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... the reorganization plan conditionally approved by a federal judge Wednesday protects what some call "the most evil family in America" from any civil liability...Under the plan, the Sackler family would forfeit ownership of Purdue Pharma, turn over more than 30 million documents and pay $4.5 billion. In return, the Sackler family would be shielded from an onslaught of lawsuits. Purdue has said the settlement overall will be worth about $10 billion, which includes the value of addiction treatment and overdose antidote drugs it is developing...READ MORE

Drug-overdose deaths in the U.S. surged nearly 30% in 2020, the tragic result of a deadlier supply and the destabilizing effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to preliminary federal data and public health officials...The estimated 93,331 deaths from drug overdoses last year, a record high, represent the sharpest annual increase in at least three decades, and compare with an estimated toll of 72,151 deaths in 2019, according to provisional overdose-drug data released...by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention...READ MORE

In reality, nearly half (44%) of hospital pharmacists experienced a diversion event within the past 12 months, which is up from 37% in 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated this “hidden epidemic,” a multi-faceted challenge which poses serious risks to patients, clinicians and healthcare systems...Here are 5 questions frequently asked by health systems seeking to accelerate and improve their efforts to detect and mitigate drug diversion incidents...READ MORE

1. What are the biggest challenges in identifying drug diversion?
2. How have responsibilities for addressing and resolving drug diversion issues evolved?
3. What offers the biggest opportunity to improve diversion identification?
4. When selecting automated systems and software, which capabilities are most critical?
5. How do you justify the cost of technology in a difficult economic environment?

In 2020, Indivior resolved the federal government's long-running probe into its aggressive marketing of the opioid addiction therapy Suboxone, reaching a $600 million plea deal. Now, it's paying up...Indivior will shell out $300 million to all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico to resolve claims that it “falsely and aggressively” marketed its opioid addiction drug Suboxone, leading to misuse of state Medicaid funds, California Attorney General Rob Bonta...READ MORE

Nevada will not sign on to a proposed $26 billion multistate settlement with the nation’s three largest drug distribution companies and drugmaker Johnson & Johnson — businesses accused of fueling the nation's opioid epidemic that has killed thousands of Nevadans — in hopes of getting a better deal...Attorney General Aaron Ford told The Nevada Independent...that the state would have received roughly $240 million from the settlements — an amount he called “woefully insufficient” — and that the state will instead pursue separate negotiations with the companies “to ensure that the people in this state are adequately recompensed for the damages that opioids have caused in our communities.”...READ MORE

Johnson & Johnson has reached a $230m agreement to settle an opioid lawsuit brought by the attorney general of New York state...“Johnson & Johnson helped fuel this fire, but today they’re committing to leaving the opioid business – not only in New York, but across the entire country...READ MORE

The convenience of internet shopping attracts many young buyers to turn to social media and internet platforms, not only to buy ordinary goods but also medications...What some fail to recognize – especially young adults – is that is that most social media platforms are designed to keep users engaged by pushing content they believe the individual wants based on their activity on the platform..after multiple clicks or searches, the line between what a user was searching for and what content the algorithm is pushing can quickly become blurred...social media algorithms have become so efficient at suggesting content to users, even passive ones, that they have created a perfect pathway for digital drug dealers to connect to potential victims in a matter of a few clicks...READ MORE

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 70,630 drug overdose deaths for 2019 in the United States, 70.5 percent of which were opioid-related...Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs are the most popular interventions states enact to address opioid addiction and overdoses...This study finds that, although Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs’ intermediary purpose to reduce prescribing has been achieved by reducing opioid distribution by 7.7 percent, they have had inconsistent effects on prescription opioid overdoses, while increasing total opioid overdoses by 17.5 percent due to increased mortality from the black market varieties by 19.8 percent...READ MORE

An increasing number of American citizens have been apprehended as they have tried to smuggle illegal drugs into the U.S. since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, an uptick that’s come amid travel restrictions at the border with Mexico...the closure of the southern border to nonessential traffic has sharply limited the number of foreign citizens entering the U.S. by land...Law enforcement officials and drug trafficking experts say the border rules — put in place in April 2020 to curb the spread of the coronavirus — and their lopsided enforcement are driving the rise in U.S. citizens involved in borderland drug busts...U.S. citizens were apprehended nearly seven times more often than Mexican citizens between October 2020 and March 31 for trying to smuggle drugs in vehicles, U.S. Customs and Border Protection data shows...READ MORE

A few state lawmakers are hoping to establish greater legislative oversight over how the state spends billions of dollars in opioid settlement funds projected to be won by the attorney general in litigation throughout the next decade...SB390, a bill presented by Sen. Julia Ratti (D-Sparks) and sponsored by the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, would create a state fund to house proceeds from opioid settlements, such as the $45 million Nevada is set to receive from the settlement of a lawsuit against consulting firm McKinsey & Company, which provided services for opioid manufacturers...READ MORE