(Reuters) – An Oklahoma judge on Friday said Johnson & Johnson must pay that state $465 million for fueling the opioid epidemic through the deceptive marketing of painkillers, down from his original award of $572 million. The decision by Cleveland County Distr... More »
CLEVELAND (Reuters) – A landmark trial over the U.S. opioid epidemic is on track to begin on Monday after drug companies and local governments failed to agree on a settlement on Friday that had been expected to be valued at around $50 billion. Top executives o... More »
(Reuters) – From the start of the sprawling U.S. litigation seeking to hold drugmakers and distributors liable for the country’s opioid epidemic, Judge Dan Polster has made one thing clear: he never wanted a trial. On Friday, Polster will make his most dramati... More »
NORMAN, Okla./BOSTON (Reuters) – An Oklahoma judge on Monday ordered Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) to pay $572.1 million to the state for its part in fueling an opioid epidemic by deceptively marketing addictive painkillers, a sum that was substantially less than ... More »
(Reuters) – An Oklahoma judge on Monday ruled that Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) was liable for its part in fueling the opioid epidemic and ordered the drugmaker to pay $572 million following a trial in a lawsuit brought by the state’s attorney general. J&J said i... More »
(Reuters) – Oklahoma’s attorney general is expected on Monday to urge a judge to find Johnson & Johnson responsible for flooding the market with painkillers and fueling the U.S. opioid epidemic, as the first trial in nationwide litigation over the drug crisis ... More »
BOSTON/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd said on Sunday it had agreed to pay an $85 million settlement with the state of Oklahoma days before the company was set to face trial over allegations that it and other drugmakers helped fuel the... More »
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli pharmaceuticals company PainReform has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to begin late-stage clinical studies for a pain relief drug that is a departure from opiate-based narcotics, it said on Tues... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration on Friday reversed an order that halted a Louisiana drug wholesaler’s opioid sales over allegations it failed to report suspiciously large orders by pharmacies for the narcotics, court documents s... More »
(Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Justice has joined whistleblower litigation accusing Insys Therapeutics Inc of trying to generate more profit by paying kickbacks to doctors to prescribe powerful opioid medications. The government’s involvement was disclosed... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said on Friday it had suspended a Louisiana pharmaceutical distributor from selling controlled substances for allegedly selling unusually large quantities of opioids to pharmacies without reportin... More »
(Reuters) – Arkansas’ attorney general on Thursday joined the widening mass of litigation against opioid manufacturers, accusing three drugmakers of promoting addictive painkillers in ways that falsely denied or trivialized their risks. Arkansas Attorney Gener... More »
U.S. President Donald Trump talks to his adviser Kellyanne Conway during an opioid summit being held at the White House in Washington, U.S., March 1, 2018. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday called for a feder... More »
FILE PHOTO: A box of the Fentanyl-based drug Subsys, made by Insys Therapeutics Inc, appears in an undated photograph provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Alabama. U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Alabama/Hando... More »
FILE PHOTO: A pharmacist holds prescription painkiller OxyContin, 40mg pills, made by Purdue Pharma L.D. at a local pharmacy, in Provo, Utah, U.S. on April 25, 2017. REUTERS/George Frey/File Photo (Reuters) – Delaware on Friday became the latest state to file ... More »
FILE PHOTO: A pharmacist holds prescription painkiller OxyContin, 40mg pills, made by Purdue Pharma L.P. at a local pharmacy, in Provo, Utah, U.S. on April 25, 2017. REUTERS/George Frey/File Photo (Reuters) – A federal judge pushing for a quick settlement of l... More »
Cataldo Ambulance medics John Gardner (L) and David Farmer care for a man in his 40’s who was found unresponsive after overdosing on an opioid in the Boston suburb of Salem, Massachusetts, U.S., August 9, 2017. REUTERS/Brian Snyder (Reuters) – The paramedics f... More »
(Reuters) – Indivior’s experimental drug to help fight America’s growing opioid addiction crisis was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration late on Thursday, boosting its sales prospects as competitors threaten revenues from an older product. Shares... More »
Opioid drug abuse has killed more Americans than the Iraq, Afghanistan and Vietnam wars combined, and U.S. veterans and advocates this Veteran's Day are focusing on how to help victims of the crisis. More »
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said on Thursday that it would classify illicit versions of the synthetic opioid fentanyl at the same level as heroin, allowing criminal prosecution of anyone who possesses, distributes or manufactures illicit versions ... More »
The billionaire founder of Insys Therapeutics Inc, John Kapoor, has resigned from the company's board of directors, Insys said in a statement on Sunday. More »
Doug Corcoran is in the trenches every day in the fight against the opioid crisis in the rural Ohio county he helps oversee. More »
The billionaire founder of Insys Therapeutics Inc was arrested on Thursday on U.S. charges he participated in a scheme to bribe doctors to prescribe a fentanyl-based cancer pain drug, marking a step by authorities to fight the opioid epidemic. More »
U.S. President Donald Trump declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency on Thursday, stopping short of a national emergency declaration he promised months ago that would have freed up more federal money. More »
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions equated the opioid epidemic to a personal failing by many Americans who cannot "say no" to drugs on Thursday, and he said that marijuana could be serving as a gateway to the problem. More »
New Jersey on Thursday accused Insys Therapeutics Inc of engaging in a fraudulent scheme to boost sales of a fentanyl-based cancer pain drug, as Massachusetts announced a $500,000 settlement with the drugmaker to resolve similar allegations. More »
Makers of fast-acting opioids will have to fund voluntary training for healthcare professionals who prescribe the drugs, including education on safe prescribing practices and non-opioid alternatives, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said on Thursday... More »
Washington state on Thursday sued OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP, becoming the latest state or local government to file a lawsuit seeking to hold pharmaceutical companies accountable for a national opioid addiction epidemic. More »
New Mexico on Thursday sued eight opioid manufacturers and wholesale distributors, becoming the latest state or local government to file a lawsuit seeking to hold corporations accountable for a national drug addiction epidemic. More »
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on Friday proposed a 20 percent reduction in the manufacture of certain commonly prescribed opioid painkillers as well as other controlled substances for next year. More »
By Andrew M. Seaman(Reuters Health) – The United States needs to curb excessive opioid prescribing and improve access to pain management techniques, More »
By Ronnie Cohen(Reuters Health) – The drugstore chain Walgreens is taking a three-pronged approach to combat the public health crisis stemming from p More »
The U.S. Justice Department will enlist federal prosecutors to help fight the nation’s opioid crisis by sharing information on overprescribing doctors and coordinating with public health officials to address addiction, USA Today reported on Friday. More »
WASHINGTON President Barack Obama on Friday signed into law a measure that pledges greater efforts to protect drug-dependent newborns and assist their parents. The Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act also stresses drug treatment and overdose prevention to... More »
An experimental, long-acting painkiller made by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd does not have abuse-resistant properties when taken orally, according to a preliminary review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The drug, whose proposed trade name is Va... More »
WASHINGTON Scientists have invented a speedy method to make potent painkilling opioids using bioengineered baker’s yeast instead of poppies, but need to fine-tune the process to make it commercially viable, according to a study published on Thursday. The new m... More »
