Ohio Attorney General Announces Preliminary Agreement with Walmart on Opioid Addiction Liability

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost (R) announced on Tuesday that he and 15 other state attorneys general have negotiated a preliminary deal with the multinational retailer Walmart, from which Ohio would get $114 million for opioid recovery programs.

The $3.1 billion national agreement comes after Yost and other prosecutors sought accountability for what they characterize as the superstore’s failure to safely and securely dispense high-strength prescription pain relievers through its more than 5,100 pharmacies across America. Other state prosecutor’s offices who worked alongside him include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, New York, Tennessee and Texas.
The agreement comes after Yost and other prosecutors sought accountability for what they characterize as the superstore’s failure to safely and securely dispense high-strength prescription pain relievers through its more than 5,100 pharmacies across America. Other state prosecutor’s offices who worked alongside him include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, New York, Tennessee and Texas.

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DeSantis Stumps for Vance in Youngstown, Ohio Suburbs

Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) came to the Youngstown area this weekend in support of Ohio Republican JD Vance’s U.S. Senate campaign against U.S. Representative Tim Ryan (D-OH-13), whose district includes Youngstown.

“It is important that the people of Ohio send JD Vance to the U.S. Senate this year,” the Florida chief executive, whose mother is from Youngstown, told an audience at the Metroplex Expo Center in Girard. “Yes, Republicans need to take back the majority, and I think we will. But just as important as having the majority, we need people who are willing to go up there and do something with the majority; stop talking and actually get something done. And I think JD is somebody who’s going to be a leader and not just be a follower and we need that in that swamp more than ever.” 

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Ohio Sees Spike in Drug Overdose Deaths as Pandemic Rages

Nineteen counties in Ohio have exceeded or equaled records for the most overdoses in a year as the nation continues to see a spike in drug overdoses during the coronavirus pandemic.

Harm Reduction Ohio, a drug policy advocacy group which says it is the largest distributor of naloxone in the state, says the biggest increases in death caused by overdoses have occurred in central and east Ohio.

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Ohio Congressmen Join Campaign to ‘Stop Opioid Silence’ to Promote Treatment, Recovery Efforts

A group of Ohio’s congress members are teaming up with a campaign to break the stigma tied to opioid use disorder to help with recovery.

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Disagreements Brewing Over Legislation on Ohio’s Opioid Lawsuits

A bill that may be introduced in the Ohio General Assembly is pitting local officials against the state and the governor against the attorney general. Although the legislation has yet to be introduced, just the mention of it has lines being drawn and words like “unconstitutional” and “veto” being thrown around.

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Opioid Prescriptions Drop 15 Percent in Michigan

by Tyler Arnold   Opioid prescriptions dropped 15 percent in 2018 from the previous year in Michigan, according to numbers released by the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA). The number of opioid prescriptions dropped from 9.7 million to 8.2 million in that timespan. “The decrease in dispensions…

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Feds Bust 60 For Alleged Participation in Illegal Prescribing and Distributing of Opioids, Other Narcotics, As Well As Alleged Health Care Fraud

The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday announced a major multi-agency national bust against 60 people for their alleged participation in the illegal prescribing and distributing of opioids and other dangerous narcotics and for health care fraud schemes. The DOJ announcement is available here. The defendants are from 11 federal…

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Ohio Governor Mike DeWine Announces Plan for 30 New Drug Courts to Combat Opioid Epidemic

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine unveiled the latest aspect of his plan Tuesday to fight opioid addiction by creating more specialty courts statewide. The plan is the latest announced component of his upcoming budget proposal for the 2020-2021 fiscal year.  If approved, it would allocate $2.5 million in 2020 for the creation of “15 specialty…

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Report: One in Three Children Enter Foster Care Due to Parental Drug Abuse, Ohio Rate Jumped 29 Percent

A report released Tuesday by the nonprofit Child Trends revealed that for the sixth consecutive year, 2017 saw a significant rise in the number of children entering foster care due to parental drug abuse or drug seeking behavior. According to the report, 131 out of every 100,000 children in America ends up…

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Study: After a Generation Lost to the Opioid Epidemic, Ohio is Among the Few Hardest Hit to See Signs of Recovery

