Johnson & Johnson opioid ruling explained – the key points

An Oklahoma judge has ordered the company to pay $572m for its role in creating the state’s opioid epidemic.

An Oklahoma judge has ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $572m for its role in driving Oklahoma’s opioid epidemic. The landmark ruling will have wide-ranging consequences for the other opioid makers, distributors and pharmacy chains facing thousands of lawsuits across the country.

Judge Thad Balkman determined that Johnson & Johnson ran a “false and dangerous” sales campaign that led to addiction and death in the state, as well as helping to fuel the worst drug epidemic in US history. These are the key points from his damning 42-page decision. read more »

Purdue Pharma offers $10-12 billion to settle opioid claims

The lawsuits allege the company and the Sackler family are responsible for starting and sustaining the opioid crisis.

The maker of OxyContin, Purdue Pharma, and its owners, the Sackler family, are offering to settle more than 2,000 lawsuits against the company for $10 billion to $12 billion. The potential deal was part of confidential conversations and discussed by Purdue's lawyers at a meeting in Cleveland last Tuesday, Aug. 20, according to two people familiar with the mediation. read more »

Sacklers Would Give Up Ownership of Purdue Pharma Under Settlement Proposal

The Sackler family would give up ownership of Purdue Pharma, the company blamed for much of the opioid epidemic, and pay $3 billion of their own money under terms of a settlement proposal to resolve thousands of federal and state lawsuits, according to a person familiar with the negotiations.

The discussions have been going on for months as Purdue and the Sacklers have sought to prevent any new lawsuits against individual members of the family as well as their company.

If all the parties agree and the settlement is completed, Purdue would be the first among some two dozen manufacturers, distributors and retailers of prescription opioids facing lawsuits nationwide to settle all claims against it for its role in a public health crisis that has killed hundreds of thousands of people in the past two decades. read more »

SEC Obtains Emergency Asset Freeze, Charges Pennsylvania Investment Adviser with $100 Million Fraud

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a Pennsylvania investment adviser with operating an investment advisory fraud involving over $100 million in investments. The SEC also obtained an emergency asset freeze.

The SEC's complaint alleges that Brenda Smith, and her fund Broad Reach Capital, LP, raised approximately $105 million from approximately 40 investors by representing that she would invest their money in publicly traded securities through various trading strategies that she championed as providing consistent high returns. However, Smith made very few investments in these trading strategies, and instead largely used investors' money to repay other investors and for her own personal investments. read more »

U.S. appeals court revives aluminum antitrust cases vs Goldman, JPMorgan, Glencore

A federal appeals court on Tuesday revived lawsuits by aluminum purchasers that accused Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, mining company Glencore and other companies of conspiring to drive up prices for the metal by reducing supply.

Purchasers accused banks and commodity trading, mining and metals warehousing companies of conspiring to hoard aluminum inventory earlier this decade, after prices had declined because industrial activity fell during the global financial crisis. read more »