Drug manufacturers won a rare victory in nationwide opioid litigation as a California judge cleared two opioid makers of liability for causing the opioid epidemic. The case is one of the thousands across the country against drug companies, drug distributors, and pharmacy chains for their role in the opioid crisis, which has led to the deaths of more than 500,000 Americans over the past two decades. Many of the lawsuits have been settled before going to trial, resulting in billions of dollars of compensations for states, cities, and victims’ families who brought the suits. But the California case against drugmakers Johnson & Johnson and Endo, the judge believed the companies’ claims that they made a federally-regulated product that helped people in pain and was not responsible for widespread opioid addiction. Other trials are ongoing or awaiting rulings in New York, West Virginia, and Ohio, while settlement discussions continue in other jurisdictions.
Meanwhile, a new study looking at ways to reduce chronic pain and opioid use finds that talk therapy and yoga can help ease the pain but do not have a significant impact on usage. When such practices were compared to usual care for chronic pain patients, more people in the intervention group said pain dropped by at least 30 percent, although opioid use stayed the same. Nevertheless, researchers noted that despite this limited efficacy, the results are encouraging and that the treatment may be an attractive option given that the problem of opioid use is so large.
And finally, when California legalized marijuana five years ago, the state and legalization supporters imagined that a new, thriving market would evolve to benefit the economy and provide compensation for communities of color that were disproportionately hurt during the decades-long war on drugs. But it hasn’t exactly turned out that way, the Guardian reports. In fact, the legal weed industry is in disarray. Despite the cheery façade of celebrity pot products and home-delivery services, the illicit market is still thriving and black and brown entrepreneurs who were supposed to benefit have been locked out of the market or have ended up losing money. Consumers remain confused about what’s legal and what’s not, and many municipalities have used the law's opt-out clause to ban pot sales.