists who are Cherokees, the recovery curriculum includes traditional activities like bead making, talking circles and stickball.
“A person in recovery needs to know they’re not alone,” Hoskin said. “If you’re Cherokee, there’s a real cultural reason why you’re not alone. We share traditions, even if those traditions in some families haven’t been practiced in generations.”
For Jennifer Lasiter, a 38-year-old Cherokee Nation citizen who struggled for years with opioid addiction after she began taking hydrocodone for a back injury, having a connection with other Cherokee citizens at her workplace has been an important part of her recovery.
“Just from working here at the Cherokee Nation, I believe that Cherokees band together and lift each other up,” said Lasiter, a single mother of three children who works for the tribe's food distribution center and has been sober for five years. “As a tribe, we all feel connected in some way.”
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
JFC, what next? Tellbya, drug addictscare highly adept at finding new and devastating ways to kill themselves. SOOO glad I made it out when I did. 17yrs come Apr 18....
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
JFC, what next? Tellbya, drug addictscare highly adept at finding new and devastating ways to kill themselves. SOOO glad I made it out when I did. 17yrs come Apr 18....
I don't think this is new. I've seen this for years now. Now I don't know if "tranq" was in the H already but they were sure as hell zombies.
When you see a person standing upright but bent over looking like they are going to fall and never do, drooling without a sense of the world around them...
I worry about the future generations that sample this crap and get hooked. One can only hope that they see these people on the street and NOT want to try these things.
Nevada secures $152 million opioid settlement with pharmacy chain CVS
By GABE STERN
1 hour ago
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — Nevada and pharmacy chain CVS have reached a nearly $152 million settlement to be paid over the next decade to end a lawsuit over opioid claims, state Attorney General Aaron Ford announced Tuesday.
“CVS negotiated in good faith,” Ford said at a news conference in Carson City. “Their work with the state of Nevada ... will help our state tackle the opioid problem.”
According to an Associated Press analysis, the settlement is one of the 10 largest between a single state and a single company over opioid claims. It also puts the total money Nevada expects to receive from opioid litigation settlements since 2020 at $606 million, according to Ford's office. It marks the largest sum the state has brought in opioid-related litigation by itself.
CVS was one of a number of companies that the state sued in the case filed in June 2019. A lawsuit against one company — Teva Pharmaceuticals — remains to be settled, and Ford said the state is preparing to go to trial in August.
Drugmakers, pharmacies, wholesalers and other companies have agreed to settlements of lawsuits over the opioid crisis nationwide totaling more than $50 billion. Much of the money is to be used to deal with an overdose crisis that is linked to more than 100,000 deaths a year in the U.S.
Some states have seen more from their share of multi-state or nationwide settlements. Last year, CVS agreed to pay state and local governments nearly $5 billion to settle lawsuits over the toll of opioids. But Nevada did not join in that litigation in order to pursue the single-state settlement, Ford spokesperson John Sadler said.
Nevada joined another multi-state settlement with three of the nation's largest opioid manufacturers in April 2022 totaling $232 million over nearly two decades.
Ford said about $80 million of the CVS settlement will go to a coalition of Nevada county and city governments, and the state will retain nearly $70 million. A panel of experts will make recommendations for using the money to mitigate the opioid epidemic, he said.
CVS also agreed to develop an oversight program with a list of prescriptions, patients and prescriber “red flags” to help stop the misuse of opioids.
A CVS spokesperson, Kara Page, said in a statement that the company was pleased with the pact with Nevada. The statement noted that opioid prescriptions are written by doctors, not pharmacists. It did not elaborate on the oversight program.
With the state Legislature in session, Ford is backing one of two companion bills with Democratic Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro to enhance fentanyl trafficking penalties, starting trafficking charges at four grams of possession of the synthetic opioid. Several states across the country are taking similar steps.
___
Associated Press writer Geoff Mulvihill contributed reporting in Washington D.C. Stern is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms. Follow Stern on Twitter: @gabestern326.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
After yearslong delay, DEA revokes license of drug distributor over opioid crisis failures
By Jim Mustian, Joshua Goodman
Today
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration stripped one of the nation's largest drug distributors of its license to sell highly addictive painkillers Friday after determining it failed to flag thousands of suspicious orders at the height of the opioid crisis.
The action against Morris & Dickson Co. that threatens to put it out of business came two days after an Associated Press investigation found the DEA allowed the company to keep shipping drugs for nearly four years after a judge recommended the harshest penalty for its “cavalier disregard” of rules aimed at preventing opioid abuse.
The DEA acknowledged the time it took to issue its final decision was “longer than typical for the agency” but blamed Morris & Dickson in part for holding up the process by seeking delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its lengthy pursuit of a settlement that the agency said it had considered. The order becomes effective in 90 days, allowing more time to negotiate a settlement.
DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said in the 68-page order that Morris & Dickson failed to accept full responsibility for its past actions, which included shipping 12,000 unusually large orders of opioids to pharmacies and hospitals between 2014 and 2018. During this time, the company filed just three suspicious order reports with the DEA.
Milgram specifically cited testimony of then-president Paul Dickson Sr. in 2019 that the company’s compliance program was “dang good” and he didn’t think a “single person has gotten hurt by (their) drugs.”
“Those statements from the president of a family-owned and operated company so strongly miss the point of the requirements of a DEA registrant,” she wrote. “Its acceptance of responsibility did not prove that it or its principals understand the full extent of their wrongdoing ... and the potential harm it caused."