According to a study released Friday, Ohio is among the 8 states with the highest overall rates of opioid-related deaths in the 18-year span from 1998-2016. However the study also suggests that among those states hardest hit, Ohio is seeing a drop in opioid-related deaths in 2018. Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Maryland,…

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Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner Issues Public Health Warning After Multiple Opioid Deaths Linked to Powerful Animal Sedatives

Dr. Thomas Gilson, the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner, issued a Public Health Warning Thursday for the entire county. It stated that, after testing opioids seized at multiple crime scenes, the Cuyahoga County Regional Forensic Science Laboratory had discovered a “significant increase” in the presence of carfentanil, a synthetic opioid that is…

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Ohio Native and Opioid Addiction Survivor Ashley Evans Invited By President Trump to State of the Union as Special Guest

A year ago, it’s safe to say Ashley Evans never imagined she’d be anywhere near a State of the Union address, yet that’s exactly where she’ll be Tuesday night. The longtime Kettering, Ohio native will be an honored special guest of President Donald Trump at Tuesday’s State of The Union…

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Ohio Sells 42 Pounds of Medicinal Marijuana in First Weeks of Legal Sales

Ohio sold $330,000 of medicinal marijuana in 12 days. According to the Marijuana Business Daily, that’s almost double the sales rate of, both, Hawaii and Massachusetts when they legalized the drug. These strong numbers are made all the more impressive by the fact that Ohio marijuana prices are almost five…

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Ohio Department of Health Confirms Investigation of Doctor Who Prescribed Lethal Opioid Doses to 27 Patients

In most major surgeries, a doctor will prescribe, at most, 20 micrograms of fentanyl, a powerful opioid pain killer. At most, as an “adjunct to general anesthesia,” 20-50 micrograms are used. Doctor William Husel of Columbus was administering, in some cases, 1,000 micrograms. After prescribing these lethal doses to at least…

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Ohio State Board Considers Approving More Conditions for Marijuana Treatment

With medicinal marijuana sales imminent in the Buckeye state, the Ohio State Medical Board is currently considering a slew of additional medical conditions for medicinal marijuana treatment. Currently, 21 conditions are approved for the controversial treatment. A number of the conditions cover a wide swathe of ailments. For example, cancer…

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Drug Companies Seek Gag Order Against Republican Gov.-Elect Mike DeWine for Speaking Out on Opioid Crisis

Friday, lawyers representing some of the nation’s largest drug manufacturers began an attempt to sanction and silence Governor-elect Mike DeWine, stemming from his involvement in a lawsuit he initiated as Ohio Attorney General. The motion, filed by an amalgamation Big Pharma attorneys, accuse DeWine, along with lawyers Mike Moore and…

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Opioid Abuse Estimated to Leave Over 20,000 Children in Foster Care by 2020

While the rampant opioid epidemic that has overtaken much of the country is finally getting the attention it deserves, some of the most vulnerable to its effects have been tragically overlooked. A startling report from the Public Children’s Services Association of Ohio estimates that, should current trends continue, over 20,000…

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Ohio Federal Judge Clears Way for Massive Opioid Lawsuit

A massive lawsuit by 1,500 counties, cities, townships, and other communities nationwide, against the opioid industry has been permitted to move forward by a federal judge in Ohio. Over the past two years, local and state governments in Mississippi, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, Nevada, Texas, Florida, North Carolina, North Dakota, Tennessee,…

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Congress Demands Key Documents From Largest Opioid Makers In The Country

opioids

by Steve Birr   Lawmakers are demanding answers from three of the largest opioid manufacturers in the country, particularly when executives became aware their medications were addictive. Leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee sent letters Thursday to drug makers Purdue Pharma, Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals and Insys Therapeutics asking they send a…

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Gov. Haslam Signs Legislation to Restrict Opioid Access, Punish Trafficking, Provide Treatment Help

Bill Haslam

The state of Tennessee is adding restrictions to opioid prescriptions and measures to track and punish unlawful distribution of the powerful pain medications. Gov. Bill Haslam signed two bills and issued an executive order last Friday to support TN Together, the latest effort to fight the opioid crisis, WBIR reported,…

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