Tremors would tip him off. Then anxiety would creep in, tightening his stomach and making his heart pound. Then, Paul Yepez said, he felt like he was going to explode with pain and he’d usually drop to the ground twitching and moaning. For a decade the 54-year-old former hospital environmental...
Generic Drugmakers Sold Most Opioids During Overdose Crisis
Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals doled out lavish perks for top U.S. employees who hit or beat sales goals for prescription opioids and other drugs: six-figure bonuses and a chance to snag a coveted “President's Club” award, which could mean vacations to Hawaii, the Caribbean or Mexico. The company placed that same staff...
Feds Allow Use of Opioid Funds to Stem Meth, Cocaine Surge
WASHINGTON — Alarmed by a deadly new twist in the nation's drug addiction crisis, the government will allow states to use federal money earmarked for the opioid epidemic to help growing numbers of people struggling with meth and cocaine. The little-noticed change is buried in a massive spending bill passed...
Marijuana Vaping Busts on Rise; Over 500K Seized in 2 Years
NEW YORK — As health officials scrutinize marijuana vaping, it’s increasingly on law enforcement’s radar, too. From New York City to Nebraska farm country to California, authorities have seized at least 510,000 marijuana vape cartridges and arrested more than 120 people in the past two years, according to an Associated...
OxyContin Maker Negotiating Settlement Worth a Reported $12B
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Purdue Pharma and the thousands of state and local governments suing the maker of OxyContin over the nation's deadly opioid crisis are negotiating a $10 billion to $12 billion settlement under which the Sackler family would give up ownership of the company, according to published reports. Under...
OxyContin Maker Negotiating Settlement Worth a Reported $12B
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Purdue Pharma and the thousands of state and local governments suing the maker of OxyContin over the nation's deadly opioid crisis are negotiating a $10 billion to $12 billion settlement under which the Sackler family would give up ownership of the company, according to published reports. Under...
Judge Orders Drugmaker to Pay $572 Million in Opioid Lawsuit
NORMAN, Okla. — An Oklahoma judge on Monday found Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiaries helped fuel the state's opioid crisis and ordered the consumer products giant to pay $572 million, more than twice the amount another drug manufacturer agreed to pay in a settlement. Cleveland County District Judge Thad...
Big Question in Opioid Suits: How to Divide Any Settlement
The roughly 2,000 state and local governments suing the drug industry over the deadly opioid crisis have yet to see any verdicts or reach any big national settlements but are already tussling with each other over how to divide any money they collect. The reason: Some of them want to...
Opioid Crisis Bring Unwanted Attention to Wealthy Family
BOSTON — The Sackler name is emblazoned on the walls at some of the world's great museums and universities, including the Smithsonian, the Guggenheim and Harvard. But now the family's ties to OxyContin and the painkiller's role in the deadly opioid crisis are bringing the Sacklers a new and unwanted...