The Crime Report (https://thecrimereport.org/category/drugs/)
McKesson Corp., Cardinal Health Inc., AmerisourceBergen Corp., and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. reached a last-minute settlement to avoid a trial in Cleveland seeking to blame them for fueling the opioid crisis.
The 2015 death of a North Dakota teenager prompted an ongoing federal probe that has led to 70 arrests and seizures of 1,000 kilograms of drugs.
Lawyers for cities and counties are demanding more money from major drug distributors, holding up a wide-ranging settlement of opioid litigation after negotiations failed to result in a deal,
The Society of Actuaries found that the epidemic’s biggest costs stemmed from the unrealized earnings of those killed by the highly addictive painkillers and health care expenditures during the four-year study period ending in 2018.
The State Crime Laboratory handled 1,452 meth cases in 2018 — an increase of more than 450% since 2008. The number far exceeded the 1,055 heroin cases handled by the lab that year.
All the parties are under extreme pressure to reach a deal by Monday, when opening statements are set to begin in Cleveland in the first federal trial to determine responsibility for the opioid epidemic, which has led to 400,000 deaths in the United States over the past two decades.
Since Clark County, Nevada, approved $9.8 million in marijuana business licensing fees to address homelessness, it has scaled up bridge housing programs for families. It has also increased the number of housing units for families, medically fragile and homeless youth and secured master leases to obtain additional housing.
As three major drug distributors entered talks to settle litigation brought by state and local governments, Democrats in Tuesday’s debate joined in calls for prison terms for key execs. Kamala Harris compared them to “high-level dope dealers.”
Close to half of U.S. adults, 46 percent, have dealt with substance abuse problems in their family: 18 percent have had just alcohol problems and 10 percent have had just drug problems, while 18 percent have experienced both, according to a Gallup poll.
Two rulings by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit clear the way for a trial scheduled to begin in less than two weeks in Cleveland. The cases of two Ohio counties hit hard by opioid addiction will go to trial first.