Shreveport, Louisiana-based Morris & Dickson traces its roots to 1840, when its namesake founder arrived from Wales and placed an ad in a local newspaper selling medicines. It has since become the nation's fourth-largest wholesale drug distributor, with $4 billion a year in revenue and nearly 600 employees serving pharmacies and hospitals in 29 states.
In a statement, the company said it has invested millions of dollars over the past few years to revamp its compliance systems and appeared to hold out hope for a settlement.
“Morris & Dickson is grateful to the DEA administrator for delaying the effective date of the order to allow time to settle these old issues,” it said. “We remain confident we can achieve an outcome that safeguards the supply chain for all of our healthcare partners and the communities they serve. ... Business will continue as usual and orders will continue to go out on time.”
Morris & Dickson’s much larger competitors, a trio of pharmaceutical distributors known as the Big Three, have already agreed to pay the federal government more than $1 billion in fines and penalties to settle similar violations. Cardinal Health, AmerisourceBergen and McKesson also agreed to pay $21 billion over 18 years to resolve claims as part of a nationwide settlement.
While Morris & Dickson wasn’t the only drug distributor who the DEA accused of fueling the opioid crisis, it was unique in its willingness to challenge those accusations in the DEA’s administrative court.
In a scathing recommendation in 2019, Administrative Law Judge Charles W. Dorman said Morris & Dickson’s argument that it has changed its ways was too little, too late.
Anything less than the most severe punishment, the judge said, “would communicate to DEA registrants that despite their transgressions, no matter how egregious, they will get a mere slap on the wrist and a second chance so long as they acknowledge their sins and vow to sin no more.”
But as the ensuing years passed, neither the Biden-nominated Milgram nor her two predecessors took any enforcement action. Past DEA officials told the AP such decisions usually take no more than two years.
As the pills kept flowing, Morris & Dickson attempted to stave off punishment, appealing directly to Milgram to order a reopening of the proceedings, arguing it would introduce new evidence showing it had implemented an “ideal” compliance program with the help of a consultant who is now second-in-command at the DEA, Louis Milione. The DEA said that Milione has recused himself from all agency business related to Morris & Dickson.
Milione retired from the DEA in 2017 after a 21-year career that included two years leading the division that controls the sale of highly addictive narcotics. Like dozens of colleagues in the DEA’s powerful-but-little-known Office of Diversion Control, he went to work as a consultant for some of the same companies he had been tasked with regulating.
Milione was hired by Morris & Dickson in 2018 as part of a $3 million contract and later testified that the company “spared no expense” to overhaul its compliance systems, cancel suspicious orders and send daily emails to the DEA spelling out its actions.
A footnote of the DEA’s order Friday said that since Milione returned to the DEA as principal deputy administrator in 2021, he has not had any contact with Milgram or other agency staff about the Morris & Dickson case due to his prior involvement with the company.
___
Goodman reported from Miami, Mustian from New York. Contact AP’s global investigative team at Investigative@ap.org.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
The Supreme Court on Thursday blocked Purdue Pharma from
going forward with bankruptcy proceedings, which the Biden
administration has called an “unprecedented” arrangement that would
ultimately offer the Sackler family broad protection from opioid-related civil claims.
In agreeing to pause the settlement, the court also said it would take up the case and hear arguments this December.
The case arose after the reorganization in bankruptcy of OxyContin
manufacturer Purdue Pharma – stemming from litigation arising from
claims over its role in fueling the opioid addiction crisis.
Until recently, Purdue was controlled by the Sackler family, who
withdrew billions of dollars from the company before it filed for
bankruptcy. The family has now agreed to contribute up to $6 billion to
Purdue’s reorganization fund on the condition that the Sacklers receive a
release from civil liability.
“We are confident in the legality of our nearly universally
supported Plan of Reorganization, and optimistic that the Supreme Court
will agree,” Purdue Pharma said in a statement.
“Even so, we are disappointed that the US Trustee, despite having
no concrete interest in the outcome of this process, has been able to
single-handedly delay billions of dollars in value that should be put to
use for victim compensation, opioid crisis abatement for communities
across the country, and overdose rescue medicines,” the company said.
The government, representing the US Trustee, has called the plan
“exceptional and unprecedented” in court papers, noting that lower
courts have divided on when parties can be released from liability for
actions that caused societal harm.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
The Supreme Court on Thursday blocked Purdue Pharma from
going forward with bankruptcy proceedings, which the Biden
administration has called an “unprecedented” arrangement that would
ultimately offer the Sackler family broad protection from opioid-related civil claims.
In agreeing to pause the settlement, the court also said it would take up the case and hear arguments this December.
The case arose after the reorganization in bankruptcy of OxyContin
manufacturer Purdue Pharma – stemming from litigation arising from
claims over its role in fueling the opioid addiction crisis.
Until recently, Purdue was controlled by the Sackler family, who
withdrew billions of dollars from the company before it filed for
bankruptcy. The family has now agreed to contribute up to $6 billion to
Purdue’s reorganization fund on the condition that the Sacklers receive a
release from civil liability.
“We are confident in the legality of our nearly universally
supported Plan of Reorganization, and optimistic that the Supreme Court
will agree,” Purdue Pharma said in a statement.
