Blogs

CVS Health has announced an agreement in principle that would make it the first major pharmacy chain to reach a nationwide settlement of lawsuits over how it handled prescriptions for powerful & addictive prescription opioid painkillers that are linked to an overdose epidemic.

The company would pay about $5 billion over 10 years under a deal that, if accepted, would be one of the largest settlements over the crisis. Other pharmacies, including Rite Aid, Walgreens & Walmart have reached agreements with individual states.

CVS announced its proposed deal Wednesday as it released its quarterly earnings. The company did not admit liability or wrongdoing & said that nonfinancial terms remain to be resolved.

The company has launched educational programs & installed safe disposal units for drugs in stores & police departments, among other measures designed to reduce misuse of opioids.

In the lawsuits, governments said pharmacies were filling prescriptions that they should have flagged as inappropriate.

Under the settlement plan, CVS would pay $4.9 billion to state & local governments & about about $130 million to Native American tribes over the next decade. The exact amount would depend on how many governmental entities accept the terms of the deal.

The proposed settlement brings a nationwide tally of finalized & completed settlements between companies and governments to more than $45 billion.

Opioids have been linked to more than 500,000 deaths in the U.S. over the past 2 decades. Most of the deaths initially involved prescription drugs. As governments, doctors & companies took steps to make them harder to abuse & obtain, people with opioid use disorder increasingly switched to heroin, which proved more deadly.

In recent years, opioid deaths have soared to record levels around 80,000 a year. Most of those deaths involve illicitly produced version of the powerful lab-made drug fentanyl, which is appearing throughout the U.S. supply of illegal drugs.

#cvs #cvshealth #cvspharmacy #cvs15billionopioidsettlement #opioids #opiodcrisis #opiodepidemic #opioiddeaths #opioidoverdose #drugoverdose #bigpharama #walmart #riteaid #walgreens

Source: AP

Follow Me

Video After The Jump

Stephen A. Smith, Chris Russo and Robert Griffin III react to Deshaun Watson settling 20 out of the 24 lawsuits against him. #FirstTake #NFL

Follow Me

HOUSTON (AP) — Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson has reached an agreement to settle 20 of the 24 civil lawsuits that had been filed by women who accused him of sexual assault and harassment, an attorney for the women said Tuesday.

Watson, who has been accused by massage therapists of harassing, assaulting or touching them during appointments when he was playing for the Houston Texans, could still be suspended if the NFL determines he violated the league’s personal conduct policy.

“Today I announce that all cases against Deshaun Watson, with the exception of four, have settled. We are working through the paperwork related to those settlements,” Houston attorney Tony Buzbee said in a statement. “Once we have done so, those particular cases will be dismissed.”

Buzbee, who represents all 24 women, said the terms of the settlements are “confidential” and that his legal team “won’t comment further on the settlements or those cases.”

The first 22 lawsuits were filed in March and April 2021. The last two lawsuits were filed after HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” aired an interview last month with two of the women who detailed their encounters with Watson.

The settlement also comes after The New York Times reported earlier this month that Watson had booked massage appointments with at least 66 different women over 17 months while he played for the Texans. The report also said that a Texans representative had provided Watson with a nondisclosure agreement that he gave to some of the women to sign.

Last week, Watson said he intended to clear his name and sidestepped any questions about whether he would settle with any of the women.

“I never assaulted anyone,” Watson said June 14 in his first public comments since being introduced by the Browns in March. “I never harassed anyone or I never disrespected anyone. I never forced anyone to do anything.”

In March, two separate Texas grand juries declined to indict Watson on criminal complaints stemming from the allegations.

Cleveland then signed Watson to a fully guaranteed, five-year, $230 million contract in March, convincing the three-time Pro Bowler to waive his no-trade clause and join a team with solid roster.

The Browns had no immediate comment on the settlements.

NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said the settlements have “no impact on the collectively bargained disciplinary process.”

And a league official told The Associated Press “settling doesn’t give someone a pass” and indicated a lengthy suspension remains in order. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the investigation hasn’t concluded.

Buzbee said he plans on taking the four unsettled lawsuits to trial, including the first one that was filed by Ashley Solis, who has previously made her name public. In an interview with HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel,” Solis said she felt threatened by Watson after their massage session when he told her that she had a career to protect and “I know you don’t want anyone messing with it just like I don’t want anyone messing with mine.”

#deshaunwatson #deshaunwatsoncleveland #deshaunwatsonsettleslawsuits #ashleysolis #realsportswithbryantgumbel #hbo #nfl #rogergoodell #suspension #football #footballplayer #quarterback #clevelandbrowns #houstontexans #sexualassault #sexualmisconduct #inappropriatetouching #groping #civillawsuit #lawsuit #deshaunwatsonsued #massage #massagetherapy #massagetherapists #massagetherapistsofinstagram #instagram #socialmedia

Follow Me

Video After The Jump

HOUSTON (AP) — Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson has been sued by 4 more women who accuse him of sexual assault & harassment.

The lawsuits were filed Thursday night, hours after the NFL said it was investigating earlier allegations by 3 massage therapists who said the quarterback sexually assaulted them during massages.

The claims in the 4 new suits, which were filed in a Harris County state district court, mirror those in the 3 earlier cases. Each woman who sued Thursday worked in a spa or giving massages & claims that Watson exposed himself, touched them with his penis or kissed them against their will.

None of the 7 women, who have sued separately but are all represented by Houston lawyer Tony Buzbee, are identified by name in the lawsuits. They are each seeking compensatory & punitive damages, as well as court costs.

Watson, 25, has broadly denied that he acted inappropriately & said in a Tuesday statement that he looks forward to clearing his name. In a statement Friday, an attorney for Watson, Rusty Hardin, called the allegations “meritless.”

At a Friday news conference, Buzbee said he expects to file more lawsuits & his firm is vetting additional claims from women, including 1 involving an incident this month. None of his clients had filed police reports, he said, “but that is our next step.”

Buzbee said some of the massage therapists who came forward work at spas, some work from their homes, some work at deluxe hotels. All but one, who was flown in from Atlanta, were from the Houston area.

“These are, for the most part, licensed professionals. These are people that, many of them, are single mothers, either own their own shop or work in a spa,” while 3 clients are married and 1 is engaged, he said.

Hardin’s statement said he is “extremely proud to represent Deshaun Watson and wholly stand behind him.”

Watson is 1 of the league’s top quarterbacks & led the NFL in yards passing last season. He signed a 4-year, $156 million contract extension with the Texans last offseason, but he became unhappy with the direction of the team as Houston sunk to 4-12 & he requested a trade in January.

Follow Me