Opioid Crackdown Could Lead To More Drug
Company Bankruptcies
BRIAN MANN
Two years ago, the drug company Insys Therapeutics posted a
quarter-billion dollars in annual sales. But the Arizona-based firm's fortunes
plummeted so far that on Monday its leaders declared bankruptcy. It was the
latest fall-out from the nation's prescription opioid epidemic, which has
killed more than 200,000 Americans and triggered hundreds of lawsuits against
Big Pharma.
Insys marketed an opioid pain medication called Subsys that
included fentanyl. It generated tens of millions of dollar in annual sales. But
like other prescription opioids marketed aggressively by the drug industry, it
turned out to be highly addictive.
Insys Files For Chapter 11, Days After Landmark Opioid
Settlement Of $225 Million
Many of the drug industry's biggest companies are tangled up
in a wave of opioid litigation, including name brand companies Johnson &
Johnson and CVS. It's unlikely large firms will follow Insys' lead and seek
Chapter 11 protection, but smaller firms including Purdue Pharma, the maker of
OxyContin, have already floated the possibility.
Attorneys representing hundreds of communities that hoped to
win compensation from Insys issued a statement Monday saying they'll work to
determine whether the company is actually insolvent. "We will actively
pursue full financial disclosure for Insys and any other defendant that files
for bankruptcy," the plaintiff group said.
New York Lawsuit Claims Sackler Family Illegally Profited
From Opioid Epidemic
They added that their goal in targeting 21 other
drug firms isn't to put them out of business but to
"abate the current opioid epidemic and seek long-
term, sustainable solutions." State and local
officials hope to recoup some of the billions of
dollars they've spent responding to the opioid
crisis.
drug firms isn't to put them out of business but to
"abate the current opioid epidemic and seek long-
term, sustainable solutions." State and local
officials hope to recoup some of the billions of
dollars they've spent responding to the opioid
crisis.
One major state opioid trial is underway now in Oklahoma
against Johnson & Johnson, with a second consolidated trial against other
firms set to begin in October in Ohio. Judge Dan Polster, who's presiding over
that federal case, has urged the parties to reach a settlement so communities
receive some compensation without disrupting the pharmaceutical industry.
Sources tell NPR negotiations are underway but no deal has
been reached.
In all, more than 1,800 state and local governments have
filed opioid-related lawsuits. Penalties and settlements could run into the
tens of billions of dollars, rivaling big tobacco payouts of the 1990s. The
move by Insys came a week after the firm pleaded guilty to felony charges that
it bribed doctors to prescribe its Subys fentanyl medication to patients who
shouldn't have been using it.
The company agreed to pay the federal government $225 million
in penalties. Last month, company founder John Kapoor, once a towering figure
in the drug-tech industry, was found guilty on federal racketeering charges
along with four other Insys executives. The company still faced numerous other
opioid-related lawsuits.
In his statement, Insys CEO Andrew Long, said in a statement
those "legacy legal challenges" contributed to the firm's decision to
enter bankruptcy proceedings.
He said bankruptcy proceedings would allow the company to
negotiate with creditors.
DHS Secretary: ‘ICE Interdicted Enough Fentanyl Last Year to
Kill Every American Twice Over’
Fentanyl is a synthetic opiate that according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is 50 to 100 times more powerful than morphine. The illicit drug has been attributed to the alarming increase in opioid overdose deaths throughout the United States.
https://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2019/03/dhs-secretary-ice-interdicted-enough.html
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“Mexican Border States Net 320 Pounds of Meth in Two Days” BREITBART
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“Eight-Time Deportee Accused of Trafficking $850,000 in Meth, Cocaine.”
MICHAEL CUTLER
AMERICAN BIG PHARMA, RED CHINA and NARCOMEX PARTNER FOR THE BIG BUCKS
“The drug epidemic is the product of capitalism and the policies of the capitalist parties, both Democrats and Republicans. There is, first of all, the role of the pharmaceutical companies, which have amassed huge profits from the deceptive marketing of opioid pain killers, which they claimed were not addictive. Prescriptions for opioids such as Percocet, Oxycontin and Vicodin skyrocketed from 76 million in 1991 to nearly 259 million in 2012. What are the numbers and profits now?
