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Purdue Pharma To Pay $7.4B In Historic Opioid Settlement: How Much Will PA Get? Purdue Pharma To Pay $7.4B In Historic Opioid Settlement: How Much Will PA Get?
Purdue Pharma To Pay $7.4B In Historic Opioid Settlement: How Much Will PA Get? Purdue Pharma will pay more than $7 billion for the corporation's role in fueling the opioid epidemic that has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans. The Sackler family and Purdue Pharma reached a $7.4 billion settlement with attorneys general from 15 states on Thursday, Jan. 23. The Sacklers have owned the company headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, for decades. The settlement includes $6.5 billion from the Sackler family, with $1.5 billion to be paid immediately, and nearly $900 million from Purdue Pharma. Funds will be distributed to states, local governments, and victims ov…

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by Chris Spiker
Business
Walgreens Knowingly Filled Millions Of Prescriptions Lacking Legit Medical Purpose, DOJ Says Walgreens Knowingly Filled Millions Of Prescriptions Lacking Legit Medical Purpose, DOJ Says
Walgreens Knowingly Filled Millions Of Prescriptions Lacking Legit Medical Purpose, DOJ Says The Justice Department has filed a nationwide lawsuit against Walgreens, alleging the pharmacy chain filled millions of prescriptions without legitimate medical purposes, particularly involving dangerous opioid combinations, over more than a decade. Filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, the civil complaint contends Walgreens violated the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and False Claims Act (FCA) by dispensing prescriptions despite clear red flags and seeking federal reimbursements for these drugs. “This lawsuit seeks to hold Walgreens accountable for the many…

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by Joe Lombardi
News
PA Doctor Accused Of Diverting 'Hundreds Of Doses' Of Fentanyl PA Doctor Accused Of Diverting 'Hundreds Of Doses' Of Fentanyl
PA Doctor Accused Of Diverting 'Hundreds Of Doses' Of Fentanyl A Luzerne County doctor is charged with 32 felony counts related to diverting narcotics, said the state Attorney General's Office Friday, March 22.  Richard Lemaster Hubbell was arraigned Thursday at a district court, prosecutors said.  Investigators believe Hubbell, while working as an anesthesiologist in Berks and Columbia counties, falsified records to show that patients were given fentanyl and Dilaudid, or hydromorphone.  Detectives said they found hundreds of vials and syringes containing the two opioids at his home in Butler Township, Luzerne County…

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by Mac Bullock
Police & Fire
Philly Duo Robbed Pharmacies For At Least $60K In Drugs, Jury Finds Philly Duo Robbed Pharmacies For At Least $60K In Drugs, Jury Finds
Philly Duo Robbed Pharmacies For At Least $60K In Drugs, Jury Finds A pair of Philadelphia men robbed two pharmacies at gunpoint and stole at least $60,000 in prescription drugs, a federal jury has found.  Jon Suggs and Nickolas Passineau, both 31, were each convicted of robbery and using a firearm in the commission of a crime, said US Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero in a statement Tuesday, Dec. 13.  In a string of robberies throughout late 2017 and early 2018, federal investigators said Suggs and Passineau punched, kicked, and pistol-whipped hostage pharmacy employees while stealing thousands of dollars in controlled substances at gunpoint.  …

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by Mac Bullock
News
TRAGIC TOP 10: Fentanyl Deaths In NY, NJ, PA, MD Among Highest In Nation, Study Finds TRAGIC TOP 10: Fentanyl Deaths In NY, NJ, PA, MD Among Highest In Nation, Study Finds
Tragic TOP 10: Fentanyl Deaths In NY, NJ, PA, MD Among Highest In Nation, Study Finds New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland were among the 10 states with the most fentanyl deaths last year, a recent study found. All four were also among the states with the most deaths caused by the synthetic opioid since 2015, the non-profit Families Against Fentanyl found. The results led a former chief medical officer of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy to urge Washington to "attack fentanyl overdoses with the same vigor and approaches as we do the coronavirus." Bipartisan leaders including former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge and former CIA Directo…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Major Allentown Drug Bust Nets $567K Worth Of Fentanyl, Cocaine, Meth, Firearms: AG Major Allentown Drug Bust Nets $567K Worth Of Fentanyl, Cocaine, Meth, Firearms: AG
Major Allentown Drug Bust Nets $567K Worth Of Fentanyl, Cocaine, Meth, Firearms: AG An Allentown man was arrested Thursday after a search of his home and a separate location turned up $567,000 worth of fentanyl, cocaine, crack cocaine, marijuana, crystal methamphetamine, and two firearms, authorities said. Harold Bauza has been charged with drug possession with intent to deliver, dealing in unlawful proceeds and prohibited possession of a gun, Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced Friday. Bauza was on state parole at the time of his arrest for prior felony drug and weapons convictions, making him ineligible to purchase firearms. As a part of an ongoing drug investigatio…

