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Drugmaker to pay record sum in opioid settlements
Johnson & Johnson, along with three distributors, must pay out
to local governments across the US
Johnson & Johnson, as well as distributors AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson, announced on Friday that they would pay out a combined $26 billion to state and local governments in the US affected by the ongoing opioid epidemic. The payouts, which combined make up the largest opioid settlement in history, will keep the pioneer of these drugs out of court.
The settlement plan was announced amid a raft of opioid lawsuits last year, but depended on enough state and local governments coming on board. On Friday the companies announced that they had secured enough participants and would start distributing the money in April.
According to law firm Motley Rice, more than 20,000 communities will receive payouts from the $26 billion settlement, with 90% of the funds earmarked for “treatment, education, intervention, screening, recovery and prevention efforts that are needed to curb the crisis.” The 3,200 municipalities that brought the litigation against the drug firms cover 90% of the US population.
However, the settlement means that the vast majority of the US will not be able to take further legal action against Johnson & Johnson and the distributors.
Separate lawsuits brought by municipalities in Washington and West Virginia are in the trial phase, and the drug companies earlier this month reached a separate $590 million settlement with more than 400 Native American tribes and organizations.
Opioid addiction has ravaged the United States in recent years. Overdose deaths topped 100,000 annually in 2021, with opioids responsible for more than 75,000 of these deaths, up from 56,000 the year before. According to separate figures from American Families Against Fentanyl, some 78,795 Americans aged between 18 and 45 died from overdosing on this powerful synthetic opioid between 2020 and 2021. Fentanyl, the group claims, kills more 18- to 45-year-olds than suicide, Covid-19, and car accidents, and should be declared a weapon of mass destruction.
While much of the Fentanyl in the US enters the country illicitly, blame for the addiction crisis has been laid at the feet of drugmakers. Two major opioid firms, Teva Pharmaceuticals and Purdue Pharma, have been on the receiving end of multibillion-dollar lawsuits in recent years, but J&J pioneered the development of these drugs back in the 1980s, and in 2015 was the US’ main supplier of the raw ingredients used to make pain pills like Oxycontin.
“As monumental as this accomplishment is, we must remember that we are still only in the beginning phases of this complex litigation,” Motley Rice attorney Joseph Rice wrote in a blog post on Friday. “The opioid supply chain is massive and numerous other companies and parties have yet to answer for their role in creating this crisis of addiction.”
It is very disappointing that the companies responsible for probably more than a million deaths in USA are able to avoid real punishment by paying a fine. Pharmaceutical companies know very well how many people are at risk of death from every medication they produce, and they produce them anyway even when the greatest benefits are to Big Pharma's bank accounts. It's good that some of those benefits are removed, but there should be people going to jail for these atrocities.
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Moderna Hijacked Technology for COVID-19 Vaccine, Lawsuit Alleges
By Jack Phillips
Epoch Times
March 1, 2022
Two biotechnology companies filed a lawsuit against Moderna this week and alleged the vaccine manufacturer infringed on patented technology in the development of its commonly used COVID-19 shot.
Arbutus Biopharma and Genevant Sciences, the companies, claim in a civil lawsuit that Moderna used “breakthrough technology Arbutus had already created and patented” to create the COVID-19 vaccine such as the lipid nanoparticle delivery system, according to a complaint (pdf) filed in the U.S. District Court in Delaware. Genevant is owned by Roivant, a company that licensed the patents in question from Arbutus.
“Moderna was well aware of Arbutus’s LNP patents and licensed them for other product programs, but it chose not to do so for its COVID-19 vaccine. Instead, it attempted to invalidate several of the patents before the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and when those efforts largely failed, Moderna simply used the patented technology without paying for it or even asking for a license,” the complaint read.
The two companies alleged that Moderna committed seven counts of patent infringement. They are asking for financial compensation from the company.
In a statement on Monday, Moderna denied the allegations contained in the civil lawsuit.
“Moderna denies these allegations, and will vigorously defend itself against Genevant’s claims in Court,” a Moderna spokesperson told The Epoch Times. “Our COVID-19 vaccine is a product of Moderna’s many years of pioneering mRNA platform research and development, including creation of our own proprietary lipid nanoparticle delivery technology, which has been pivotal to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The statement added: “Further, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §1498, Moderna has notified the U.S. government about the accusation of infringement against sales to the U.S. government, so that the U.S. government can protect its rights in defending against any alleged liability to Genevant. ”
With the lawsuit, Genevant and Arbutus said they are not seeking a court injunction because it would “impede the sale, manufacture or distribution of MRNA-1273” in vaccines, said William Collier, the CEO of Arbutus, in a statement.
