The Supreme Court on Thursday blocked opioid maker Purdue Pharma’s bankruptcy settlement which would have provided immunity to the Sackler family from facing lawsuits over their role in the opioid crisis.
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Public opinion on the pharmaceutical industry has declined sharply over the past decade, according to new polling released by Gallup.
The proportion of Americans who believe pharmaceutical companies provide good or excellent services declined 21 points between 2010 and 2023, according to a poll released Monday. Public controversies over COVID-19 vaccines and the opioid crisis have implicated the pharmaceutical industry in recent years.
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Medicaid expansion has failed to prevent the ensuing opioid crisis, with 14 out of the 15 states with the highest overdose rates being expansion states, according to research exclusively shared with the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The research from the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA) indicates that while Medicaid expansion was intended to combat the opioid crisis, it hasn’t helped and “may be making it worse,” co-authors Michael Greibrock and Sam Adolphsen wrote. Of the states with the lowest overdose rates, half of them are non-expansion states, and another two only recently expanded.
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Teva Pharmaceuticals, one of the world’s largest generic drug manufacturer, has reached an agreement in principle to settle all outstanding lawsuits over their alleged involvement in the national opioid crisis for $4.35 billion, according to a Teva press release.
This payout includes a commitment to supply $1.2 billion worth of Narcan, a drug that reverses opioid overdose, over the next ten years, the release states. The $4.25 billion will be distributed over the next 13 years, with $100 million being earmarked for Native American Tribes.
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Researchers are warning that the United States is facing its most significant spike in opioid deaths as patients increasingly mix synthetic pain pills with stimulants such as cocaine and methamphetamines.
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The former president and board chair of Purdue Pharma testified in court on Wednesday that he, his family and the company are not at fault for the opioid crisis, CBS News reported.
Richard Sackler, 76, who is a member of the family that owns the OxyContin maker, denied responsibility at a White Plains, New York, bankruptcy hearing, CBS News reported.
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A coalition of 15 states agreed to a deal with drug maker Purdue Pharma, which could soon lead to a $4.5 billion settlement over the company’s role in the U.S. opioid epidemic.
The states agreed to no longer oppose Purdue Pharma’s bankruptcy plan while the pharmaceutical company agreed to publicly release a trove of millions of documents, according to a court filing late Wednesday night. The Sackler family, which owns the company, would pay an additional $50 million under the settlement.
The agreement will be tacked onto a broader proposal that is set to be voted on by more than 3,000 plaintiffs, The New York Times reported. In addition to the states, plaintiffs include cities, counties and tribes that sued the company over its role in boosting its painkiller OxyContin, the cause of thousands of opioid deaths.
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Federal authorities have seized significantly more fentanyl along the U.S.-Mexican border in Arizona and California since October than they did in the entire 2020 fiscal year.
Since October, authorities have seized 7.000 pounds of the drug, compared to just 4,500 pounds in the entire last fiscal year, according to data from Customs and Boarder Protection. The reasoning, according to authorities, is simply supply and demand.
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In a year marred by death from an ongoing pandemic, 2020 also saw record overdose deaths.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that 2020 saw a record year-over-year number of opioid overdose deaths.
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Michigan became the first state in the nation to sue major opioid distributors as drug dealers because they “knowingly participated in the illegal distribution of the prescription opioids purchased by Michigan residents.”
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