Author: WorkCompAcademy

30 California counties are suing pharmaceutical companies for not disclosing key information about the opioids they produce and how destructive opioid use can be.

The lawsuits filed by Baron and Budd go after manufacturers, claiming their misinformation downplayed how addictive opioids can be and distributors for failing to report, monitor and identify suspicious opioid shipments to pharmacies.

The firm is also representing the cities of Louisville, Cincinnati, and Birmingham, among other counties and municipalities, in litigation against opioid distributors, in response to the crisis of opioid addiction.

The 30 Counties have organized through the California Opioid Consortium and represent the interests of approximately 10.5 million California residents.

Each of the 30 counties are filing suit in federal court and expect their cases to be transferred into the Multi-District Litigation, which is being overseen by U.S. District Judge Dan Polster of the Northern District of Ohio.

To date, more than 500 public entities have filed similar suits around the country.

The California Opioid Consortium and its counsel say they have developed evidence that many of the nation’s largest drug manufactures misinformed doctors about the addictiveness and efficacy of opioids.

The manufacturer defendants include Purdue Pharma; Teva Ltd; Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson); Endo Health Solutions, Inc.; Allergan PLC; and Mallinckrodt. Drugs manufactured by these companies include, but are not limited to: OxyContin, Actiq, Fentora, Duragesic, Nucynta, Nucynta ER, Opana/Opana ER, Percodan, Percocet, Zydone, Kadian and Norco.

The lawsuits also name the nation’s largest drug distributors – Cardinal Health, AmerisourceBergen, and McKesson Corp. – alleging that the companies failed to monitor, identify and report “suspicious” opioid shipments to pharmacies, in violation of the federal Controlled Substances Act. Some suits also name other large national distributors and retailers.

The legal team representing the counties includes the law firms of Levin, Papantonio, Thomas, Mitchell, Rafferty & Proctor; Powell & Majestro; Greene Ketchum Bailey Farrell & Hill, Peterson, Carper, Bee & Deitzler; and McHugh Fuller Law Group.

The firms currently represent more than 300 cities and counties throughout the United States for opioid-related claims. Baron & Budd serves as lead counsel to approximately 80 percent of the municipalities that have filed suit against pharmaceutical distributors for opioid-related cases.

The California Department of Insurance reached a $1.875 million settlement with Valeant Pharmaceuticals, Inc. relating to its former relationship with Philidor Rx Services LLC and claims for reimbursement or payment for Valeant products submitted by Philidor to California insurers.

Valeant is a phamaceutical manufacturer headquartered in Canada, with its principal place of business in New Jersey.

According to the Settlement Agreement, the Commissioner alleged that the State of California has certain civil causes of action against Valeant related to and/or arising from Valeant’s relationship with Philidor Rx Services LLC including civil causes of action pursuant to the California Insurance Frauds Prevention Act, Cal. Ins. Code§ 1871, et seq. (“CIFPA”) concerning claims for reimbursement or payment for Valeant products submitted by Philidor in the State of California between January 2012 and December 2016 .

Valeant denied any and all allegations asserted by the State of California and denies that it has any liability.

Valeant’s former relationship with Philidor, which has been widely reported on, was terminated by Valeant in late 2015, following allegations that, among other things, Philidor submitted fraudulent claims for reimbursement to insurance companies. Since terminating its relationship with Philidor, Valeant has replaced many members of its senior management.

According to the story in Business Insider, Valeant had a sales plan dubbed the “Philidor strategy” to use the pharmacy and increase the volume of shipments for two of its drugs, Solodyn and Jublia. For Solodyn, an antibiotic to treat acne, the rebates and payments drove a recovery in flagging sales.

The strategy was detailed in an internal Valeant presentation obtained by Business Insider. Dated August 2015, two months before the relationship with Philidor was exposed by the Southern Investigative Reporting Foundation. The presentation shows that the pharmacy’s aggressive sales and marketing tactics all but completely supported growth in the two drugs – with Philidor moving $46 million of Jublia, a toenail fungus treatment, and $106 million of Solodyn in the first quarter of 2015.

Key to Philidor’s approach was virtually giving away millions of dollars worth of drugs and making sure that insurers and middlemen who approve insurance payments were getting fat rebates for securing payment for the drugs. While it worked, the cost was enormous – in Solodyn’s case eating up close to three quarters of any new sales. According to the document, “the Philidor strategy drove increases for both brands.”

Meanwhile, federal prosecutors started a criminal trial on May 3, 2018 against an ex-Valeant executive. A federal prosecutor told jurors in Manhattan that a former Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc executive and the former head of mail order pharmacy Philidor Rx Services defrauded Valeant through a multimillion-dollar kickback scheme.

Prosecutors allege that Valeant was the victim of a scheme between one of its senior directors, Gary Tanner, and Andrew Davenport, formerly chief executive officer of Philidor. The opening statements kicked off a trial that could shed light on the relationship between Valeant and the now-defunct Philidor, which drew concern from investors and regulators.

IVANS Index is a data-driven report of current conditions and trends for premium renewal rate change of the most placed Commercial Lines of business in the insurance industry.

Last month, major commercial lines insurance renewal premiums continued their upward trend except for workers’ compensation, which remains in negative territory for the year, according to the latest IVANS Index.

