- Johnson & Johnson inks eleventh-hour opioid settlement worth $40.5M with New Hampshire (fiercepharma.com)
In another opioid-related settlement for Johnson & Johnson, the company has agreed to pay tens of millions of dollars to settle litigation in New Hampshire...The state sued the company back in 2018, alleging that J&J's subsidiaries “aggressively marketed” opioid painkillers and falsely hawked them as safer than alternatives. Now, just before a trial was set to begin next week, J&J agreed to pay the state $40.5 million...READ MORE
- Pharmacy chains should pay $878 mln for opioid epidemic role, Ohio counties say (reuters.com)
A lawyer for two Ohio counties said...that CVS Health Corp, Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc and Walmart Inc should fund an $878 million plan to address the opioid crisis there, as a first-of-its-kind trial got underway to determine the pharmacy chains' contribution...the counties want the companies to fund a $878 million five-year plan that Mark Lanier, a lawyer representing the counties, said on Monday was aimed at solving the opioid crisis rather than allocating blame...READ MORE
- AG Ford, local officials hopeful opioid settlement funds will remediate crisis (thenevadaindependent.com)
Attorney General Aaron Ford
Attorney General Aaron Ford joined representatives from the state health department and several local governments...to announce that Nevada will soon receive its first installment of money from a pair of major opioid settlements and to highlight the urgency of using those dollars to address the opioid crisis...the state will receive $50 million from two settlements announced by the attorney general’s office earlier this year. The settlements include one with opioid manufacturer Johnson & Johnson that will bring Nevada $53.5 million and another with three of the nation’s largest drug distributors — AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson — that will bring the state $231.7 million. Those funds add to the $45 million the state won last year through a settlement with consulting firm McKinsey & Company...READ MORE
- House panel presses DOJ, Treasury to review drugmakers’ opioid settlement tax breaks (thehill.com)
The House Oversight and Reform Committee...on Monday pressed the departments of Justice and the Treasury to look into the tax deductions of four U.S. drug companies that agreed to a multibillion-dollar settlement last month to end opioid-related lawsuits...In a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, the panel said it had found four companies that agreed to the $26 billion settlement — Cardinal Health, McKesson Corporation, AmerisourceBergen, and Johnson & Johnson — are possibly trying to "put taxpayers on the hook for billions of dollars in settlement costs."..."We request that you determine whether these tax maneuvers comply with the law, and we urge you to do everything in your power to ensure transparency and accountability for the companies and executives that fueled our country’s deadly opioid crisis," wrote the committee...Read More</strong>
- Only 5% of ER overdose visits are tested for fentanyl despite a high positivity rate, Epic study finds (fiercehealthcare.com)Only 5% of Overdose Patients Tested for Fentanyl, #1 Killer of Americans 18-45 (epicresearch.org)
Despite fentanyl being among the leading causes of overdose deaths, few patients are screened for the substance in emergency rooms, a new study finds...The group looked to see how often toxicology screenings, which can inform treatment and public health data, were performed and what substances are tested for. Routine toxicology screens typically test for cocaine, amphetamines, marijuana, phencyclidine and natural opiates like heroin or morphine. Synthetic opioids like fentanyl require a separate test...Three-quarters of all drug overdose deaths in 2020 involved opioids, and the vast majority of those were synthetic...despite a slight rise in fentanyl testing over the years, only 5% of visits are currently tested—the highest testing rate since 2017. Of those screened, more than 40% are positive...READ MORE
- Prepare for ‘mass-overdose’ events from fentanyl, DEA warns police nationwide (washingtonexaminer.com)Responding to Nationwide Increases in Fentanyl-Related Mass-Overdose Events (dea.gov)
The leading U.S. drug enforcement agency issued an unprecedented warning to law enforcement nationwide to brace for a spike in “fentanyl-related mass-overdose” deaths as Mexican cartels push the drug into the United States...The Drug Enforcement Administration sent a letter to federal, state, and local law enforcement departments nationwide...alerting officials they should prepare not only for deaths caused by fentanyl to rise but also for mass-casualty events in which a group of people dies as a result of knowingly or unknowingly overdosing...READ MORE
- West Virginia says J&J, drugmakers created ‘tsunami’ of opioid addiction (reuters.com)
Attorney General Patrick Morrisey
West Virginia's attorney general on Monday urged a judge to hold Johnson & Johnson , Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd, and AbbVie Inc's, Allergan liable for causing a "tsunami" of opioid addiction in the state...The addiction crisis has affected the state's police forces, hospitals, foster care system and jails, with effects that will linger for more than a generation, Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said..."This epidemic has impacted virtually all of West Virginia," Morrisey said. "Our lawsuit speaks for all West Virginians who have suffered due to the defendants' unlawful, callous and destructive conduct."...READ MORE
- U.S. Supreme Court rebuffs opioid maker Insys founder’s conviction appeal (reuters.com)
The U.S. Supreme Court...rejected bids by Insys Therapeutics Inc founder John Kapoor and another former executive of the drugmaker to overturn their convictions for conspiring to bribe doctors to prescribe addictive opioids and defraud insurers into paying for them...Kapoor, 78, is serving a prison sentence of 5-1/2 years and is the highest-level corporate executive convicted at trial of crimes related to the opioid epidemic that has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans in the past two decades...READ MORE
- Walgreens goes to trial in Florida lawsuit on opioids (apnews.com)
Most of the defendants in Florida’s lawsuit over the opioid epidemic have settled for more than $870 million, according to the state attorney general. One remains: Walgreens Co. is not giving up...A jury has been seated in Pasco County, Florida, just north of Tampa, to hear the state’s case against Walgreens, a huge drug store chain with more than 9,000 outlets on streetcorners throughout the country. Opening statements are set for early next week...The Deerfield, Illinois-based company says it will not settle...“We are prepared for trial,” said Walgreens spokesman Fraser Engerman in an email...READ MORE
- Florida reaches $878 million opioid settlements with CVS, Teva, others (reuters.com)
Florida has reached more than $878 million in settlements with CVS Health Corp and three drug companies to resolve claims and avert a trial next month over their roles in fueling an opioid epidemic in the third most populous U.S. state...CVS will pay $484 million, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd will pay $194.8 million, Abbvie Inc's, Allergan unit will pay $134.2 million and Endo International Plc will pay $65 million, Florida's attorney general Ashley Moody said in a statement...Most of the money will be spent on opioid abatement. Teva will also provide $84 million of its generic Narcan nasal spray...READ MORE