Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
History Repeating Itself? Sackler-Owned Drug Company Tell Doctors In China That OxyContin Is Less Addictive.
The Associated Press: Oxy Sales In China Driven By Misleading Addiction Claims
Thousands of lawsuits across the United States have accused a drug company owned by the billionaire Sackler family of using false claims to push highly addictive opioids on an unsuspecting nation, fueling the deadliest drug epidemic in U.S. history. Yet, even as its U.S. drugmaker collapses under the charges, another company owned by the family has used the same tactics to peddle its signature painkiller, OxyContin, in China, according to interviews with current and former employees and documents obtained by the Associated Press. (Kinetz, 11/20)
The Wall Street Journal: States AGs Agree To Longer Halt On Purdue Family Claims
Purdue Pharma LP has convinced 24 states and the District of Columbia to comply with a bankruptcy court injunction halting opioid lawsuits against the company and the controlling Sackler family at least temporarily, Purdue’s lawyer said at a bankruptcy hearing. Last month, the judge presiding over Purdue’s bankruptcy enjoined lawsuits against the maker of the opioid OxyContin and the Sacklers. Roughly half of all state attorneys general and the District of Columbia had argued against the injunction, which extends until April 8. (Biswas, 11/19)
The Washington Post: Pharmacy Chains Face October 2020 Trial Over Their Role In The Opioid Crisis
Seeking to kick-start the sprawling nationwide opioid litigation, a federal judge on Tuesday scheduled a trial against major pharmacy chains for next October and proposed sending three other cases back to other federal courts where they originated. Judge Dan Aaron Polster, the Ohio federal judge in charge of the nearly 2,500 lawsuits filed against the drug industry in federal courts across the country, said he would preside over a case that pits two Ohio counties, Summit and Cuyahoga, against some of the nation’s largest pharmacy chains. (Bernstein, 11/19)
Miami Herald: Miami-Dade Opioid-Related Deaths Fell By Nearly 100 In 2018
Since 2016, public health advocates in Miami-Dade County have led the state in confronting Florida’s opioid epidemic by starting a needle exchange that also widely distributed naloxone, a drug that counters overdoses, and getting it onto the streets. With the latest data, experts believe those efforts have saved nearly 100 lives in 2018 alone. (Conark, 11/19)
