Sacklers reaped up to $13 billion from OxyContin maker, U.S. states say

OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP steered up to $13 billion in profits to the company’s controlling Sackler family, according to U.S. states opposing efforts to halt lawsuits alleging the company and its owners helped fuel the U.S. opioid epidemic.

The financial figure is significantly larger than the roughly $4 billion previous lawsuits have alleged the Sacklers took out of Purdue, and was cited as part of coordinated legal broadsides this week against the company’s attempts to shield itself and the family from sprawling opioid litigation. read more »

It's not just opioids: What doctors want you to know about benzos

There's no understating the extent of America's opioid crisis. In 2017, the same year it became a public health emergency, an estimated 1.7 million people in the US had substance abuse disorders related to prescription opioids. And this year, the National Safety Council found that the odds of dying from an accidental opioid overdose are greater than those of dying in a car crash.

But there's another prescription drug concern that experts say has grown in the shadow of the opioid epidemic: the rise in use of benzodiazepines.

Benzodiazepines, or "benzos," are a class of medication commonly prescribed to treat conditions such as anxiety and insomnia. Even if you don't recognize the term, chances are you're familiar with the brand names that fall within this category drugs such as Xanax, Ativan, Valium and Klonopin. read more »

Overwhelmed or Ill Informed, 70,000 Wildfire Victims May Get Nothing

After a succession of devastating wildfires in the last four years, tens of thousands of Californians — many with broken spirits, many homeless — may now lose out on compensation from the company that was to blame.

A deadline for victims to file claims is less than three weeks away. About 30,000 have done so with the help of lawyers, along with 1,500 acting on their own. But the deadline could pass without claims from as many as 70,000 others eligible for compensation.

The filing deadline, part of the bankruptcy case of Pacific Gas & Electric, California’s biggest utility, is the victims’ chance to piece together at least parts of their shattered lives. read more »

New Nissan Pay Problems Point to Conflicts at the Top

Two insiders who brought down Carlos Ghosn were involved with improper payments, an inquiry found. The company’s full board never heard about it.

An outside law firm investigating problems at Nissan, the troubled Japanese automaker, this summer discovered some potentially explosive information. read more »