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by Nicole Acosta
Police & Fire
Ex-Berks County Councilman Sentenced In 2nd Drug Store Robbery Case Ex-Berks County Councilman Sentenced In 2nd Drug Store Robbery Case
Ex-Berks County Councilman Sentenced In 2nd Drug Store Robbery Case An ex-councilman in Berks County who is already in prison, will face additional time behind bars after being sentenced for his involvement in a second drug store robbery. Kirk Mullen, 37, was sentenced to six to 20 years in state prison on Monday following his conviction of robbery and attempted delivery of a controlled substance, specifically opioids, according to the Berks County District Attorney's Office. The former West Reading councilman was arrested in Sept. 2020 after he taped a threatening note to the front door of The Medicine Shoppe Pharmacy in Shillington, DA John T. Adams said.…

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by Nicole Acosta
News
Opioids Drive Highest Number Of OD Deaths Ever In US, While NJ Holds Steady, CDC Reports Opioids Drive Highest Number Of OD Deaths Ever In US, While NJ Holds Steady, CDC Reports
Opioids Drive Highest Number Of OD Deaths Ever In US, While NJ Holds Steady, CDC Reports Call it a statistical oddity: Despite an historic spike in drug overdose deaths across the United States last year, the total reported for New Jersey ticked up barely 1% over 2019 – compared with an increase of more than 32% in New York, over 17% in Pennsylvania and more than 10% in Connecticut, the CDC reported. More than 93,000 people across the country died from drug overdoses amid last year’s COVID-19 pandemic, according to the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics. That total represented a 29.4% increase from the 72,151 deaths projected nationwide for 2019, according to an annual…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
West Chester Closed-Door Pharmacy To Pay $225K In Civil Penalties For Illegally Selling Drugs West Chester Closed-Door Pharmacy To Pay $225K In Civil Penalties For Illegally Selling Drugs
West Chester Closed-Door Pharmacy To Pay $225K In Civil Penalties For Illegally Selling Drugs A West Chester closed-door pharmacy has been ordered to pay $225,000 in civil penalties for illegally selling drugs after receiving warnings from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), authorities announced. A civil lawsuit alleges that Source One Pharmacy Services LLC -- which operates as a pharmacy that is not open for business to the general public --  improperly documented and distributed drugs including opioids, Acting United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams said. The complaint further alleges that Source One distributed some drugs to locations where the recipients …

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by Nicole Acosta
Police & Fire
West Philadelphia Doc, 80, Charged In Patient's Cocaine, Oxy Overdose Death West Philadelphia Doc, 80, Charged In Patient's Cocaine, Oxy Overdose Death
West Philadelphia Doc, 80, Charged In Patient's Cocaine, Oxy Overdose Death A West Philadelphia doctor is facing involuntary manslaughter charges after he prescribed his patient a combination of opioids that resulted in an accidental overdose of cocaine, oxycodone, and morphine, authorities announced Wednesday. An investigation showed that Dr. Walter Wrenn, 80, fabricated the patient’s diagnosis in order for Keystone First to approve filling the prescribed medications, Attorney General Josh Shapiro said. The patient’s opioid prescriptions far exceeded the recommended 90 milligrams per day, Shapiro said. On Keystone First’s authorization form, Dr. Wrenn s…

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by Nicole Acosta