editor, Author at Monitor Telegram

States Prep Lawsuit That Could Devastate Big Pharma

October 5, 2017

The same lawyer that took on big tobacco and landed the largest corporate settlement in the history of the U.S. is gearing up for his next victim: the opioid industry.

Mike Moore, the former attorney general of Mississippi, began asking states last summer to sue pharmaceutical companies for what he argued was a calculated misrepresentation of the benefits and addictions risks of using opioids. Moore wants to get roughly 25 states behind his cause, and build such a strong case against the pharmaceutical industry that it is forced to cower to the states’ demands.

Pfizer loses battle to keep Medicaid rebate data hidden from Texas lawmakers

October 5, 2017

Pfizer (PFE) lost a round in the larger fight over pharmaceutical pricing when a federal judge ruled that Texas lawmakers should be able to obtain state Medicaid rebate data about its medicines.

The drug maker last year filed a lawsuit against the Texas Health and Human Services Commission for releasing the data to a pair of state lawmakers, who sought the information in order to assess drug costs for the state Medicaid program. But Pfizer argued that releasing the data would violate federal and state laws that protect its confidential information.

$93M class-action lawsuit filed against City of Calgary for privacy breach

October 5, 2017

The City of Calgary is being sued for $92.9 million, accused of breaching the privacy rights of more than 3,700 of its employees.

The class action lawsuit was filed Tuesday, alleging a privacy breach in June 2016. The court document claims a city staffer sent an email to an employee of another Alberta municipality, sharing the personal and confidential information of 3,716 municipal employees.

The personal information was contained in Workers’ Compensation Board claim details and included medical records, Social Insurance Numbers, addresses, dates of birth, Alberta Health Care numbers and income details.

The statement of claim accuses the city of “acting with the most obvious neglect.”

Purdue Pharma Slammed With Another Lawsuit For ‘Plaguing The Nation’ With Addiction

October 4, 2017

Officials in Tennessee are coming after drug makers, specifically Purdue Pharma, alleging dishonest marketing of their medications hooked the region on opioids.

The district attorneys general for five judicial districts in the eastern portion of the state filed the lawsuit Sept. 29, which focuses on Purdue Pharma, the manufacturers of OxyContin. Jared Effler, district attorney general for Tennessee’s Eighth Judicial District, is spearheading the legal effort for the region, which he says is “one of the hardest-hit areas in the opioid epidemic that is plaguing the nation,” reports Bristol Herald Courier.

You’re A Victim Of Identity Fraud. Do You Know What To Do?

October 4, 2017

The OPP wants to make sure you are not one of the thousands of victims of identity fraud expected to lose millions of dollars this year.

Last year, there were 9,481 complaints about it in Canada. Those victims are expected to suffer a combined loss of $12-million.

October is Cyber Security Month, and the OPP believes the more the public knows about identity fraud, the less likely people will be victimized.

Police have released a video in hopes of educating the public.

Police raid Merck pharmaceutical plant amid mysterious drug crisis

October 4, 2017

In the six months since pharmaceutical giant Merck reformulated a thyroid hormone replacement drug distributed in France, patients there have filed dozens of lawsuits. Hundreds of thousands signed a petition to reverse the change, and around 9,000 reported illnesses and side-effects, some dramatic. They complain of hair loss, cramps, weight gain, extreme fatigue, headaches, diarrhea, dizziness, memory loss, and heart palpitations.

The outcry has created a political and media blitz. Rumors and conspiracy theories have flown, including that Merck switched production of the drug to a plant in China to cut costs. (The drug, which has no competition in France, is produced in Europe.)

Holding Big Pharma Accountable for Opioid Crisis

October 3, 2017

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), every day more than 90 Americans die after overdosing on opioids.

“The misuse of and addiction to opioids, including prescription pain relievers, heroin, and synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, is a serious national crisis that affects public health as well as social and economic welfare,” the NIDA website claims. As well, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that the total economic burden of prescription opioid misuse alone in the United States is $78.5 billion a year, including the costs of healthcare, lost productivity, addiction treatment, and criminal justice involvement.

Fighting the Opioid Epidemic by Targeting Big Pharma’s Bottom Line

October 3, 2017

Opioids now kill over 100 Americans every day. In a single year, opioids kill more Americans than died in the entire Vietnam and Iraq Wars. And while the underground drug trade is fueling this epidemic of medicalized self-destruction, the flow of black-market opioids is inseparable from its above-ground counterpart—the pharmaceutical companies that peddle the legal and FDA-approved pain killers like OxyContin and Vicodin. And now workers on the front lines of this crisis are challenging the nation’s biggest pushers to stop pumping deadly drugs into their neighborhoods.

Russia threatens Canada with retaliation as bill targeting human rights abusers nears passage

October 3, 2017

A bill now before the House of Commons that targets foreign citizens deemed to be guilty of human rights abuses is a “deplorably confrontational act” which “will be met with resolve and reciprocal countermeasures,” the Russian Embassy in Ottawa warned Tuesday.

Bill S-226 moved to third reading on Monday. It would give the federal cabinet the power to forbid the Canadian business dealings, or dealings with Canadians abroad, of foreign nationals who are “responsible for, or complicit in, extrajudicial killings, torture or other gross violations of internationally recognized human rights.”

Federal tax hit the last straw for entrepreneurs

October 2, 2017

Over the past 75 days, Canada has witnessed something very rare — a spontaneous, grassroots response from small business owners, a group typically way too busy to mount protests and campaigns about government policy.

I have been impressed to see business owners from coast to coast reaching out to their MPs, setting up special websites and packing local meeting halls. The federal government’s proposed tax changes have caused a firestorm of reaction from small business owners, which appears to have genuinely surprised our political leaders.