This story, originally published by the Kingsport Times-News, appeared Aug. 7, 2018. Copyright 2018 Kingsport Times-News. BRISTOL, Tenn. — It took more than four hours Tuesday for a judge to hear a stack of motions filed in a Sullivan County civil case against drug manufacturers, but local district attorneys will soon have 3.7 million pages… [Read More]
Big Pharma’s Countersuit Seeks to ‘Blame the Victim’
Barry Staubus, district attorney general for Tennessee’s Second Judicial District, wrote the following editorial regarding the countersuit. The content was published in the August 6, 2018 edition of the Kingsport Times News. Blame the victim. It’s a predictable tactic, usually employed by those accused of wrongdoing, to try and escape accountability for their actions. Last… [Read More]
Two drug companies file complaint blaming online ‘black market’ for opioid crisis
This story, originally published by the Bristol Herald Courier, appeared July 24, 2018. Copyright 2018 Bristol Herald Courier. KINGSPORT, Tenn. — Two pharmaceutical companies are trying to blame Northeast Tennessee’s opioid epidemic on “black market” online opioid distributors, accused drug dealers, convicted pill mill operators, and local cities and counties. Endo Pharmaceuticals and Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals… [Read More]
A Pharmacist Told Medicaid Officials That Opioid Addiction Was A Myth At An Opioid-Funded Conference
This story, originally published by The Daily Caller, appeared July 20, 2018. Copyright 2018 The Daily Caller. Opioid maker Purdue Pharma helped fund a 2003 conference for Medicaid officials where a pharmacist said that opioid addiction is “rare in patients” and “seriously overestimated,” according to a slideshow the Center for Public Integrity obtained. “These effects… [Read More]
Purdue Pharma pushed opioids as ‘hope in a bottle,’ records show
This story, originally published by the Knoxville News-Sentinel, appeared July 6, 2018. Copyright 2018 Knoxville News-Sentinel. The marching orders for Purdue Pharma’s 87 Tennessee opioid marketers from their bosses each day were simple: “Sell hope in a bottle” and “always be closing,” newly revealed internal records show. A lawsuit unsealed this week in Knox County… [Read More]
1 family, 3 deaths: Couple must pick up pieces — again — after opioids’ destruction
This story, originally published by The Tennessean, appeared July 1, 2018. Copyright 2018 The Tennessean. In hindsight, all the odd events added up. The missing soda bottle caps and the vanishing spoons from the kitchen drawer. The hollow excuses and the irresponsible decisions. How Heather Baltz would sleep through her infant son’s cries and return… [Read More]