Three members of a plutocratic clan finally got a direct, bitter earful from those who suffered grievous harms from the opioid crisis which was fostered, critics say, by their family business — Purdue Pharmaceutical and its powerful prescription painkiller OxyContin. As part of prospective $10 billion settlement of thousands of lawsuits by states, counties, cities,….
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Head trauma: A hidden harm for battered women
Women suffer significant, sustained damage from head traumas inflicted on them during domestic abuse, and victims themselves, doctors, law enforcement, and too many others have underestimated the severity of this problem. Here is the harsh reality of too many women’s terrifying experiences, as reported in a tough-to-read but important New York Times magazine article that….
Continue ReadingPlutocrats up the ante by a few billion to settle a sorry opioids saga
A plutocratic clan has upped its ante by $1.5 billion in an apparently successful bet that using bankruptcy courts, mediation, and offering to settle giant claims in the opioid abuse and drug overdose crisis will be cheaper and less risky than battling on with thousands of plaintiffs seeking billions of dollars more. Members of the….
Continue ReadingAs masks and other safeguards go off, wariness about virus remains
The battle against the coronavirus pandemic has shifted anew with lingering wariness about the fast-ebbing Omicron surge, persistent concern about the still-high disease deaths, sustained worries about potential new viral variants, and mixed emotions and reactions by regular folks to the rapid easing of public health measures. The pandemic, experts caution, is not over, especially….
Continue ReadingU.S. announces crackdown on poor quality and safety in nursing home care
The Biden Administration has put the owners and operators of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities on notice that they must make major, desperately needed changes in the way they operate and that they will face much more and tougher oversight by federal regulators. These reforms — prompted by the coronavirus pandemic and the….
Continue ReadingThe people and places hardest hit by the rise in traffic deaths
Communities across the country are getting a grim look at the human face of the rising toll from reckless driving, intoxicated and distracted drivers, and the consequences they inflict on their victims. Road wrecks, nationally and locally, are killing and injuring far too many bicyclists and pedestrians, the poor and children, and motorists, including the….
Continue ReadingPandemic worsened already shameful U.S. maternal mortality problems
The United States, the wealthiest nation in the world, has a really bad record on maternal mortality. And it only worsened during the coronavirus pandemic. The National Center for Health Statistics found that 861 women died during pregnancy or shortly thereafter in 2020 versus the 754 comparable deaths in 2019, the New York Times reported,….
Continue Reading$26 billion settlement will fund battles against opioid crisis
States, counties, and cities within weeks could start to receive desperately needed money to battle the deadly opioid abuse and overdose crisis as part of a newly finalized, $26 billion settlement with the largest distributors of prescription medications and a onetime maker of powerful painkillers. Janssen, one of the distributors, and the pharmaceutical giant Johnson….
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