Three years ago I wrote this column: My Challenge to Medical Device and Drug Companies: Put Me Out of Business! The point was straightforward: if companies would do the right thing, and properly test their medical devices, and carefully monitor the drugs they sell, and try to help patients instead of merely chasing profits, then…
Continue reading ›One year ago a multidistrict litigation site (MDL 2804) was chosen as the venue for cities, counties, and states to bring civil actions against the makers of opioids. As I wrote about then, the opioid crisis has created huge burdens on states and municipalities. State and local governments have shouldered much of the cost of…
Continue reading ›Most of you have heard reports about the devastating effects of opioids. Millions of people have become addicted, and many of those people have overdosed and died while taking the addictive pain medication. Even in cases when death does not occur, addiction has caused job losses, ravaged families, and cost billions of dollars in treatment…
Continue reading ›If you have read any newspaper in the last year, you know that prescription opioids have caused massive suffering in this country. Addiction has skyrocketed. Sadly, deaths from overdoses and even opioid-related suicides have dramatically increased as well. In 2016 alone over 14,000 overdose deaths were reported from natural and semi-synthetic opioids, and over 20,000…
Continue reading ›The opioid epidemic in America is a national crisis. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control recently reported that more than 64,000 people died in 2016 from drug overdoses, with the great majority of those deaths caused by opioids. The numbers for 2017 only look worse. Last month, I wrote about whether people affected by the…
Continue reading ›Have you been directly affected by the opioid epidemic in America? Millions of people have become addicted to these powerful drugs—and for many, that addiction started with a legally prescribed medication to treat legitimate pain. One report estimated that more than 59,000 people died from drug overdoses in 2016—and most of those were caused by…
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