“However, we seek fair compensation for Moderna’s use of our patented technology that was developed with great effort and at great expense, without which Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine would not have been successful,” Collier continued to say.
COVID-19 is the illness caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.
In late February, Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said that orders of its vaccine rose to $19 billion for 2022 sales, which is up from the $18.5 billion that was announced a month before.
“We believe there’s a high probability that we’re moving into an endemic setting,” Bancel told CNBC last week. “We should still be cautious because as we’ve seen with Delta, which came after Alpha and was more virulent, [it] is always possible to get the more virulent variant of course.”
‘Scum of the earth’: Drug victims face Purdue Pharma owners
By GEOFF MULVIHILL and JENNIFER PELTZ
Today
Cheryl Juaire holds photos of her sons, both of whom died from overdoses, Sean Merrill, left, and Corey Merrill, after making a statement during a hearing in New York, Thursday, March 10, 2022. Victims of opioids and those who have lost loved ones to the addiction crisis are unleashing their emotions on members of the family they blame for fueling the deadly epidemic. Thursday's unusual hearing is being conducted virtually in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York. It is giving people the chance to confront members of the Sackler family who own OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma and tell them about the lasting pain that addiction and overdoses have had in their lives. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
NEW YORK (AP) — Angry, defiant and sometimes tearful, more than two dozen Americans whose lives were upended by the opioid crisis finally had their long-awaited chance Thursday to confront in court some members of the family they blame for fueling it.
They were unsparing as they unleashed decades of frustration and sorrow on members of the Sackler family who own OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma over the course of a three-hour virtual hearing.
One woman played a recording from when she called 911 to get help for her overdosing son, then called one of the Sacklers the “scum of the earth.” Several displayed pictures of loved ones who died too soon because of their addictions. Many spoke about forgiveness, with some trying to find it — and others definitely not.
“I hope that every single victim’s face haunts your every waking moment and your sleeping ones, too,” said Ryan Hampton, of Las Vegas, who has been in recovery for seven years after an addiction that began with an OxyContin prescription to treat knee pain led to overdoses and periods of homelessness.
Dede Yoder poses for a picture with a photo of her son, Chris Yoder, after making a statement during a hearing in New York on March 10, 2022. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
“You poisoned our lives and had the audacity to blame us for dying,” he said. “I hope you hear our names in your dreams. I hope you hear the screams of the families who find their loved ones dead on the bathroom floor. I hope you hear the sirens. I hope you hear the heart monitor as it beats along with a failing pulse.”
The unusual hearing was conducted virtually in U.S. Bankruptcy Court at the suggestion of a mediator who helped broker a deal that could settle thousands of lawsuits against Purdue over the toll of opioids, generating billions for the fight against the addiction and overdose crisis and giving Sackler family members protection from lawsuits.
Appearing via audio was Richard Sackler, the former Purdue president and board chair who has said the company and family bear no responsibility for the opioid crisis; he is a son of Raymond Sackler, one of the three brothers who in the 1950s bought the company that became Purdue Pharma. Attending on video were Theresa Sackler, a British dame and wife of the late Mortimer D. Sackler, another of the brothers; and David Sackler, Richard Sackler’s son.
Theresa’s and David’s expressions remained largely neutral as people spoke on video about the pain of losing children after years of trying to get them adequate treatment, about their own journeys through addiction, and about caring for babies born into withdrawal and screaming in pain.
Under court rules, the Sacklers were not allowed to respond to the victims, who were selected by lawyers for creditors in the case. Some victims spoke from a law office in New York; others were at their homes or offices around the country.
Jannette Adams told of her late husband, Dr. Thomas Adams, who was a physician and church deacon in Mississippi and a missionary in Africa and Haiti. He became addicted to opioids after pharmaceutical representatives pitched them, she said. After a terrible decline, he died in 2015.
“I’m angry, I’m pissed, but I move on,” Adams said. “Because our society lost a person who could have made so many more contributions. ... You took so much from us, but we plan to, through our faith in God, move forward.”