MEXICO KILLS AMERICA TWICE OVER!
DHS Secretary: ‘ICE Interdicted Enough Fentanyl Last Year to
Kill Every American Twice Over’
Fentanyl is a synthetic opiate that according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is 50 to 100 times more powerful than morphine. The illicit drug has been attributed to the alarming increase in opioid overdose deaths throughout the United States.
https://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2019/03/dhs-secretary-ice-interdicted-enough.html
*
“Mexican Border States Net 320 Pounds of Meth in Two Days” BREITBART
*
“Eight-Time Deportee Accused of Trafficking $850,000 in Meth, Cocaine.”
MICHAEL CUTLER
JUDICIAL WATCH:
“The greatest criminal threat to the daily lives of American citizens are the Mexican drug cartels.”
“Mexican drug cartels are the “other” terrorist threat to America. Militant Islamists have the goal of destroying the United States. Mexican drug cartels are now accomplishing that mission – from within, every day, in virtually every community across this country.” JUDICIALWATCH
OPIOID AMERICA: CHINA AND MEXICO PARTNER TO ADDICT AMERICA
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-opioid-war-on-america-chin
“While drug distributors have paid a total of $400 million in fines over the past 10 years, their combined revenue during this same period was over $5 trillion.”
“Opioids have ravaged families and devastated communities across the country. Encouraging their open use undermines the rule of law and will do nothing to quell their continued abuse, let alone the problems underlying mass addiction.”
OPIOID AMERICA: CHINA AND MEXICO PARTNER TO ADDICT AMERICA
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-opioid-war-on-america-chin
PRINCETON REPORT:
American middle-class is addicted, poor, jobless and suicidal…. Thank the corrupt government for surrendering our borders to 40 million looting Mexicans and then handing the bills to middle America?
OPIOID MURDERS BY BIG PHARMA
“While drug distributors have paid a total of $400 million in fines over the past 10 years, their combined revenue during this same period was over $5 trillion.”
“Opioids have ravaged families and devastated communities across the country. Encouraging their open use undermines the rule of law and will do nothing to quell their continued abuse, let alone the problems underlying mass addiction.”
Quarter-Ton of Meth Seized in Southern Arizona
2:48
At least 527 pounds of methamphetamine worth $7.2 million was seized in southern Arizona this past weekend during a joint investigation by local police and federal agents.
The incident began last Saturday after police in San Luis conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle observed speeding westbound on Juan Sanchez Boulevard and 10th Avenue. Police reportedly discovered 95 pounds of methamphetamine and arrested the driver identified as Angel Leon-Camberos, 26.
The San Luis Police Department contacted Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) for further follow up investigation and later developed probable cause to obtain and serve a search warrant for the residence belonging to Leon-Camberos. Investigators say they then seized an additional 432 pounds of methamphetamine, one AR-15 style rifle, a magazine, 14 pounds of high-grade marijuana, “numerous wax (marijuana extract) products,” and THC vape pens with an estimated street value of $103,930. Other items seized were packaging materials indicative of possession for sale purposes, multiple cell phones, and $15,295 cash. The total amount of methamphetamine seized related to the traffic stop and search warrant at the residence was 527.3 pounds with an estimated street value of $7.2 million, according to a U.S. Department of Homeland Security media release.
Leon-Camberos was charged with various drug and weapons offenses. The Yuma County Attorney’s Office will be handling the prosecution.
Breitbart News reported this week on the seizure of a major meth lab in Sinaloa, where an estimated $170 million in finished product and precursor chemicals were collected by Mexican security personnel. Since 2018, Mexican officials busted 20 similar labs in the state.
Robert Arce is a retired Phoenix Police detective with extensive experience working Mexican organized crime and street gangs. Arce has worked in the Balkans, Iraq, Haiti, and recently completed a three-year assignment in Monterrey, Mexico, working out of the Consulate for the United States Department of State, International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Program, where he was the Regional Program Manager for Northeast Mexico (Coahuila, Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, Durango, San Luis Potosi, Zacatecas.) You can follow him on Twitter. He can be reached at robertrarce@gmail.com
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