“Even so, we are disappointed that the US Trustee, despite having
no concrete interest in the outcome of this process, has been able to
single-handedly delay billions of dollars in value that should be put to
use for victim compensation, opioid crisis abatement for communities
across the country, and overdose rescue medicines,” the company said.
The government, representing the US Trustee, has called the plan
“exceptional and unprecedented” in court papers, noting that lower
courts have divided on when parties can be released from liability for
actions that caused societal harm.
continues.....
Was going to post this too.
I wonder who made a donation to where to have this happen.
60,000 people are making a claim against them. I personally think that the big settlement should have gone to the people and not the governments whom are going to piss away that money anyways.
The Supreme Court on Thursday blocked Purdue Pharma from
going forward with bankruptcy proceedings, which the Biden
administration has called an “unprecedented” arrangement that would
ultimately offer the Sackler family broad protection from opioid-related civil claims.
In agreeing to pause the settlement, the court also said it would take up the case and hear arguments this December.
The case arose after the reorganization in bankruptcy of OxyContin
manufacturer Purdue Pharma – stemming from litigation arising from
claims over its role in fueling the opioid addiction crisis.
Until recently, Purdue was controlled by the Sackler family, who
withdrew billions of dollars from the company before it filed for
bankruptcy. The family has now agreed to contribute up to $6 billion to
Purdue’s reorganization fund on the condition that the Sacklers receive a
release from civil liability.
“We are confident in the legality of our nearly universally
supported Plan of Reorganization, and optimistic that the Supreme Court
will agree,” Purdue Pharma said in a statement.
“Even so, we are disappointed that the US Trustee, despite having
no concrete interest in the outcome of this process, has been able to
single-handedly delay billions of dollars in value that should be put to
use for victim compensation, opioid crisis abatement for communities
across the country, and overdose rescue medicines,” the company said.
The government, representing the US Trustee, has called the plan
“exceptional and unprecedented” in court papers, noting that lower
courts have divided on when parties can be released from liability for
actions that caused societal harm.
continues.....
Was going to post this too.
I wonder who made a donation to where to have this happen.
60,000 people are making a claim against them. I personally think that the big settlement should have gone to the people and not the governments whom are going to piss away that money anyways.
feels more like addressing the unprecedented deal in bankruptcy court they have. one that shields them from ANY liability whatsoever in addition to the seeming liquidation by them prior to the filing.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
The Supreme Court on Thursday blocked Purdue Pharma from
going forward with bankruptcy proceedings, which the Biden
administration has called an “unprecedented” arrangement that would
ultimately offer the Sackler family broad protection from opioid-related civil claims.
In agreeing to pause the settlement, the court also said it would take up the case and hear arguments this December.
The case arose after the reorganization in bankruptcy of OxyContin
manufacturer Purdue Pharma – stemming from litigation arising from
claims over its role in fueling the opioid addiction crisis.
Until recently, Purdue was controlled by the Sackler family, who
withdrew billions of dollars from the company before it filed for
bankruptcy. The family has now agreed to contribute up to $6 billion to
Purdue’s reorganization fund on the condition that the Sacklers receive a
release from civil liability.
“We are confident in the legality of our nearly universally
supported Plan of Reorganization, and optimistic that the Supreme Court
will agree,” Purdue Pharma said in a statement.
“Even so, we are disappointed that the US Trustee, despite having
no concrete interest in the outcome of this process, has been able to
single-handedly delay billions of dollars in value that should be put to
use for victim compensation, opioid crisis abatement for communities
across the country, and overdose rescue medicines,” the company said.
The government, representing the US Trustee, has called the plan
“exceptional and unprecedented” in court papers, noting that lower
courts have divided on when parties can be released from liability for
actions that caused societal harm.
continues.....
Was going to post this too.
I wonder who made a donation to where to have this happen.
60,000 people are making a claim against them. I personally think that the big settlement should have gone to the people and not the governments whom are going to piss away that money anyways.
feels more like addressing the unprecedented deal in bankruptcy court they have. one that shields them from ANY liability whatsoever in addition to the seeming liquidation by them prior to the filing.
That is common practice though. You drain everything and then file for bankruptcy. It's smart business, not saying it isn't shady but it's within the law.
I think they should pay and they are but, they did make a deal to pay out billions so they wouldn't have to go more rounds in court. The angle that the 60,000 that filed cases weren't in agreement is interesting. The government made the deal so they could get theirs and didn't care about anyone else.
The government made that deal and it may block others from getting a cent so that is why the deal should be upheld but divvied up among the 60,000.
Government had their hand out, Sacklers saw it as a way to settle and not worry about future litigation.
This will be interesting. When is a deal/settlement not binding?
EDIT: I wanted to add that I think the Sacklers should pay more but who is at fault for letting them make the deal and not caring about the individuals whom were affected? There might be/there is most likely some shady shit behind the scenes.
The Supreme Court on Thursday blocked Purdue Pharma from
going forward with bankruptcy proceedings, which the Biden
administration has called an “unprecedented” arrangement that would
ultimately offer the Sackler family broad protection from opioid-related civil claims.
In agreeing to pause the settlement, the court also said it would take up the case and hear arguments this December.
The case arose after the reorganization in bankruptcy of OxyContin
manufacturer Purdue Pharma – stemming from litigation arising from
claims over its role in fueling the opioid addiction crisis.
Until recently, Purdue was controlled by the Sackler family, who
withdrew billions of dollars from the company before it filed for
bankruptcy. The family has now agreed to contribute up to $6 billion to
Purdue’s reorganization fund on the condition that the Sacklers receive a
release from civil liability.
