Free Republic

Pharmacy giant Rite Aid, which is facing an onslaught of lawsuits over its alleged role in the opioid epidemic, is planning to file for bankruptcy protection, according to a report. The company's multibillion-dollar debt load and pending legal allegations that it oversupplied prescription painkillers, will be covered under the Chapter 11 filing, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. A Rite Aid spokesperson told FOX Business that the company does "not comment on rumors and speculation." The law firm reportedly handling the restructuring, Kirkland & Ellis LLP, did not immediately respond to FOX Business' request...

When General Motors and Ford sell more cars, they are involved in more accidents. They undoubtedly advertise more in those places where they sell more cars. Does that mean that the car companies are responsible for additional accidents in those places? That they are purposefully plotting to create more accidents? Let’s hope not, but if Monday’s $570 million verdict by an Oklahoma judge against Johnson & Johnson for making opioids is any indication, those types of cases aren’t going to be far off. Oklahoma had refused to settle out of court believing that they could receive a very large verdict....

China’s “export-led economic strategy and lack of regulatory oversight” are responsible for most illicit and synthetic fentanyl in the United States, think tank Rand Corporation recently testified to Congress.

Gets paid to hook them, then paid again to UNhook them..?! Richard Sackler, whose family owns Purdue Pharma, the company behind the notorious painkiller OxyContin, was granted a patent earlier this year for a reformulation of a drug used to wean addicts off opioids. The invention is a novel form of buprenorphine, a mild opiate that controls drug cravings, which is often given as a substitute to people hooked on heroin or opioid painkillers such as OxyContin. (more at link)

Just another example of good things the President is doing that will be ignored by the LSM. Nice to hear the testimonials included, especially the first gentleman to speak but also the young people who give their testimonials.

A lawsuit filed last year by West Virginia's Republican attorney general Patrick Morrisey has resulted in a new Trump administration directive to evaluate the opioid production quota system, which Morrissey says is "responsible for many deaths across the country." Morrisey, who has been attorney general since 2013 and is now running for U.S. Senate, has long viewed the Drug Enforcement Agency's quota system on controlled substances as broken, believing it was setting limits based on sales numbers instead of true medical needs of Americans. He told the Washington Free Beacon he has been digging for information on the system for...

The new year in California brings broad legalization of recreational marijuana – a much-anticipated move two decades after the state was the first to allow the use of the drug for medicinal purposes. California joins states such as Colorado -- as well as Washington, D.C. -- where pot is permitted for recreational purposes even as the federal government continues to regard the drug as a controlled dangerous substance, like LSD and heroin.

ALBANY - A Staten Island state senator said Thursday that the drug fentanyl kills far more people on average every day than the recent Las Vegas mass shooting, yet doesn't generate nearly the same outrage. Sen. Andrew Lanza made the comments at a Staten Island event with Gov. Cuomo to push a bill to crack down on the makers of the deadly drug. “Recently we watched in horror the Las Vegas shooting in which 59 of our fellow citizens lost their lives,” Lanza said. “It was described as America’s worst mass murder, but if you look at the math, it’s...

The next three weeks we will look at possibly the largest and most dangerous crisis facing America. Please join us in taking an in depth look at the challenge for America. If you were around in the 1980s, you’ll likely recall HIV/AIDS bursting on the scene with a vengeance. AIDS spread through the consciousness of America even faster than the disease. Who was exposed? Where did it come from? Today another epidemic has exploded into the minds of America that has everyone just as befuddled – opioids. People are dying in mass numbers and no one has totally wrapped their...

I remember a LOT of discussion during the '80s and '90s about what was going to happen in the future to the kids whose parents were feeding them mood-altering drugs like Ritalin to calm the little hellions down. Are we seeing the results right now?