Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

Opioid Crisis in the United States

More recent review of the Opioid, drug, etc. crisis in the United States. It has been a while since I have written on or touched upon the Opioid crisis. This is about a six-minute rather simple read. It lays a foundation for addition information on the topic. I will try to break this down and […]

The Opioid Epidemic from 1980 Onward in My Words

It has been a bit since I have said anything about the Opioid epidemic. Such was brought on by companies and distributors (more like PBMs) claiming it was harmless and non-addicting. I do want to catch up and see how the Sacklers made out. Whether the Gov finally put the screws to them or did […]

“lawsuits alleging that OxyContin sparked an opioid epidemic”

I have been writing on the Opioid epidemic for years. I was asked to write on it by some organizations. SCOTUS tossing the settlement may be due to the settlement releasing the Sacklers from any liability in promotion and the sale of Oxycontin, etc. Supreme Court tosses opioid settlement worth billions for states, victims, USA […]

Oral argument December 23 2023, Harrington v. Purdue Pharma

Court conflicted over Purdue Pharma bankruptcy plan that shields Sacklers from liability, SCOTUSblog, Amy Howe. Conflicted? There is nothing to be conflicted about with Purdue and the US Opioid Epidemic. As was pointed out repeatedly. The Supporting Facts Leading to the Cause of the Opioid Epidemic is pretty simple. Purdue promoted the use of opioids […]

Buprenorphine Naloxone & Naltrexone

I think the main practical point is that pharmacological treatment of opioid addiction is effective and yet not as easily available as it should be. Not all opioid use disorder (OUD) specialized treatment programs offer medication assisted treatment (I have a somewhat out of date report that in 2017 “only … 35.5% offered any single […]

Who is Deciding How to Spend $50 Billion in Opioid Settlement Cash?

Angry Bear has been writing about the Opioid epidemic and what has been influencing it for years. I was asked to write on it by an association and continued to do so. It would seem there should be more money coming forth from companies who promoted its use. If we go back and read the […]

The Economic Toll of the Opioid Crisis Reached Nearly $1.5 Trillion in 2020

The other day I posted some charts covering drug addiction. in the US. The first Bar Chart below matches up with Figure 3 in that post “Drug Overdose Death Rates in the US,” Angry Bear. Today’s post as taken from the Senate Joint Economic Committee fleshes out the numbers cited there and also here in […]

Drug Overdose Death Rates in the US

This post is more of a copy and paste. If you read the sections and then the original piece, you will see I have changed some of the wording to accommodate the post itself. For example, the charts appear to the right of the wording rather than above. For the longest time, I could not […]

W.Va. Court Rules in Favor of Drug Wholesalers

“Federal judge in W.Va. rules in favor of drug distributors in landmark opioid trial,” (WCHS). Why I think the judge’s ruling is BS. The City of Huntington and the County of Cabell sued three drug companies (Wholesalers) responsible for distributing hydrocodone and oxycodone or opioids. Their claim was AmerisourceBergen Drug Co., Cardinal Health Inc., and […]