“We are confident in the legality of our nearly universally
supported Plan of Reorganization, and optimistic that the Supreme Court
will agree,” Purdue Pharma said in a statement.
“Even so, we are disappointed that the US Trustee, despite having
no concrete interest in the outcome of this process, has been able to
single-handedly delay billions of dollars in value that should be put to
use for victim compensation, opioid crisis abatement for communities
across the country, and overdose rescue medicines,” the company said.
The government, representing the US Trustee, has called the plan
“exceptional and unprecedented” in court papers, noting that lower
courts have divided on when parties can be released from liability for
actions that caused societal harm.
continues.....
Was going to post this too.
I wonder who made a donation to where to have this happen.
60,000 people are making a claim against them. I personally think that the big settlement should have gone to the people and not the governments whom are going to piss away that money anyways.
feels more like addressing the unprecedented deal in bankruptcy court they have. one that shields them from ANY liability whatsoever in addition to the seeming liquidation by them prior to the filing.
That is common practice though. You drain everything and then file for bankruptcy. It's smart business, not saying it isn't shady but it's within the law.
I think they should pay and they are but, they did make a deal to pay out billions so they wouldn't have to go more rounds in court. The angle that the 60,000 that filed cases weren't in agreement is interesting. The government made the deal so they could get theirs and didn't care about anyone else.
The government made that deal and it may block others from getting a cent so that is why the deal should be upheld but divvied up among the 60,000.
Government had their hand out, Sacklers saw it as a way to settle and not worry about future litigation.
This will be interesting. When is a deal/settlement not binding?
EDIT: I wanted to add that I think the Sacklers should pay more but who is at fault for letting them make the deal and not caring about the individuals whom were affected? There might be/there is most likely some shady shit behind the scenes.
there is no "deal" this is part of their companies bankruptcy proceedings. hasnt gone through, obviously since scotus want to hear the case. if any part of that series dopesick is accurate they should be in jail....
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
The Supreme Court on Thursday blocked Purdue Pharma from
going forward with bankruptcy proceedings, which the Biden
administration has called an “unprecedented” arrangement that would
ultimately offer the Sackler family broad protection from opioid-related civil claims.
In agreeing to pause the settlement, the court also said it would take up the case and hear arguments this December.
The case arose after the reorganization in bankruptcy of OxyContin
manufacturer Purdue Pharma – stemming from litigation arising from
claims over its role in fueling the opioid addiction crisis.
Until recently, Purdue was controlled by the Sackler family, who
withdrew billions of dollars from the company before it filed for
bankruptcy. The family has now agreed to contribute up to $6 billion to
Purdue’s reorganization fund on the condition that the Sacklers receive a
release from civil liability.
“We are confident in the legality of our nearly universally
supported Plan of Reorganization, and optimistic that the Supreme Court
will agree,” Purdue Pharma said in a statement.
“Even so, we are disappointed that the US Trustee, despite having
no concrete interest in the outcome of this process, has been able to
single-handedly delay billions of dollars in value that should be put to
use for victim compensation, opioid crisis abatement for communities
across the country, and overdose rescue medicines,” the company said.
The government, representing the US Trustee, has called the plan
“exceptional and unprecedented” in court papers, noting that lower
courts have divided on when parties can be released from liability for
actions that caused societal harm.
continues.....
Was going to post this too.
I wonder who made a donation to where to have this happen.
60,000 people are making a claim against them. I personally think that the big settlement should have gone to the people and not the governments whom are going to piss away that money anyways.
feels more like addressing the unprecedented deal in bankruptcy court they have. one that shields them from ANY liability whatsoever in addition to the seeming liquidation by them prior to the filing.
That is common practice though. You drain everything and then file for bankruptcy. It's smart business, not saying it isn't shady but it's within the law.
I think they should pay and they are but, they did make a deal to pay out billions so they wouldn't have to go more rounds in court. The angle that the 60,000 that filed cases weren't in agreement is interesting. The government made the deal so they could get theirs and didn't care about anyone else.
The government made that deal and it may block others from getting a cent so that is why the deal should be upheld but divvied up among the 60,000.
Government had their hand out, Sacklers saw it as a way to settle and not worry about future litigation.
This will be interesting. When is a deal/settlement not binding?
EDIT: I wanted to add that I think the Sacklers should pay more but who is at fault for letting them make the deal and not caring about the individuals whom were affected? There might be/there is most likely some shady shit behind the scenes.
there is no "deal" this is part of their companies bankruptcy proceedings. hasnt gone through, obviously since scotus want to hear the case. if any part of that series dopesick is accurate they should be in jail....
Hold it. The 6 billion dollars hasn't gone through? I thought that was a done deal?
