The Opioid Crisis

Post by **TheCatt** » Sun Oct 20, 2019 6:44 pm

When I had my tonsils out, they gave me Vicodin, and it didn't do a god damned thing. So they gave me percocet. I still hurt like hell, but I slept so much I didn't care.

Post by **Leisher** » Sun Oct 20, 2019 8:01 pm

I usually tell doctors that I don't want any pain med scripts. I hate them. Over the counter stuff is fine.

However, during my week in the hospital in 2005 they gave me hydro-morphine in the Cleveland Clinic. They acted like it was "the good shit", and were very protective of me getting it. They had to do paperwork every time they gave it to me. I did not find it to be more effective than anything else and certainly wasn't craving it when I got out.

Post by **Troy** » Mon Oct 21, 2019 12:27 pm

Update: https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/21/health/o ... index.html

Safe for me to make a few more comments on this now. Our client didn't settle, as they shouldn't have. No way the counties were going to go after us alone after the real bad guys dropped out, we would have smoked them in court, in my opinion. It's illegal for a pharmacy to refuse to fill a legitimate doctor prescription.

Walgreens was not part of the settlement. Judge Polster said claims against the company have been cut off and moved to a different track, with a schedule to follow.
Walgreens released a statement Monday saying it is "completely unlike the wholesalers involved in the national opioid litigation."
"Before 2014, Walgreens delivered opioid medications -- among many other types of medications -- only to our own pharmacies, staffed by our own pharmacy professionals,' company spokesman Phil Caruso said.

No pea-coat needed. Off to NY tomorrow. Litigation busy season.

Post by **Leisher** » Mon Oct 21, 2019 12:33 pm

That settlement seems low.

Post by **Troy** » Mon Oct 21, 2019 12:37 pm

Leisher wrote: That settlement seems low.

It was the bell-weather case, first of it's kind, and only for two Ohio counties.

I believe the HUGE damages number I posted was extrapolating this rough number times 100 counties per state times 50 states. Or maybe just Journalism math.

Post by **TheCatt** » Mon Oct 21, 2019 12:38 pm

Troy wrote:
Leisher wrote: That settlement seems low.
It was the bell-weather case for two ohio counties.

I believe the HUGE damages number I posted was extrapolating this rough number times 100 counties per state times 100 states.

That was just two counties? Holy fuck. And this is just for distributors, not the manufacturers, right?

Post by **Troy** » Mon Oct 21, 2019 12:40 pm

TheCatt wrote:
Troy wrote:
Leisher wrote: That settlement seems low.
It was the bell-weather case for two ohio counties.

I believe the HUGE damages number I posted was extrapolating this rough number times 100 counties per state times 50states.
That was just two counties? Holy fuck. And this is just for distributors, not the manufacturers, right?

No, it was both distributors and manufacturers.

Post by **Leisher** » Mon Oct 21, 2019 12:44 pm

I didn't notice it was just two counties. That is huge.

Too bad some of the executives won't face jail time...or will they?

Post by **Troy** » Mon Oct 21, 2019 12:47 pm

Leisher wrote: I didn't notice it was just two counties. That is huge.

Too bad some of the executives won't face jail time...or will they?

Not a chance.

They will likely get raises for settling this. I bet it helps their stock prices today.

Post by **TheCatt** » Mon Oct 21, 2019 12:52 pm

Troy wrote: I bet it helps their stock prices today.

The market disagrees, mostly.

Shares of McKesson Corp. MCK, -3.95%, Cardinal Health Inc. CAH, -2.54%, AmerisourceBergen Corp. ABC, -3.53% and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. TEVA, +3.67% all fell in premarket trading Monday, after the drug companies reached a last-minute settlement with two Ohio counties in opioid litigation,

S&P up 0.6% in contrast. Not sure by TEVA is up when the others are down.

Post by **Leisher** » Mon Oct 21, 2019 1:10 pm

Troy wrote: Not a chance.

Eventually, there will be a violent uprising and shit like this will be why.

Post by **Cakedaddy** » Mon Oct 21, 2019 1:46 pm

Why aren't they going after the doctors writing the bullshit scripts?

Post by **TheCatt** » Mon Oct 21, 2019 1:55 pm

Cakedaddy wrote: Why aren't they going after the doctors writing the bullshit scripts?

Probably cuz there's a lot more doctors than companies, so a harder target.

Post by **Troy** » Mon Oct 21, 2019 2:29 pm

TheCatt wrote:
Cakedaddy wrote: Why aren't they going after the doctors writing the bullshit scripts?
Probably cuz there's a lot more doctors than companies, so a harder target.

Totally. This is civil litigation too. The DEA is definitely going after bad doctors in criminal cases.

It's much easier and more cost efficient to sue the big boys. The work required to sue an individual doctor is substantial, without much payoff. Even rich doctors don't have pharmaceutical company money.

Post by **Troy** » Mon Oct 21, 2019 2:47 pm

Troy wrote:It's illegal for a pharmacy to refuse to fill a legitimate doctor prescription.

I was too broad about this, it's legal in some states for pharmacists to do this based on religious beliefs. It normally only comes up for hormones or birth control though. Pharmacists have a duty of care, like the doctor Hippocratic oath, so if they refuse they open themselves up to medical malpractice suits.

It is a policy of Walgreen's to not refuse after a complaint from the the ACLU.

She filed a complaint through the American Civil Liberties Union alleging sex discrimination, and Walgreens ultimately agreed to a company-wide policy so customers would get prescriptions in a timely matter, even if pharmacists had personal objections to the medication.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ca ... ds-n894871

Post by **Cakedaddy** » Mon Oct 21, 2019 8:59 pm

Why aren't we suing car companies because of all the traffic deaths?

Post by **GORDON** » Mon Oct 21, 2019 9:22 pm

A logical step.... but...

The reason that scuba dive charter boat captains require I show my certification card is so that they are legally covered if I go underwater and die. That C-Card means I knew the risks, and was trained to reasonably mitigate them. If they let an uncertified diver dive from their boat, and they die, they can face actual negligence charges and their insurance will drop them.

I IMAGINE, and I'm just speculating here, that a driver's license is the same sort of thing. People are, by law, required to have some training and education before they get on the road. And I would guess that 99% of fatalities are because of negligence, if not an existing traffic law being broken completely.

Post by **Cakedaddy** » Mon Oct 21, 2019 10:56 pm

All I see is a manufacturer making a product that is needed by society. Some end users are idiots and die. Then the manufacturer is being sued. This could apply to sooooooo mmmmmaaaaannnnnnyyyyyy products. Lets not blame the idiots. Lets just go after money.

Post by **Cakedaddy** » Mon Oct 21, 2019 10:58 pm

Troy wrote:
TheCatt wrote:
Cakedaddy wrote: Why aren't they going after the doctors writing the bullshit scripts?
Probably cuz there's a lot more doctors than companies, so a harder target.
Totally. This is civil litigation too. The DEA is definitely going after bad doctors in criminal cases.

It's much easier and more cost efficient to sue the big boys. The work required to sue an individual doctor is substantial, without much payoff. Even rich doctors don't have pharmaceutical company money.

Don't sue the doctors. Take their license and put them in jail as drug dealers.

Post by **Troy** » Mon Oct 21, 2019 11:42 pm

edit: nope can’t leave this post on the internet