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“Pharmacists have a duty only to fill scripts that are for a legitimate medical purpose,” said Richard Fields, a D.C.-based lawyer who filed the lawsuit on behalf of the tribe. “If a doctor is engaged in prescribing opioids illegally, that doesn’t relieve the pharmacy of liability.” (PBS Newshour) Cherokee Nation is suing CVS Health, Walgreens, and other drug companies and retailers, alleging the companies didn’t do enough to stop prescription painkillers from flooding the tribal community and creating a crisis of opioid addiction. The lawsuit, filed in tribal court on Thursday, alleges that the companies failed to properly monitor opioid prescriptions and orders. The tribal government alleges that those patterns should have raised red flags that the companies are legally responsible for reporting to federal officials. Read More

A recent $35 million settlement shows a new government strategy of alleging drug diversion against drug manufacturers that fail to detect and report excessive opioid orders. (Bloomberg BNA) A recent $35 million settlement shows a new government strategy of alleging drug diversion against drug manufacturers that fail to detect and report excessive opioid orders.

The companies that manufacture and distribute highly addictive painkillers are facing a barrage of lawsuits for the toll their product has taken on communities across the country as the worst drug epidemic in U.S. history continues to escalate. Within the past year, at least 25 states, cities and counties have filed civil cases against manufacturers, distributors and large drugstore chains that make up the $13 billion-a-year opioid industry. In the past few weeks alone, the attorneys general for Ohio and Missouri, along with the district attorneys for three counties in Tennessee, filed suits against the industry — and the attorney general for Oklahoma filed suit on Friday. (The Washington Post) The companies that manufacture and distribute highly addictive painkillers are facing a barrage of lawsuits for the toll their product has taken on communities across the country as the worst drug epidemic in U.S. history continues to escalate. Within the past year, at least 25 states, cities and counties have filed civil cases against manufacturers, distributors and large drugstore chains that make up the $13 billion-a-year opioid industry. In the past few weeks alone, the attorneys general for Ohio and Missouri, along with the district attorneys for three counties in Tennessee, filed suits against the industry — and the attorney general for Oklahoma filed suit on Friday. Read More

Richard Fields made a fortune off the great tort waves of the 1980s and 1990s -- asbestos, silicone breast implants -- by extracting billions of dollars from insurance companies that were reluctant to pay the bills of his corporate clients. Now he's on the sidelines, investing in lawsuits instead of arguing them. Fields runs Juridica Investments Ltd. The London-listed firm has about $157 million invested in 23 cases, and claims an internal rate of return on completed investments of 85%. (Forbes) Richard Fields made a fortune off the great tort waves of the 1980s and 1990s -- asbestos, silicone breast implants -- by extracting billions of dollars from insurance companies that were reluctant to pay the bills of his corporate clients.