Data Expert: Distributors Increased Drug Potency in West Virginia May 14, 2021
A data expert testifying at a landmark opioid trial in West Virginia said Tuesday that the potency of prescription drugs sent to local communities increased over time, but the three large drug distributors being sued tried to discredit his analysis.
Cabell County and the city of Huntington argue that AmerisourceBergen Drug Co., Cardinal Health Inc. and McKesson Corp. created a “public nuisance” by flooding their areas with prescription pain pills and ignored the signs that the community was being ravaged by addiction.
While consultant Craig McCann of Washington, D.C., focused his Monday testimony on how many doses of hydrocodone and oxycodone were shipped to the area overall, The Herald Dispatch reported that he zeroed in Tuesday on specific pharmacies.
Winnipeg Free Press By: The Associated Press Save to Read Later
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) A data expert testifying at a landmark opioid trial in West Virginia said Tuesday that the potency of prescription drugs sent to local communities increased over time, but the three large drug distributors being sued tried to discredit his analysis.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) A data expert testifying at a landmark opioid trial in West Virginia said Tuesday that the potency of prescription drugs sent to local communities increased over time, but the three large drug distributors being sued tried to discredit his analysis.
Cabell County and the city of Huntington argue that AmerisourceBergen Drug Co., Cardinal Health Inc. and McKesson Corp. created a “public nuisance” by flooding their areas with prescription pain pills and ignored the signs that the community was being ravaged by addiction.
Data expert testifies firms flooded areas in opioid trial
AP, CHARLESTON, West Virginia
A data expert testifying at a landmark opioid trial in West Virginia on Tuesday said that the potency of prescription drugs sent to local communities had increased over time, but the three large drug distributors being sued tried to discredit his analysis.
Cabell County and the city of Huntington say that AmerisourceBergen Drug Co, Cardinal Health Inc and McKesson Corp created a “public nuisance” by flooding their areas with prescription pain pills, and ignored the signs that the community was being ravaged by addiction.
While data consultant Craig McCann of Washington, focused his testimony on Monday on how many doses of hydrocodone and oxycodone were shipped to the area overall, the Herald Dispatch reported that on Tuesday he zeroed in on specific pharmacies.
Who knew? Why did it happen? A deeper look into report on University of Michigan doctor’s sexual abuse
Updated May 12, 2021;
Posted May 12, 2021
FILE- In an undated photo provided by the Bentley Historical Library at the University of Michigan, Dr. Robert E. Anderson is shown. The president of the University of Michigan has apologized to anyone who was harmed by Anderson, a late doctor after several former students said he molested them during medical exams at the school. One man said Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020, that Dr. Anderson molested him during a medical exam in 1968 or 1969. Police started investigating the onetime director of the University Health Service and physician for the football team in July 2018 after a former student athlete alleged abuse by Anderson in the 1970s. Anderson died in 2008. (Robert Kalmbach/Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan via AP)AP
CHARLESTON â Drug wholesalers accused of fueling the opioid epidemic by shipping millions of opiates to Cabell County over a nine-year period continued to blame federal regulators in court Tuesday and attempted to discredit years of work completed by a data analyst.
The city of Huntington and Cabell County argued that the defendants â AmerisourceBergen Drug Co., Cardinal Health Inc. and McKesson Corp. â became culpable when 127.9 million opiate doses were sent to the county from 2006-14. When the number of shipped doses decreased around 2012, users were made to turn to illicit opiate drugs, like heroin, they said.
The defendants said they did report suspicious orders to the Drug Enforcement Administration, but never heard back and were unsure of the next step to take because of lack of communication. They attribute the volume to DEA pill quotas and a rise in prescriptions written by doctors for a population with myriad health issues.