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Tag: walgreens

  • Walgreens Bows To GOP Power, May not Promote Prison Abortion Tablet In Some States

    Walgreens showed Thursday that it is going to now not promote abortion drugs in states the place lawyers common object to its distribution, even in states the place that means of abortion stays felony.

    The drugstore large introduced the verdict after Republican lawyers common from 20 states despatched a letter to the corporate threatening court cases if it tried to mail abortion drugs of their jurisdictions. Whilst Walgreens does now not but promote the abortion tablet in any states, it’s within the strategy of acquiring certification to take action.

    Politico used to be the primary to document the verdict.

    “It is a very advanced and in flux house of the legislation, and we’re taking that under consideration as we search certification to dispense Mifepristone,” Fraser Engerman, Walgreens’ senior director of exterior members of the family, stated in a commentary, including that the corporate has showed with every lawyer common within the letter that it is going to now not dispense the drugs of their states by way of mail or at Walgreens places.

    Mifepristone is the primary of 2 drugs a affected person will have to take to finish a being pregnant as much as 10 weeks into time period. It’s the most typical solution to terminate pregnancies within the U.S. and is deemed a “protected and efficient means” of abortion by way of the American Faculty of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

    Walgreens’ choice signifies that in sufferers in Alaska, Iowa, Kansas and Montana ― states the place the abortion tablet is felony to obtain by way of mail or at pharmacies ― will be unable to take action at Walgreens for the reason that lawyer common of their state gadgets to it. Walgreens, the second one largest pharmacy chain in The usa, operates greater than 160 places throughout the ones 4 states.

    The ones lawyers common argue that federal legislation prohibits the distribution of abortion drugs in the course of the mail ― a not unusual method for pharmacies to ship prescriptions to consumers ― and that President Joe Biden’s management has illegally given pharmacies the permission to take action.

    CVS, the most important pharmacy chain within the U.S., could also be making use of for clearance to distribute the drug and won a letter from the 20 lawyers common. It’s now not but transparent how the corporate plans to continue.

    Walgreens’ choice sparked fast backlash, with #BoycottWalgreens trending on social media Thursday night time.

    Lawmakers in Illinois, the place the drugstore chain is headquartered, have been amongst the ones to talk out.

    “Ladies around the country might be denied their proper to get admission to healthcare they’re legally entitled to as a result of this terrible company choice,” Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) tweeted, including that the corporate will have to “reconsider this coverage.”

    “Completely terrible,” Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Sick.) tweeted. “This willful company selection will save you such a lot of ladies from opting for the healthcare they want and feature a felony proper to.”

    Anti-abortion activists, in the meantime, are at the back of a lawsuit in the hunt for to prohibit mifepristone outright. Their case, which is recently earlier than a federal pass judgement on appointed by way of former President Donald Trump, does now not search to prohibit misoprostol ― the second one of the medicine within the routine. Whilst sufferers can nonetheless self-administer an abortion with simply misoprostol, it’s somewhat much less efficient and could also be extra painful, docs warn.

  • Trial Opens In Florida Opioid Lawsuit Case In opposition to Walgreens

    ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Trial opened Monday in Florida’s opioid epidemic lawsuit towards the Walgreens pharmacy chain, which state officers accuse of prioritizing earnings over well being through improperly doling out hundreds of thousands of robust painkillers that brought about tens of hundreds of deaths.

    The trial, in Pasco County north of Tampa, comes after different defendants within the Florida lawsuit together with the CVS drug retailer chain settled for an estimated $870 million. The state may search equivalent large damages from Walgreens within the jury trial anticipated to final a couple of weeks.

    OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma has a tentative national deal that comes with $6 billion in money from participants of the Sackler circle of relatives who personal the corporate. In all, settlements, civil and prison consequences across the nation since 2007 have totaled over $45 billion, in keeping with an Related Press tally.

    In Florida, the state’s case hinges on accusations that as Walgreens allotted greater than 4.3 billion overall opioid tablets in Florida from Would possibly 2006 to June 2021, greater than part contained a number of simply identified purple flags for abuse, fraud and habit that the corporate must have spotted and acted upon.

    “The proof will display Walgreens knowingly profited from the opioid disaster,” mentioned lawyer Jim Webster for the state in a gap observation, which used to be attended through Florida Lawyer Common Ashley Moody. “Walgreens wasn’t simply grasping. It used to be fueling the opioid disaster that used to be killing other people.”

    Walgreens is primarily based in Deerfield, Illinois, and operates greater than 9,000 shops in all 50 states, in keeping with the corporate site. About 820 of the ones places are in Florida.

    Walgreens lawyer Steve Derringer instructed jurors they must focal point on how producers akin to Purdue Pharma misled pharmacies on opioid addictive homes. He additionally famous that Florida did little because the opioid epidemic arose, specifically the predatory “tablet turbines” that proliferated within the state sooner than a crackdown in the end ended them.

    “Walgreens had not anything to do with any of that,” Derringer mentioned in his opening observation. “They (drug makers) brought about this epidemic through misrepresenting the dangers and advantages to pharmacies.”

    The opioid epidemic has been related to greater than 500,000 deaths within the U.S. over the last 20 years, counting the ones from prescription painkillers akin to OxyContin and generic oxycodone in addition to illicit medicine akin to heroin and illegally produced fentanyl.

    In Florida, Webster mentioned, greater than 39,000 Floridians died from opioid abuse or connected issues between 1999 and 2020. Walgreens, he mentioned, bought about one among each and every 4 opioids within the state over a equivalent time span steadily below questionable cases, akin to a shady physician, faux prescriptions or massive quantities of substances clearly some distance in way over what used to be important for a given affected person.

    “Walgreens used to be the final defensive position,” Webster mentioned. “Walgreens failed its responsibility to analyze suspicious prescriptions.”

    Florida has spent some $14 billion during the last twenty years for a couple of opioid-related prices, starting from prison justice to drug rehabilitation for addicts to remedy for opioid-addicted babies, Webster mentioned. The state will search billions of bucks in damages within the Walgreens case.

    In the similar case, Moody mentioned CVS Well being Corp. and CVS Pharmacy Inc. can pay the state $484 million. Teva Prescription drugs Industries Ltd. agreed to pay $195 million and Allergan PLC greater than $134 million.

    Florida has up to now got hundreds of thousands of bucks in opioid settlements involving McKesson Corp., Cardinal Well being Inc., Johnson & Johnson Inc. and AmerisourceBergen Corp.