Greece’s Health Minister Thanos Plevris announced plans to sue Novartis over what he alleges are illegal practices. The scandal has been playing out for several years, with Novartis alleged to have paid Greek public officials and health care providers to increase prescriptions for the company’s drugs and maintain higher prices.
The state of Massachusetts on May 12 agreed to pay $56 million to resolve a lawsuit by families of veterans who contracted COVID-19 during an outbreak at a veterans’ care center that killed 84 people early in the pandemic.
A lawyer for two Ohio counties said CVS Health Corp., Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. and Walmart Inc. should fund an $878 million plan to address the opioid crisis there, as a first-of-its-kind trial got underway to determine the pharmacy chains’ contribution.
Walgreens Boots Alliance reached a $683 million settlement with Florida to resolve claims that the pharmacy chain exacerbated an opioid epidemic in the state.
Protesters rallied under the slogan “off our bodies” in cities across the United States on May 3, demanding abortion rights be protected after the leak of a draft Supreme Court opinion that would overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries believes the company would have to pay around $2.6 billion in cash and medicine to settle thousands of lawsuits alleging the world’s largest generic firm and other drug manufacturers fueled the U.S. opioid epidemic.
Washington reached a $518 million settlement with drug distributors McKesson Corp., AmerisourceBergen Corp. and Cardinal Health, ending a months-long trial over the companies’ alleged role in fueling the opioid epidemic in the state, the three companies announced on May 3.
Pharmacy chain Walgreens Boots Alliance and other defendants on April 26 said they were not to blame for the opioid crisis in San Francisco, and that they acted responsibly when providing legal medications to patients in pain.
Alabama reached $276 million in settlements with Johnson & Johnson, McKesson Corp. and Endo International Plc, resolving claims that the companies fueled an opioid addiction crisis, the state attorney general said.
Florida reached more than $878 million in settlements with CVS Health Corp. and three drug companies to resolve claims and avert a trial in April over their roles in fueling an opioid epidemic in the third most populous U.S. state.
Reuters
Reuters