Court Documents: Johnson & Johnson Was ‘Kingpin’ In Opioid Epidemic And Targeted Children, Elderly With Marketing | Kaiser Health News

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## KHN Morning Briefing

### Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations

Wednesday, Mar 13 2019
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# Court Documents: Johnson & Johnson Was ‘Kingpin’ In Opioid Epidemic And Targeted Children, Elderly With Marketing

Although Purdue Pharma has gotten much of the heat for its role in the opioid crisis, new court documents out of the Oklahoma trial put Johnson & Johnson front and center as well. The company acted as a “kingpin behind the public-health emergency, profiting at every stage,’’ lawyers for Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter said in a February state court document. Other news on the epidemic comes out of Maryland, Delaware, Rhode Island and California, as well.
Bloomberg: US Opioid Drug Epidemic: J&J Called 'Kingpin' By Oklahoma
Johnson & Johnson was at the center of the burgeoning opioid-addiction crisis in America, operating like a drug kingpin by selling its version of the powerful painkiller as well as the active ingredient, according to newly unsealed court filings. J&J, through subsidiaries based in Tasmania, grew opium poppies used in its Nucynta medication and sold to other drugmakers for use in their opioid-based products, court filings in Oklahoma show. The New Brunswick, New Jersey-based company also wrongfully targeted children and the elderly in its marketing, the state contends. (Feeley, 3/12)
NPR: Purdue Pharma And Other Drug Companies Fight Opioid Disclosure
America's big drugmakers and pharmacy chains are scrambling to respond to hundreds of lawsuits tied to the deadly opioid epidemic. Billions of dollars are at stake if the companies are found liable for fueling the crisis. Even before judgments are rendered, companies like Purdue Pharma, Johnson & Johnson and CVS are already suffering damage to their reputations as evidence in civil suits reveals more about their internal workings. "The narrative is clearly shifting on this story," said David Armstrong, a senior reporter with ProPublica, who has covered the drug industry for years. "People want some sort of reckoning, some sort of accounting." (Mann, 3/13)
The Washington Post: How Fentanyl Triggered The Deadliest Drug Epidemic In U.S. History
Fentanyl, a powerful painkiller, has become the leading cause of overdose deaths in America. It’s 50 times more powerful than heroin and up to 100 times more powerful than morphine. (3/13)
The Washington Post: Baltimore Begins Construction On Center For Those With Substance-Use Disorders
Work began Friday to convert an old hospital building in West Baltimore into a facility that will provide a place for people using drugs or alcohol to sober up and perhaps get a jump-start on their way to treatment. The crisis stabilization center will be the first of its kind in the city and one of only a few nationally. It aims to divert some of the 16,000 people who go to hospital emergency rooms in Baltimore every year because of drugs and alcohol even when they do not need acute medical care. (Cohn, 3/12)
The Associated Press: Delaware Doctor Accused Of Trading Opioids For Sexual Favors
A Delaware doctor is accused of prescribing opioids in exchange for sexual favors to a female patient who was undergoing treatment for long-term drug addiction. The News Journal of Wilmington reports Deputy Attorney General Zoe Plerhoples said during an administrative hearing Monday that Nihar B. Gala’s behavior at several walk-in medical centers in 2017 endangered the patient. The state has asked for an administrative hearing officer to recommend the Board of Medical Licensure and Discipline revoke Gala’s medical license. (3/13)
Boston Globe: In Rhode Island, Some Get Addiction Care At The Pharmacy
A unique experiment in Rhode Island will provide care for opioid addiction in an unexpected place — the local pharmacy. Under the proposal, some 125 patients will receive much more than their medication when they fill their doctor’s prescriptions for anti-addiction treatments at six pharmacies. (Freyer, 3/12)
Sacramento Bee: Patrick Mulvaney Aims To Help Workers With Drug, Alcohol Issues
The chef/co-owner of Mulvaney’s B&L has recruited people for mental health treatment classes, installed a support program in his own restaurant and is helping create a formal resource and advocacy network for restaurant workers. When combined with the work he and his wife/co-owner Bobbin have done to support and develop the farm-to-fork movement, it was enough for the couple to be named the Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce’s Sacramentans of the Year in January. (Egel, 3/13)
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