October 30, 2019
Construction workers are more likely to use drugs than workers in other professions, finds a study by the Center for Drug Use and HIV/HCV Research at NYU College of Global Public Health. The study, published in the journal Drug and …
October 21, 2019
Imagine you’re the chief executive officer of a large pharmaceutical corporation with an important drug that’s under attack. More than 2,500 lawsuits have been filed against your company. The plaintiffs aren’t individuals, though, they’re governments โ counties, cities and states. …
October 17, 2019
The opioid epidemic cost the U.S. economy at least $631 billion from 2015 to 2018, according to a Society of Actuaries’ (SOA) analysis of non-medical opioid use during this timeframe. The SOA report, authored by Milliman, also projected future costs …
October 8, 2019
The public cost of coping with the opioid crisis in the U.S. “dwarfs” the combined resources of the companies sued for allegedly causing the epidemic, including OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP, a lawyer for New York State told a judge. …
October 7, 2019
The city of Vancouver has filed a lawsuit against major opioid producers and suppliers, joining a long list of cities seeking restitution for the drug’s impact on their communities. The Columbian reports the lawsuit filed this week in U.S. District …
September 24, 2019
When the medical community makes mistakes, it’s like shooting down a few hundred airplanes every year. That’s a dramatic metaphor that has stuck in my mind since I first heard it from a doctor, and an apt way to describe …
September 16, 2019
OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP filed for bankruptcy protection Sunday night, succumbing to pressure from more than 2,600 lawsuits alleging the company helped fuel the deadly U.S. opioid epidemic. Purdue’s board met Sunday evening to approve the long-expected bankruptcy filing, …
August 14, 2019
U.S. drug overdose deaths had been most common in Appalachia and other rural areas in recent years, but they are back to being more concentrated in big cities, according to a government report Friday. The Centers for Disease Control and …
August 5, 2019
Massachusetts took Purdue Pharma LP to task in a Boston courtroom Friday, blaming the opioid maker and the billionaire Sackler family that owns it for causing “thousands of people to suffer and many to die.” The state has proof Purdue …
August 2, 2019
Fewer injured workers are receiving opioids to treat pain than in previous years, as medical providers are turning more to non-opioid medications and physical therapies. A new study of injured worker claims from 27 states by the Workers Compensation Research …