massachusetts Archives

Boston Lawsuit Eyes PBMs as Culpable in Opioid Epidemic

Post author:Melissa
Post published:January 18, 2024
Post category:OxyContin addiction
Reading time:2 mins read

The city of Boston is intensifying its legal efforts against the opioid epidemic by filing a lawsuit targeting pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). The city’s complaint alleges that these PBMs collaborated with drug makers to promote the use of prescription opioids like Oxycontin, contributing to the emergence of an illegal market for these potent drugs.

Large companies like Express Scripts Pharmacy, ESI Mail Pharmacy Services, and Optum Rx are named defendants in the lawsuit, with the city claiming that these PBMs acted as “gatekeepers to the opioid market.

Zeroing In on PBM Optum Rx

Optum Rx, in response to the accusations, denied any wrongdoing and asserted its commitment to addressing the opioid issue. The lawsuit involves the city of Boston, its Public Health Commission, and the Boston Housing Authority as plaintiffs. While most lawsuits related to the opioid epidemic have …

How Sackler Family, Purdue Pharma Targeted Veterans

Post author:Melissa
Post published:February 8, 2019
Post category:big pharma
Reading time:2 mins read

In Massachusetts, veterans are three times more likely than others who take prescription painkillers to die from an overdose. A new court filing in an ongoing lawsuit between the state and the pharmaceutical company and its stakeholders says that this statistic may have been by design.

Discovery in a Massachusetts lawsuit against the private company Purdue Pharma, the maker of Oxycontin, and their stakeholders, the infamous Sackler family, has uncovered documents that appear to show how they specifically developed a marketing campaign to target veterans for Oxycontin sales, hoping to increase their usage dramatically.

The unredacted complaint filed against the pharmaceutical manufacturer, as well as a total of eight members of the Sackler family, unveils a targeted marketing campaign facilitated through a self-help book for service members. Similar to an infomercial, the “survival guide” targeted newly home veterans, telling them …

Massachusetts Bill Takes Aim At Opiate Abuse Prevention In Teens

Post author:StopOxy
Post published:October 12, 2015
Post category:drug use on the rise family heroin addiction massachusetts
Reading time:3 mins read

The Massachusetts State Senate passed a bill last week aimed at combating opiate-related substance abuse problems before they even begin, especially for at-risk teens.

“The Senate unanimously passed the second bill to address the opioid epidemic,” state Sen. Kathleen O’Connor Ives, D-Newburyport, told The Daily News of Newburyport. “The prior bill focused on expanding treatment options and went into effect this week. This bill is focused on prevention and intervention in an effort to curb the serious health crisis.” According to recent statistics from the state, unintentional deaths from opiate overdoses have increased 90% in the state of Massachusetts within the past 12 years.

In Massachusetts, like many states in the US, a growing heroin overdoes have been claiming lives in epidemic proportions. The bill takes aim at the origins of opiate addiction, which is increasingly a result of addiction …