Latest Drugs Headlines

All the headlines from our Drugs Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Vermont Sues Opioid Drugmaker Over Marketing Practices

Sep 7 2018 // Vermont on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against drugmaker Purdue over what it called deceptive marketing of OxyContin and other prescription opioid painkillers that the attorney general says helped lead to the drug crisis in...

Labor Secretary: Cost Savings in California Workers’ Comp $1.3B Annually

Sep 6 2018 // Cost savings in the California worker’s compensation system from reforms made five years ago are far more massive than projected, according to David Lanier, secretary of the California Labor and Workforce Development...

West Virginia Drug Overdose Deaths Reached Record High in 2017

Sep 6 2018 // New West Virginia health information shows drug overdose deaths have increased to more than 1,000 in a one-year period for the first time.The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports the West Virginia Health Statistics...

California Court Rules Workers’ Comp Law Provides Exclusive Remedy in Utilization Review Case

Sep 3 2018 // The California Supreme Court issued an opinion in late August that utilization review physicians cannot be sued for malpractice, upholding established law that the workers’ comp system provides injured employees an...

South Carolina Supreme Court Appoints Judge to Manage Opioid Lawsuits

Aug 27 2018 // South Carolina’s high court has appointed a single judge to handle any lawsuits related to opioids in the state system.On Thursday, the state Supreme Court assigned Circuit Court Judge Perry Gravely to the task....

California High Court: Workers’ Comp Law Provides Exclusive Remedy in Utilization Review Case

Aug 23 2018 // The California Supreme Court issued an opinion today that utilization review physicians cannot be sued for malpractice, upholding established law that the workers’ comp system provides injured employees an exclusive...

Brand Name Drug Maker Not Liable for Injuries from Generic Version: Court

Aug 23 2018 // A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday tossed a $3 million verdict against GlaxoSmithKline over the suicide of an attorney who took a generic version of the company’s antidepressant Paxil, finding the company could not be...

Study Looks at Polypharmacy Claims in California Workers’ Comp

Aug 17 2018 // A study from the California Workers’ Compensation Institute shows the likelihood that indemnity was paid on a workers’ comp claim increased with the number of concurrent prescriptions the injured worker was...

President Trump Urges U.S. Suit Against Opioid Manufacturers

Aug 17 2018 // President Donald Trump said Thursday he wants the U.S. government to sue pharmaceutical companies that manufacture opioids as part of his efforts to halt an epidemic of drug addiction.Trump said he’d like to bring a...

On the Side, Express Scripts Eyes Distributing High-Priced Specialty Drugs

Aug 15 2018 // Express Scripts Holding Co. built a multi-billion enterprise pressuring drug companies to lower their prices for U.S. patients. Now it is quietly building a side business: getting paid to help drug companies dispense a new...

Opioids Blamed for 11.5% Spike in Kentucky Overdose Deaths Last Year

Aug 15 2018 // Drug overdose deaths in Kentucky are increasing despite a drop in opioid prescriptions and heroin use. A new report from the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy says 1,565 people died from drug overdoses in 2017....

Icahn Halts Bid to Block Cigna’s Takeover of Express Scripts

Aug 14 2018 // Activist investor Carl Icahn has dropped his fight to block Cigna Corp.’s $54 billion acquisition of Express Scripts Holding Co. after two prominent shareholder advisory firms came out in support of the...

2nd Chinese Manufacturer Makes Tainted, Carcinogenic Heart Drug: EU

Aug 10 2018 // The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said on Friday that a second Chinese contract manufacturer, Zhejiang Tianyu, had produced a common blood pressure and heart drug with an impurity that could cause cancer.The alarm over...

American Medical Association Claims CVS-Aetna Merger Will Hike Drug Prices

Aug 9 2018 // The American Medical Association, which represents U.S. physicians, urged the U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday to stop CVS Health Corp.’s plan to buy insurance provider Aetna Inc., saying the deal could result in...

Investor Icahn to Oppose Cigna-Express Deal, Fearing Amazon Threat: Sources

Aug 2 2018 // Activist investor Carl Icahn has built a sizable stake in Cigna Corp. and plans to oppose the health insurer’s $54 billion takeover of pharmacy-benefits firm Express Scripts Holding Co., according to people familiar...

Maryland Hits Record-High Drug Deaths, Fueled by Fentanyl

Jul 31 2018 // Maryland, a state that already had one of the country’s most punishing overdose mortality rates, notched a record-high number of drug deaths last year. The grim milestone was fueled by an alarming increase of...

California Workers’ Comp Changes Helping System, Division Chief Says

Jul 27 2018 // California’s workers’ compensation system has undergone numerous changes since the implementation of the sweeping reforms that started in 2013 with Senate Bill 863.In the last few years medical provider fraud...

The Legal Engine Driving More Than 800 Lawsuits Against Opioid Makers

Jul 24 2018 // The place might sound familiar, even if you’ve never been there: the Appalachian foothills, down by the Ohio River, where the sirens scream addiction and death.Twenty-six overdoses in one afternoon. The highest death...

Study Examines California Worker’s Comp Prescription Drug Outcomes Under New Formulary

Jul 20 2018 // A new analysis offers a preliminary look at Utilization Review and Independent Medical Review outcomes involving pharmaceutical requests for California injured workers since the state implemented a workers’...

Arkansas Approves Rules with Opioid Prescription Limits

Jul 20 2018 // An Arkansas panel has given final approval to regulations that will require doctors who prescribe high doses of opioid pain medication to follow guidelines meant to limit potential abuse, including exploring alternative...