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
How one company profited while delaying Narcan’s drugstore debut By Todd C. Frankel September 18, 2023 at 6:00 ET Five years after public health officials first asked for it, Narcan finally hit store shelves earlier this month — a potentially pivotal moment in the fight to counter the country’s stubbornly high death toll from heroin, fentanyl and pain pills. Now, anyone can buy the opioid overdose reversal drug without a prescription. But it almost didn’t happen. Narcan’s maker, Emergent BioSolutions, for years refused to allow its blockbuster drug to be sold over the counter (known as OTC), frustrating health experts and workers on the epidemic’s front lines who saw making Narcan and other naloxone-based medicines easier to buy as a way to save lives. “I’m not sure that OTC is the answer,” Daniel J. Abdun-Nabi, then Emergent’s top executive, told investors during a November 2018 earnings call. A month later, the company’s then-president, Robert Kramer, cautioned “against a rush to an over-the-counter solution for this current crisis,” citing concerns about Narcan awareness and insurance coverage. Robert Califf, head of the Food and Drug Administration, blamed Narcan’s over-the-counter delay on Emergent’s pursuit of profits. “I think the problem is that the financial model doesn’t appear to be working for the company, so they’re not motivated to do it,” Califf said at a 2022 conference. “We can’t order companies to go over the counter.” Emergent’s reluctance ended in late 2022 after a competitor prepared its own bid for over-the-counter approval of naloxone, the wonder drug with the power to rescue overdose victims from the brink of death.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Comments
The two largest U.S. pharmacy chains, CVS Health and Walgreen Co., announced agreements in principle Wednesday to pay about $5 billion each to settle lawsuits nationwide over the toll of opioids, and a lawyer said Walmart, a third pharmacy behemoth, is in discussions for a deal.
The prospective settlements are part of a shift in the legal landscape surrounding the opioid epidemic. Instead of suspense over whether companies in the drug industry would be held to account through trials or settlements, the big question is now how their money will be used and whether it will make a difference in fighting a crisis that has only intensified.
The deals, if completed, would end thousands of lawsuits in which governments claimed pharmacies filled prescriptions they should have flagged as inappropriate. With settlements already proposed or finalized between some of the biggest drugmakers and distribution companies, the recent developments could be the among the last multibillion-dollar settlements to be announced.
They also would bring the total value of all settlements to more than $50 billion, with most of it required to be used by state and local governments to combat opioids, which have been linked to more than 500,000 deaths in the U.S. over the last two decades.
“It's one more culprit of the overdose crisis that is having to pay their dues," said Courtney Gary-Allen, organizing director of the Maine Recovery Advocacy Project. "Average Americans have been paying it for a long time."
Gary-Allen, who is a member of a council that will help determine how Maine uses its opioid settlement funds, said more money to address the problem will help. In her state, she said, the needs include more beds for medical detox and for treatment.
Neither Woonsocket, Rhode Island-based CVS nor Deerfield, Illinois-based Walgreens is admitting wrongdoing.
The plans spring from mediation involving a group of state attorneys general. Before they move ahead, state and then local governments would need to sign on. So far, the detailed, formal deals have not been presented to the government entities so they can decide whether to join.
Under the tentative plans, CVS would pay $4.9 billion to local governments and about $130 million to Native American tribes over a decade. Walgreens would pay $4.8 billion to governments and $155 million to tribes over 15 years. The exact amount depends on how many governments join the deals.
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Both noted they have been addressing the crisis through such measures as starting educational programs and installing safe disposal units for drugs in stores and police departments. And both said the settlements would allow them to help while staying focused on their business.
“We are pleased to resolve these longstanding claims and putting them behind us is in the best interest of all parties, as well as our customers, colleagues and shareholders,” Thomas Moriarty, CVS chief policy officer and general counsel, said in a statement.
Walgreens said in a statement: “As one of the largest pharmacy chains in the nation, we remain committed to being a part of the solution, and this settlement framework will allow us to keep our focus on the health and wellbeing of our customers and patients, while making positive contributions to address the opioid crisis,” Walgreens said in a statement.
Paul Geller, a lawyer for governments in the lawsuits, said talks with Walmart continue. Walmart representatives would not comment Wednesday.
“These agreements will be the first resolutions reached with pharmacy chains and will equip communities across the country with the much-needed tools to fight back against this epidemic and bring about tangible, positive change,” lawyers for local governments said in a statement. “In addition to payments totaling billions of dollars, these companies have committed to making significant improvements to their dispensing practices to help reduce addiction moving forward.”
If these settlements are completed, they would leave mostly smaller drug industry players as defendants in lawsuits. Just this week, a group of mostly regional pharmacy chains sent to a judge, who is overseeing federal litigation, information about claims they face, a possible precursor to scheduling trials or mediating settlements involving some of those firms.
“One by one, we are holding every player in the addiction industry accountable for the millions of lives lost or devastated by the opioid epidemic,” Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said in a statement. “The companies that helped to create and fuel this crisis must commit to changing their businesses practices, and to providing the resources needed for treatment, prevention and recovery.”
Most of the nation's opioid overdose deaths initially involved prescription drugs. As governments, doctors and companies took steps to make them harder to abuse and obtain, people addicted to them increasingly switched to heroin, which proved more deadly.
In recent years, opioid deaths have soared to record levels around 80,000 a year. Most of those deaths involve illicitly produced version of the powerful lab-made drug fentanyl, which is appearing throughout the U.S. supply of illegal drugs.
Only a handful of opioid settlements have had bigger dollar figures than the CVS plan. Distributors AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson this year finalized a combined settlement worth $21 billion, and drugmaker Johnson & Johnson finalized a $5 billion deal.
Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, and members of the Sackler family who own the company have a proposed settlement that would involve up to $6 billion in cash, plus the value of the company, which would be turned into a new entity with its profits used to combat the epidemic. That plan has been put on hold by a court.
