Latest Drugs Headlines
All the headlines from our Drugs Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Drug Pricing Transparency Law Signed by California Governor
Oct 10 2017 // California Gov. Jerry Brown has signed state legislation requiring drug companies to report certain price hikes for prescription medicines in a move that could set a model for other states to follow. The law, which aims to...
Washington and Seattle Become Latest Governments to Sue Opioid Makers
Oct 3 2017 // Washington state and the city of Seattle on Thursday joined more than two dozen other government entities across the country suing to hold opioid makers accountable for an addiction crisis that has claimed thousands of...
Drugs in Workplace a Danger to Workers and Drag on Productivity
Sep 22 2017 // At Philip Tulkoff’s food-processing plant in Baltimore, machines grind tough horseradish roots into puree. “If you put your arm in the wrong place,” the owner says, “and you’re not paying...
Employers Expect Above-Average Rise in Cost of Employee Benefits in 2018: Mercer Survey
Sep 18 2017 // Employers expect that their average cost per-employee for health benefits will rise by 4.3 percent in 2018, which is above the average increase of 3 percent of the past five years. Early responses from Mercer’s...
Study: Opioids in California Comp Claims Involving Mental Health
Sep 18 2017 // A new study shows the prevalence of opioids in workers’ compensation claims involving mental health. The study by the California Workers’ Compensation Institute tracks changes in the prevalence, volume and...
New Mexico Sues 8 Drug Manufacturers, Distributors over Opioid Epidemic
Sep 11 2017 // New Mexico has 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...
2 Kentucky Counties to Sue Drug Companies Over Opioid Epidemic
Aug 31 2017 // Officials in two Kentucky counties have voted to hire attorneys to file lawsuits against wholesale drug distributors to help pay for the costs of combating the opioid epidemic. The Kentucky Enquirer reports Boone and...
Study Keys on Opioids in California Comp Claims Involving Mental Health
Aug 29 2017 // A new study shows the prevalence of opioids in workers’ compensation claims involving mental health. The study by the California Workers’ Compensation Institute tracks changes in the prevalence, volume and...
West Virginia to Use $22M from Drug Distributor Suit for Addiction Treatment
Aug 24 2017 // West Virginia’s Department of Health and Human Resources says it will use $22 million in settlement money from drug distributors to help address the addiction epidemic in the state. Legislation passed this year...
Louisville Sues Drug Distributors Over Kentucky Opioid Epidemic
Aug 23 2017 // Officials in Kentucky’s largest city have filed suit in federal court against opioid distributors, accusing them of contributing to the drug epidemic in the state. Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer announced the lawsuit...
Illinois Attorney General Reaches $4.5M Settlement in Opioid Marketing Case
Aug 22 2017 // Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has reached a $4.5 million settlement with an Arizona-based pharmaceutical company that her office sued for deceptive marketing of an opioid drug meant for cancer patients. Madigan...
Two Plead Guilty to $25M New Jersey Prescription Drug Scheme
Aug 21 2017 // Two men have pleaded guilty to defrauding New Jersey and health insurers out of $25 million by submitting claims for unneeded prescriptions. Matthew Tedesco and Robert Bessey pleaded guilty on Thursday to conspiracy to...
Third Jury Sides with J&J, Bayer Over Xarelto Drug Liability Claims
Aug 21 2017 // A federal jury has cleared Bayer AG and Johnson & Johnson of liability in the third case to go to trial out of thousands of lawsuits claiming the drugmakers’ blood thinner Xarelto led to severe internal...
Drug Company Deflects Blame in Lawsuit Over West Virginia Opioid Crisis
Aug 18 2017 // A West Virginia city’s lawsuit against a drug company has led to a dispute over which is at fault in the opioid epidemic. The Charleston Gazette-Mail reported last week that one of the nation’s largest drug...
Florida Police: Tiger Woods Had Marijuana, Painkillers in System When Arrested for DUI
Aug 17 2017 // Tiger Woods had the active ingredient for marijuana, two painkillers and two sleep drugs in his system when he was arrested on a DUI charge earlier this year, a report released Tuesday by police said. Police in Jupiter,...
More States, Star Lawyers Eye Lawsuits Against Big Pharma Over Opioids
Aug 17 2017 // Big Pharma is having a Big Tobacco moment as litigation over opioids attract star lawyers and a growing list of states and local governments seeking their own multibillion-dollar payout to deal with costs of a burgeoning...
Delaware Police Continuing Probe Into Alleged Prescription Fraud
Aug 14 2017 // Delaware State Police say more arrests are expected in an investigation involving a Philadelphia woman accused of distributing fraudulent prescriptions for controlled substances. Police said Thursday that 49-year-old...
University of Michigan Gets $2.5M to Study Opioid Epidemic, Other Injuries
Aug 7 2017 // The University of Michigan Injury Center has received $2.5 million from the Centers for Disease Control for research into the prevention of prescription drug overdoses, concussion, youth violence, motor vehicle crashes,...
Massachusetts SJC Rules in Favor of Employee Fired for Medical Marijuana Use
Aug 7 2017 // The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has ruled in favor of a woman who was fired by her employer for testing positive for her prescribed use of marijuana to treat a medical condition. The court found that because...
Several States See Drop in Opioid-Related Workers’ Compensation Claims: WCRI
Aug 4 2017 // As states institute opioid policies to address the opioid epidemic, a new study has found considerable decreases in the prevalence of longer-term dispensing of opioids to injured workers in a number of states studied. The...
