IN AN EFFORT to reduce HIV transmission, the Biden administration released new guidance in July mandating that medical insurers provide free access to medication that prevents transmission of HIV. Although the guidance calls for waiving all fees and co-pays associated with medication, clinic visits, and blood work, it’s clear that it’s true purpose is to […]
Drugs
Posted inDrug Addiction
New opioid settlement could bring $500 million to Massachusetts
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE MASSACHUSETTS STANDS TO receive more than $500 million over the next roughly 18 years as part of a massive settlement announced Wednesday that would end investigations and resolve thousands of lawsuits state and local government filed against three of the country’s largest opioid distributors and drugmaker Johnson & Johnson. Attorney General […]
Posted inDrug Addiction
Sackler family members to pay $4.3b settlement — $90m to Mass.
MEMBERS OF THE Sackler family who own Purdue Pharma will pay $4.3 billion to settle a lawsuit over Purdue’s role in perpetuating the opioid addiction epidemic, a lawsuit first initiated by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey in 2018. The company will have to disband or be sold by 2024, and the Sackler family members will be […]
Posted inOpinion
AG could give big lift to supervised drug sites
PATRICK RADDEN KEEFE’S Empire of Pain describes Attorney General Maura Healey’s quest, not just for financial restitution from members of the Oxycontin-promoting Sackler family but also to expose their deep venality. And exposed they were. Yet imagine Healy’s frustration as the members of the Sackler family cut their losses and kept an ungodly portion of […]
Posted inDrug Addiction
HIV cases spiking among Boston homeless
HEALTH OFFICIALS have identified a growing cluster of 134 HIV cases primarily among homeless people who inject drugs in the Boston area, a worrying sign for health officials who several years ago were talking about a goal of eradicating new HIV cases in the state. “What we see is not only HIV transmission occurring, but the […]
Posted inDrug Addiction
Opioid overdose deaths rise during pandemic
DEATHS FROM OPIOID OVERDOSES increased in Massachusetts during the pandemic, after three years of a steady decline. The rise in deaths is an alarming sign and one that experts say is likely indicative of the harmful impacts the pandemic is having on people with substance use disorder. “The way we looked at it is we had […]
Posted inDrug Addiction
Healey sues global advertising firm for marketing addictive opioids
ATTORNEY GENERAL MAURA HEALEY, who has been one of the country’s strongest legal crusaders against opioid manufacturer Purdue Pharma, has now filed a lawsuit against marketing firm Publicis Health for its role helping Purdue market addictive opioid pain medication. “Today’s lawsuit reveals important new information about the misconduct that caused the opioid crisis, and it’s another step […]
Posted inDrug Addiction
Mass. to get $13.2m from McKinsey opioid settlement
MASSACHUSETTS WILL get $13.2 million from a national settlement with consultant McKinsey & Company over the company’s role working for opioid companies. Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, who has been a leader in the opioid-related litigation, called the settlement “an important moment for accountability” for families who have been devasted by opioid addiction. The Massachusetts […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Forced addiction treatment could be death sentence during COVID-19
AS THE COVID-19 pandemic continues to devastate communities across this country, correctional facilities have become one of the most explosive epicenters of this public health crisis. Despite calls to rapidly depopulate jails and prisons, governors and correctional officials across the country are asserting that people behind bars and correctional staff could be kept “safe” inside, […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
A ban is not a plan
THE MASSACHUSETTS SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT has reminded us that we are not going to ban our way to social justice and public safety. The SJC on December 15 declared that the state ban on panhandling is in violation of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights, our state constitution. The court ruled on a Fall River case […]