___
Associated Press writer Tom Murphy in Indianapolis contributed to this report.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
pays out over 10 years.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
I get it; I've never used anything worse than alcohol...not even weed. And when I first drank (summer after junior year of high school) I made a conscious decision that I wasn't going to mess with anything else. Fear of addiction is a big part of that (and why I never became a tobacco user, too). You can suggest that others made those choices, but it's not necessarily that black and white. For example, I was scared of addiction but I drank and chose not to use marijuana? That's how ignorant I was. I really believe that it's pure luck that all my college drinking never brought me down the road to using booze to numb pain or overcome some sort of anxiety (and I do have OCD, an anxiety disorder). Really, the difference between Perry and me is luck. Now, yeah, it's a terrible idea to use heroin or other hard drugs but there's a little bit of gray there. My uncle has said "I thank god every day I never liked cocaine." He smoked a lot of weed and apparently tried coke twice. Is he any better than someone that ended up with a cocaine problem? Or just luckier?
Bad idea to ever get into hard drugs, but there are then a lot of people to judge.
2013 Wrigley 2014 St. Paul 2016 Fenway, Fenway, Wrigley, Wrigley 2018 Missoula, Wrigley, Wrigley 2021 Asbury Park 2022 St Louis 2023 Austin, Austin
And they are still companies. They aren't bankrupt.
Ho lee chit
no. they each pay 5 billion
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
NEW YORK (AP) — The nation’s top public health agency on Thursday softened its guidelines for U.S. doctors prescribing oxycodone and other opioid painkillers.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention new recommendations are an update to 2016 guidelines that added momentum to a decline in opioid painkiller prescriptions.
Opioids painkillers can be addictive — even when used under doctors’ orders — and were identified as a big reason for a rise in U.S. drug overdoses that began more than two decades ago. Other drugs have overtaken them in overdose statistics, and illicit fentanyl is now the biggest driver of deaths.
The previous guidance succeeded in reducing inappropriate and dangerous prescribing, some experts say. But they also were seen as a barrier to care, with some pharmacists refusing to fill prescriptions as doctors wrote them.
The new guidelines are designed to ensure that patients get compassionate and safe pain care, CDC officials said.
A draft released in February received 5,500 public comments. Some modifications were made, but several main changes stayed in place, including:
—The CDC no longer suggests trying to limit opioid treatment for acute pain to three days.
—The agency is dropping the specific recommendation that doctors avoid increasing dosage to a level equivalent to 90 milligrams of morphine per day.
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—For patients receiving higher doses of opioids, the CDC is urging doctors to not abruptly halt treatment unless there are indications of a life-threatening danger. The agency offers suggestions on tapering patients off the drugs.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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nah. it removes the personal connection between doctor and patient. reviewer can be more objective
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OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — As a child welfare specialist for the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma more than a decade ago, Juli Skinner saw firsthand the impact of the opioid crisis on Cherokee families.
Parents who began using the powerful painkillers after a surgery or injury became hooked and were losing custody of their children, babies were being born addicted and young people who ended up in foster care were aging out of the system and becoming addicted themselves, resulting in a generational impact.
“We didn’t know what hit us. We were just floundering,” recalled Skinner, now the director of behavioral health for the Cherokee Nation, which is headquartered in Tahlequah in northeast Oklahoma.
Now, the nation's largest Native American tribe, with more than 440,000 enrolled citizens, plans to use a portion of its $98 million in opioid settlement funds to construct a 50-bed, 17,000-square-foot treatment facility in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, where the tribe is headquartered. The facility, which tribal officials announced on Monday, will be completely operated by the tribe and provide no-cost treatment for Cherokee Nation citizens struggling with substance abuse.
The $18 million treatment center is part of $73 million the tribe plans to spend building facilities across its reservation to address behavioral health needs, including drug treatment and prevention. Another $5 million will go into a tribal endowment to help pay for Cherokees to go to college and grad school to become therapists and medical professionals needed to staff the facilities.
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“These will truly be drug treatment centers developed by Cherokees, for Cherokees,” said Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin. "It's not a federal government-imposed facility.
“The symbolism is also important, which is we are paying for this over the next five years and making the opioid industry pay for everything. There's a real sense of justice just making that statement.”
Native American tribes across the country settled with drugmaker Johnson & Johnson and the nation's largest drug distribution companies for $590 million that will be divvied up among hundreds of tribal nations, but the Cherokee Nation negotiated its own separate settlement with drug manufacturers and distributors.
One of the things Hoskin and other Cherokee Nation officials are excited about is incorporating aspects of the tribe's culture into the recovery program. In addition to having peer recovery specialists who are Cherokees, the recovery curriculum includes traditional activities like bead making, talking circles and stickball.
“A person in recovery needs to know they’re not alone,” Hoskin said. “If you’re Cherokee, there’s a real cultural reason why you’re not alone. We share traditions, even if those traditions in some families haven’t been practiced in generations.”
For Jennifer Lasiter, a 38-year-old Cherokee Nation citizen who struggled for years with opioid addiction after she began taking hydrocodone for a back injury, having a connection with other Cherokee citizens at her workplace has been an important part of her recovery.
“Just from working here at the Cherokee Nation, I believe that Cherokees band together and lift each other up,” said Lasiter, a single mother of three children who works for the tribe's food distribution center and has been sober for five years. “As a tribe, we all feel connected in some way.”
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Follow Sean Murphy at www.twitter.com/apseanmurphy
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When you see a person standing upright but bent over looking like they are going to fall and never do, drooling without a sense of the world around them...