Tiffinee Scott poses for a picture with a photo of her daughter, Tiarra Renee Brown-Lewis, after making a statement during a hearing in New York on March 10, 2022. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Kristy Nelson played for the Sacklers a tense recording of a 911 call in which she summoned police to her home the day her son Bryan died of an opioid overdose. The dispatcher asked whether his skin had gone blue; she said it was white. She said she replays the call in her mind daily.
Thursday was Richard Sackler’s 77th birthday, according to public records. Later this month, Nelson said, she and her husband will visit the cemetery on what would have been Bryan’s 34th birthday.
“I understand today’s your birthday, Richard, how will you be celebrating?” she said. “I guarantee it won’t be in the cemetery. ... You have truly benefitted from the death of children. You are scum of the earth.”
Her words echoed a 2001 email from Richard Sackler, made public during lawsuits over OxyContin, in which he referred to people with addiction as “scum of the earth.”
Jenny Scully, a nurse in New York, gave birth in 2014 while on OxyContin and other opioids prescribed years earlier when she was dealing with both breast cancer and injuries from an accident. She was told her baby would be healthy, Scully said, but the little girl has had a lifetime of physical, developmental and emotional difficulties.
“You have destroyed so many lives,” she said, pulling her daughter into view. “Take a good look at this beautiful little girl you robbed of the person she could have been.”
Kara Trainor poses for a picture with a photo of her son, Riley, 11, after making a statement during a hearing in New York on March 10, 2022. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
The forum was unconventional for the White Plains, New York, courtroom of Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain, who on Wednesday gave tentative approval to key elements of a plan to settle thousands of lawsuits against the company.
Other drugmakers and wholesalers and even a consulting company have also been settling lawsuits over the opioid crisis, which has been linked two more than 500,000 deaths in the U.S. over the past two decades. But Purdue’s case stands out because it was an early player with OxyContin and is privately owned.
The settlement is estimated to be worth at least $10 billion over time. It calls for the Sacklers to contribute $5.5 billion to $6 billion over 17 years to fight the opioid crisis. That’s an increase of more than $1 billion over a previous version rejected by another judge on appeal. Most of the money would be used for efforts to combat the crisis, but $750 million would go directly to victims or their survivors.
The overall settlement, which still requires actions by multiple courts to take effect, provides more than $150 million for Native American tribes and over $100 million for medical monitoring and payments for children born in opioid withdrawal.
The plan also calls for family members to give up ownership of the company so it can become a new entity, Knoa Pharma, with its profits dedicated to stemming the epidemic. In exchange, Sackler family members would get protection from lawsuits over opioids.
The family also agreed not to oppose any efforts to remove the Sackler name from cultural and educational institutions they have supported and to make public a larger cache of company documents.
Purdue Pharma starting selling OxyContin, a pioneering extended-release prescription painkiller, in 1996. At the same time, Purdue and other drug companies funded efforts to get doctors and other prescribers to think differently about opioids — suggesting they be used for some pain conditions for which the potent drugs were previously considered off limits.
Over the decades, there were waves of fatal overdoses, first associated with prescription drugs and then, as prescriptions became harder to obtain and some drugs became harder to manipulate for a quick high, from heroin. More recently, fentanyl and similar drugs have become the biggest killer.
Purdue has twice pleaded guilty to criminal charges, but no Sacklers have been charged with crimes. There are no indications any such charges are forthcoming, although seven U.S. senators last month asked the Department of Justice to consider charges.
The Sacklers have never unequivocally apologized. Last week, they released a statement saying in part, “While the families have acted lawfully in all respects, they sincerely regret that OxyContin, a prescription medicine that continues to help people suffering from chronic pain, unexpectedly became part of an opioid crisis that has brought grief and loss to far too many families and communities.”
Following the hearing, a spokesperson for Mortimer Sackler’s descendants said the family would not make a statement; a representative of Raymond Sackler’s side of the family did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The family of the other brother, Arthur, sold its share of Stamford, Connecticut-based Purdue before OxyContin was developed.
Several speakers noted the lack of an apology, and some called for prosecutors to pursue criminal investigations.
“When you created OxyContin, you created so much loss for so many people,” said Kay Scarpone, who lost her son Joseph, a former Marine, to addiction a month before his 26th birthday. “I’m outraged that you haven’t owned up to the crisis that you’ve created.”
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