Latest Drugs Headlines
All the headlines from our Drugs Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Biden Administration Unveils Steps to Lower Drug Prices
Sep 9 2021 // President Joe Biden’s administration on Thursday unveiled its promised initiative aimed at cutting drug prices, saying it will test new ways to reduce such costs for the Medicare health insurance program including...
Drug Distributors Signal $26B Opioid Settlement with States to Proceed
Sep 7 2021 // Three large U.S. drug distributors and drugmaker Johnson & Johnson will proceed with a proposed $26 billion settlement resolving claims that they fueled the opioid epidemic after “enough” states joined in,...
Inmates at Arkansas Jail Unaware They Were Given Anti-Parasite Drug to Treat COVID-19
Sep 3 2021 // inmates at a northwest Arkansas jail said they weren’t told a medication they were given to treat COVID-19 was actually an anti-parasite drug that federal health officials have warned should not be used to treat the...
Pass Measures to Lower Prescription Drug Prices, Biden Urges Congress
Aug 13 2021 // President Joe Biden on Thursday called on U.S. lawmakers to enact legislation aimed at lowering drug prices, including allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices and imposing penalties on drugmakers that hike prices faster...
Texas Doctor Convicted of Workers’ Comp Fraud, Drug Crimes
Jul 30 2021 // A North Texas doctor will pay $376,368 in restitution after pleading guilty to mail fraud conspiracy in federal court, the Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation reported. Clinton Battle...
In Opioid Trial Closing, West Virginia Blames Drug Distributors. Distributors Blame Doctors.
Jul 28 2021 // CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Lawyers for a West Virginia city and county hard hit by the opioid crisis began wrapping up their case in a $2.5 billion trial on Tuesday arguing major drug distributors flooded the region with the...
What Drug Companies Have Paid to Settle Claims Over U.S. Opioid Crisis
Jul 22 2021 // State attorneys general on Wednesday unveiled a $26 billion settlement with the three largest U.S. drug distributors and Johnson & Johnson to resolve thousands of lawsuits by states and local governments over the...
States, Municipalities Have 30 Days to Weigh $26B Opioid Deal with Major Drug Firms
Jul 22 2021 // A group of state attorneys general unveiled on Wednesday a landmark $26 billion settlement with large drug companies for allegedly fueling the deadly nationwide opioid epidemic, but the deal still requires support from...
Oklahoma Lawmakers Urge Interim Study on Opioid Prescriptions
Jul 21 2021 // Three Oklahoma state representatives have requested an interim study to investigate clinical outcomes of patients with pain following policies resulting in rapid reductions in opioid prescribing. Rep. John Talley,...
States Expected to Announce Opioid Deal With Drug Distributors, J&J: Reuters
Jul 20 2021 // U.S. state attorneys general and lawyers for local governments are expected on Wednesday to unveil a landmark, $26 billion settlement resolving claims that the three largest U.S. drug distributors and drugmaker Johnson...
Drug Overdose Deaths Hit Record 93,000 During 2020 Pandemic
Jul 16 2021 // Overdose deaths soared to a record 93,000 last year in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. government reported Wednesday. That estimate far eclipses the high of about 72,000 drug overdose deaths reached the...
Missouri Lawsuit: Former Sheriff Stole Drugs, Assaulted Plaintiff
Jul 9 2021 // A woman has alleged in a civil rights lawsuit that a former northwest Missouri sheriff gave her drugs and sexually assaulted her. The St. Joseph News-Press reported that the claims involve former Harrison County Sheriff...
West Virginia Pharmacies Owner Fined In Prescription Probe
Jul 1 2021 // The owner of two West Virginia pharmacies has agreed to pay $300,000 in civil penalties to settle allegations that they filled illegitimate prescriptions in violation of federal law. Federal prosecutors said Beckley...
Ruling Limits Safety-Based Drug Testing at Iowa Warehouses
Jun 30 2021 // The Iowa Supreme Court has ruled that employers cannot subject all warehouse employees to random drug testing by designating them as having “safety sensitive” jobs. In its 4-3 ruling, the court ruled that...
Drug Industry Faces First High-Stakes Opioid Jury Trial
Jun 29 2021 // Jurors on New York’s Long Island are set to determine whether a group of opioid makers and drug distributors created a public health crisis and should pay for it, in a bellwether trial for lawsuits filed by...
High Court Ruling Limits Safety-Based Drug Testing at Iowa Warehouses
Jun 27 2021 // The Iowa Supreme Court ruled on June 25 that employers cannot subject all warehouse employees to random drug testing by designating them as having “safety sensitive” jobs. In its 4-3 ruling, the court ruled...
U.S. Drug Enforcer Testimony Cites ‘Systemic Failure’ in Monitoring by Opioid Distributors
Jun 11 2021 // A retired high-ranking official with the Drug Enforcement Administration has testified that three large opioid distributors had a “systematic failure” in monitoring suspicious pill orders. Joe Rannazzisi,...
Amazon.com Offers Prescriptions Starting at $6; Considers Physical Locations
Jun 9 2021 // Amazon.com Inc. said on Tuesday it was now offering six-month prescriptions starting at $6 for medications of common health issues through its pharmacy. The company said prime members would get additional savings when...
2 Arkansas Docs Sentenced to Federal Prison for Prescription Fraud
Jun 8 2021 // Two Arkansas physicians were sentenced in late May to a combined 150 months in federal prison for distributing pain medicines without a prescription. Cecil. W. Gaby, 71, of Fort Smith, and Robin Ann Cox, 64, of Rogers,...
$6.4 Billion Suit Claims Bristol-Myers Delayed Cancer Drug to Avoid Shareholder Payment
Jun 4 2021 // Bristol Myers Squibb Co. was sued for $6.4 billion on Thursday for allegedly delaying its Breyanzi cancer drug to avoid payments to shareholders of the former Celgene Corp., which the drugmaker bought in 2019. According to...