I worry about the future generations that sample this crap and get hooked. One can only hope that they see these people on the street and NOT want to try these things.
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — Nevada and pharmacy chain CVS have reached a nearly $152 million settlement to be paid over the next decade to end a lawsuit over opioid claims, state Attorney General Aaron Ford announced Tuesday.
“CVS negotiated in good faith,” Ford said at a news conference in Carson City. “Their work with the state of Nevada ... will help our state tackle the opioid problem.”
According to an Associated Press analysis, the settlement is one of the 10 largest between a single state and a single company over opioid claims. It also puts the total money Nevada expects to receive from opioid litigation settlements since 2020 at $606 million, according to Ford's office. It marks the largest sum the state has brought in opioid-related litigation by itself.
CVS was one of a number of companies that the state sued in the case filed in June 2019. A lawsuit against one company — Teva Pharmaceuticals — remains to be settled, and Ford said the state is preparing to go to trial in August.
Drugmakers, pharmacies, wholesalers and other companies have agreed to settlements of lawsuits over the opioid crisis nationwide totaling more than $50 billion. Much of the money is to be used to deal with an overdose crisis that is linked to more than 100,000 deaths a year in the U.S.
Some states have seen more from their share of multi-state or nationwide settlements. Last year, CVS agreed to pay state and local governments nearly $5 billion to settle lawsuits over the toll of opioids. But Nevada did not join in that litigation in order to pursue the single-state settlement, Ford spokesperson John Sadler said.
Nevada joined another multi-state settlement with three of the nation's largest opioid manufacturers in April 2022 totaling $232 million over nearly two decades.
Ford said about $80 million of the CVS settlement will go to a coalition of Nevada county and city governments, and the state will retain nearly $70 million. A panel of experts will make recommendations for using the money to mitigate the opioid epidemic, he said.
CVS also agreed to develop an oversight program with a list of prescriptions, patients and prescriber “red flags” to help stop the misuse of opioids.
A CVS spokesperson, Kara Page, said in a statement that the company was pleased with the pact with Nevada. The statement noted that opioid prescriptions are written by doctors, not pharmacists. It did not elaborate on the oversight program.
With the state Legislature in session, Ford is backing one of two companion bills with Democratic Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro to enhance fentanyl trafficking penalties, starting trafficking charges at four grams of possession of the synthetic opioid. Several states across the country are taking similar steps.
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Associated Press writer Geoff Mulvihill contributed reporting in Washington D.C. Stern is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms. Follow Stern on Twitter: @gabestern326.
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The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration stripped one of the nation's largest drug distributors of its license to sell highly addictive painkillers Friday after determining it failed to flag thousands of suspicious orders at the height of the opioid crisis.
The action against Morris & Dickson Co. that threatens to put it out of business came two days after an Associated Press investigation found the DEA allowed the company to keep shipping drugs for nearly four years after a judge recommended the harshest penalty for its “cavalier disregard” of rules aimed at preventing opioid abuse.
The DEA acknowledged the time it took to issue its final decision was “longer than typical for the agency” but blamed Morris & Dickson in part for holding up the process by seeking delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its lengthy pursuit of a settlement that the agency said it had considered. The order becomes effective in 90 days, allowing more time to negotiate a settlement.
DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said in the 68-page order that Morris & Dickson failed to accept full responsibility for its past actions, which included shipping 12,000 unusually large orders of opioids to pharmacies and hospitals between 2014 and 2018. During this time, the company filed just three suspicious order reports with the DEA.
Milgram specifically cited testimony of then-president Paul Dickson Sr. in 2019 that the company’s compliance program was “dang good” and he didn’t think a “single person has gotten hurt by (their) drugs.”
“Those statements from the president of a family-owned and operated company so strongly miss the point of the requirements of a DEA registrant,” she wrote. “Its acceptance of responsibility did not prove that it or its principals understand the full extent of their wrongdoing ... and the potential harm it caused."
Shreveport, Louisiana-based Morris & Dickson traces its roots to 1840, when its namesake founder arrived from Wales and placed an ad in a local newspaper selling medicines. It has since become the nation's fourth-largest wholesale drug distributor, with $4 billion a year in revenue and nearly 600 employees serving pharmacies and hospitals in 29 states.
In a statement, the company said it has invested millions of dollars over the past few years to revamp its compliance systems and appeared to hold out hope for a settlement.
“Morris & Dickson is grateful to the DEA administrator for delaying the effective date of the order to allow time to settle these old issues,” it said. “We remain confident we can achieve an outcome that safeguards the supply chain for all of our healthcare partners and the communities they serve. ... Business will continue as usual and orders will continue to go out on time.”
Morris & Dickson’s much larger competitors, a trio of pharmaceutical distributors known as the Big Three, have already agreed to pay the federal government more than $1 billion in fines and penalties to settle similar violations. Cardinal Health, AmerisourceBergen and McKesson also agreed to pay $21 billion over 18 years to resolve claims as part of a nationwide settlement.
While Morris & Dickson wasn’t the only drug distributor who the DEA accused of fueling the opioid crisis, it was unique in its willingness to challenge those accusations in the DEA’s administrative court.
In a scathing recommendation in 2019, Administrative Law Judge Charles W. Dorman said Morris & Dickson’s argument that it has changed its ways was too little, too late.
Anything less than the most severe punishment, the judge said, “would communicate to DEA registrants that despite their transgressions, no matter how egregious, they will get a mere slap on the wrist and a second chance so long as they acknowledge their sins and vow to sin no more.”