Month over month, April’s increased were down from previous periods for the majority of commercial lines, except commercial auto and umbrella which saw an uptick in increases.

According to the IVANS Index, premium renewal rate change by line of business for April 2018 highlights include:

– Commercial Auto: 4.54%, up from 3.87% at the end of April. April marks the highest premium renewal rate change in 2018 for Commercial Auto.
– BOP: 3.86%, down from 4.29% the month prior.
– General Liability: 2.16%, down from 2.24% at the end of April.
– Commercial Property: 2.98%, down from 3.04% the month prior.
– Umbrella: 2.31%, up from 2.13% at the end of April. April marks the highest premium renewal rate change in 2018 for Umbrella.
– Workers’ Compensation: -2.93%, down from -2.79% the month prior.

Brian Wood, vice president of IVANS Markets, said the index “further reiterates the hardening insurance market as insurance premiums rise and insurers are evaluating which lines of business to actively compete in.”

The monthly IVANS Index tracks premium rate renewal changes for the most placed commercial lines of business by analyzing 120 million data transactions from 30,000 agencies and 380 insurers and MGAs.

Some scientists say mobile phones may be behind a surge in a deadly brain tumor.

Data from the Office of National Statistics reveal cases of glioblastoma in England soared from 983 to 2,531 between 1995 and 2015, The rise was across all age groups and came as cases of lower-grade tumors fell.

Experts say “widespread environmental or lifestyle factors” are likely to be responsible for the trend, with mobile phones a potential suspect. The findings are published in the Journal of Public Health and Environment.

Study leader Alasdair Philips, of Children with Cancer UK, said: “We found a sustained and highly significant increase in GBM throughout the 21 years and across all ages.Interestingly, we found the highest rise in incidence in frontal and temporal regions of the brain. This raises the suspicion that mobile and cordless phone use may be promoting gliomas.”

Professor Denis Henshaw said: “Our findings illustrate the need to look more carefully at the mechanisms behind these cancer trends instead of focusing only on cures.”

Typically, only a third of patients are still alive two years after being diagnosed with glioblastoma. Most survive just 14.6 months.

But critics warn the study only identifies a trend in tumor diagnosis rates and does not provide sufficient evidence that mobiles are to blame.

Keith Neal, from the University of Nottingham, said: “The suggestion that mobile phone use is responsible cannot be substantiated. The rise is greatest in the over 55s, who use mobile phones much less and there was very little mobile phone use in 1995 when rates are already increasing.”

David Spiegelhalter, from University of Cambridge, said: “Many things have changed over the last 30 years and so the strong causal conclusions seem unjustified.”

And Dr. Lion Shahab, from University College London, said: “This paper provides evidence for a rise in specific malignant brain tumors in England. What the analysis does not show is that this rise is caused by mobile phones.”

The NHS website advises people to avoid using mobile phones “more than necessary” and says children should only use them for “essential purposes.” But it adds: “Large reviews of published research have concluded that overall the evidence doesn’t suggest that radio waves from mobile phones cause health problems.”

Five Navy service members who were stationed in San Diego fraudulently claimed $100,000 insurance payouts for non-existent injuries, according to a federal indictment unsealed Wednesday.The indictment filed in the United States District Court in San Diego alleges that the four men and one woman fabricated their insurance claim applications with forged signatures and altered hospital records belonging to other real patients.

They pretended to have injured themselves in a variety of falls – including from a horse – or motorcycle crashes, the indictment says. Four of them got their $100,000 before the government discovered the scheme and froze final payments, according to the U.S.Attorney’s Office.

Those indicted were Richard Cote, 43, of Oceanside, Earnest Thompson, 44, of Murrieta, brothers Christopher Toups, 40, of Woodstock, Ga. and Jason Toups, 35, of Gulfport, Miss. and Christopher Toups’ ex-wife, Kelene McGrath, 41, also known as Jacqueline Toups, of Jacksonville, Fla.

They are charged with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which each carries a 20-year maximum prison sentence. They also are charged with making a fraudulent claim, with a maximum five-year prison term, prosecutors said.

The indictment alleges the defendants filed bogus claims through Traumatic Servicemembers Group Life Insurance, a program funded by the Department of Defense and service members.The plan is meant to provide short-term financial aid, of up to $100,000, to severely injured service members and veterans.

Cote was a chief petty officer and a member of Explosive Ordnance Disposal Expeditionary Support Unit One as of last December. According to the indictment, he filled out a claim in 2015 saying he had suffered traumatic injuries in 2002 by falling off a ladder while taking down Christmas lights. He allegedly altered the real medical record of a Navy man who fell from a helicopter during training.

Thompson was an officer until 2015, after serving four years in the same unit as Cote. He is alleged to have filed a claim in 2013 saying he broke his leg, foot, knee and forearm in a 2002 motorcycle accident.

Christopher Toups, was a chief petty officer construction mechanic in the explosive disposal unit from 2010 to 2014. In 2012, he is alleged to have claimed major injuries from a fall during training in 2005.

McGrath was an officer and a nurse until 2012. That year, the indictment says, she claimed a shoulder injury from a 2002 fall from a horse.

Jason Toups, a petty officer 2nd class, filed a claim in 2013 for a purported motorcycle crash that caused numerous fractures and a concussion in 2004.