But as the ensuing years passed, neither the Biden-nominated Milgram nor her two predecessors took any enforcement action. Past DEA officials told the AP such decisions usually take no more than two years.
As the pills kept flowing, Morris & Dickson attempted to stave off punishment, appealing directly to Milgram to order a reopening of the proceedings, arguing it would introduce new evidence showing it had implemented an “ideal” compliance program with the help of a consultant who is now second-in-command at the DEA, Louis Milione. The DEA said that Milione has recused himself from all agency business related to Morris & Dickson.
Milione retired from the DEA in 2017 after a 21-year career that included two years leading the division that controls the sale of highly addictive narcotics. Like dozens of colleagues in the DEA’s powerful-but-little-known Office of Diversion Control, he went to work as a consultant for some of the same companies he had been tasked with regulating.
Milione was hired by Morris & Dickson in 2018 as part of a $3 million contract and later testified that the company “spared no expense” to overhaul its compliance systems, cancel suspicious orders and send daily emails to the DEA spelling out its actions.
A footnote of the DEA’s order Friday said that since Milione returned to the DEA as principal deputy administrator in 2021, he has not had any contact with Milgram or other agency staff about the Morris & Dickson case due to his prior involvement with the company.
___
Goodman reported from Miami, Mustian from New York. Contact AP’s global investigative team at Investigative@ap.org.
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Supreme Court blocks $6 billion Purdue Pharma opioid settlement and will hear case this fall
The Supreme Court on Thursday blocked Purdue Pharma from going forward with bankruptcy proceedings, which the Biden administration has called an “unprecedented” arrangement that would ultimately offer the Sackler family broad protection from opioid-related civil claims.
In agreeing to pause the settlement, the court also said it would take up the case and hear arguments this December.
The case arose after the reorganization in bankruptcy of OxyContin manufacturer Purdue Pharma – stemming from litigation arising from claims over its role in fueling the opioid addiction crisis.
Until recently, Purdue was controlled by the Sackler family, who withdrew billions of dollars from the company before it filed for bankruptcy. The family has now agreed to contribute up to $6 billion to Purdue’s reorganization fund on the condition that the Sacklers receive a release from civil liability.
“We are confident in the legality of our nearly universally supported Plan of Reorganization, and optimistic that the Supreme Court will agree,” Purdue Pharma said in a statement.
“Even so, we are disappointed that the US Trustee, despite having no concrete interest in the outcome of this process, has been able to single-handedly delay billions of dollars in value that should be put to use for victim compensation, opioid crisis abatement for communities across the country, and overdose rescue medicines,” the company said.
The government, representing the US Trustee, has called the plan “exceptional and unprecedented” in court papers, noting that lower courts have divided on when parties can be released from liability for actions that caused societal harm.
continues.....
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I wonder who made a donation to where to have this happen.
60,000 people are making a claim against them. I personally think that the big settlement should have gone to the people and not the governments whom are going to piss away that money anyways.
feels more like addressing the unprecedented deal in bankruptcy court they have. one that shields them from ANY liability whatsoever in addition to the seeming liquidation by them prior to the filing.
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I think they should pay and they are but, they did make a deal to pay out billions so they wouldn't have to go more rounds in court. The angle that the 60,000 that filed cases weren't in agreement is interesting. The government made the deal so they could get theirs and didn't care about anyone else.
The government made that deal and it may block others from getting a cent so that is why the deal should be upheld but divvied up among the 60,000.
Government had their hand out, Sacklers saw it as a way to settle and not worry about future litigation.
This will be interesting. When is a deal/settlement not binding?
EDIT: I wanted to add that I think the Sacklers should pay more but who is at fault for letting them make the deal and not caring about the individuals whom were affected? There might be/there is most likely some shady shit behind the scenes.
there is no "deal" this is part of their companies bankruptcy proceedings. hasnt gone through, obviously since scotus want to hear the case. if any part of that series dopesick is accurate they should be in jail....
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By Todd C. Frankel
September 18, 2023 at 6:00 ET
Five years after public health officials first asked for it, Narcan finally hit store shelves earlier this month — a potentially pivotal moment in the fight to counter the country’s stubbornly high death toll from heroin, fentanyl and pain pills. Now, anyone can buy the opioid overdose reversal drug without a prescription.
But it almost didn’t happen.
Narcan’s maker, Emergent BioSolutions, for years refused to allow its blockbuster drug to be sold over the counter (known as OTC), frustrating health experts and workers on the epidemic’s front lines who saw making Narcan and other naloxone-based medicines easier to buy as a way to save lives.
“I’m not sure that OTC is the answer,” Daniel J. Abdun-Nabi, then Emergent’s top executive, told investors during a November 2018 earnings call. A month later, the company’s then-president, Robert Kramer, cautioned “against a rush to an over-the-counter solution for this current crisis,” citing concerns about Narcan awareness and insurance coverage.
Robert Califf, head of the Food and Drug Administration, blamed Narcan’s over-the-counter delay on Emergent’s pursuit of profits. “I think the problem is that the financial model doesn’t appear to be working for the company, so they’re not motivated to do it,” Califf said at a 2022 conference. “We can’t order companies to go over the counter.”
Emergent’s reluctance ended in late 2022 after a competitor prepared its own bid for over-the-counter approval of naloxone, the wonder drug with the power to rescue overdose victims from the brink of death.
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