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‘Not Allowed Off the Hook’: Purdue Creditors Ask Court to Sue Sackler Family Members
Nearly two weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court tossed out a $6 billion bankruptcy settlement agreed upon by the Sackler family to address claims that the OxyContin manufacturer fueled America’s opioid crisis, the court-appointed committee of Purdue creditors on Monday asked a U.S. bankruptcy court if they could sue individual Sackler family members. The creditors allege that the Sacklers illegally transferred billions of dollars to offshore private trusts before Purdue’s 2019 bankruptcy filing.
A court filing from Purdue’s creditors, which include individuals harmed by the opioid epidemic as well as insurers and companies with opioid claims, requested the urgent need to sue Sackler family members and ensure they are not “allowed ‘off the hook’ for their grotesque misconduct in creating and fueling the opioid crisis,” according to Reuters.
If a new round of mediation between the estate, which represents the Purdue company and not the Sackler family, fails, creditors could begin the process of suing the family to recover more than $11.5 billion. Creditors allege the family shifted Purdue profits into offshore trusts ahead of the company’s 2019 bankruptcy.
In late June, the Supreme Court ruled that the $6 billion settlement deal would be terminated because it would have improperly shielded members of the Sackler family from future lawsuits.
Merck Puts 1,000-Plus Zostavax Lawsuits to Bed After Plaintiffs File for Dismissal
After a drawn-out litigation process, Merck & Co. seems to have finally washed its hands of more than a thousand lawsuits tied to its shingles vaccine Zostavax.
Late last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit tossed an appeal to resurrect certain lawsuits claiming Merck’s popular shot caused patients to develop shingles.
Merck still faces claims from plaintiffs in other states who argue Zostavax caused “various other injuries” besides shingles plus those contending the vaccine causes hearing loss. As of summer 2021, Merck was facing some 1,950 lawsuits related to Zostavax. The December 2022 ruling against the plaintiffs knocked out 1,189 cases.
Cancer Drug From Lab of Bankrupt Biotech Works Against COVID and MRSA Lung Damage in Mice
Just in time for a summer COVID wave to remind us that SARS-CoV-2 is here to stay, researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) have published new findings that show an experimental cancer drug developed by a now-bankrupt biotech can suppress the virus in lung tissue.
In a July 3 article in Science Translational Medicine, the UCSD team established that levels of damage-causing immune cells called myeloid cells are raised in the lungs of people with COVID-19 and other infections, like methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
Targeting an enzyme called phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-kinase gamma (PI3Kγ) with the small molecule inhibitor eganelisib — a clinical-stage anti-cancer agent developed by Infinity Pharmaceuticals, which declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October 2023 — reduced the number of myeloid cells in the lungs and improved the survival rate of mice infected with either COVID-19 or MRSA.
Older Weight Loss Drugs Are in Demand. But Are They Safe or Effective? And Should You Take Them?
With Ozempic-type weight loss drugs in short supply, more people are turning to old-school weight loss drugs such as Qsymia and Contrave, which come in pill form but also include serious warning labels.
Savanna DiCristina, a Northeastern assistant clinical professor of pharmacy and health systems sciences, has witnessed the increased demand for the older class of drugs as a pharmacist at a health clinic for older, low-income adults in Brockton, Massachusetts.
Just be sure to heed the warning labels, DiCristina says. Qsymia is known to cause birth defects, while Contrave comes with a “black box” warning label for the risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors.
Tirzepatide Bests Semaglutide for Real-World Weight Loss — Injectables Were Compared at Doses Approved for Type 2 Diabetes
In formulations indicated for type 2 diabetes, tirzepatide (Mounjaro) yielded more weight loss than semaglutide (Ozempic) in people with overweight or obesity, according to real-world data.
Rates of moderate-to-severe gastrointestinal adverse events (the most commonly reported side events with GLP-1 receptor agonists) were similar between the two injectables. Discontinuation rates were high in both groups — 55.9% of patients on tirzepatide and 52.5% of patients on semaglutide — within 12 months.
Relief in South Africa After J&J Reversal Allows Key Tuberculosis Drug Production at Lower Prices
Medical advocacy groups welcomed Johnson & Johnson’s decision not to enforce its patent on a critical tuberculosis medication, allowing its production at much lower prices, after South African authorities opened an investigation into the conglomerate.
The South African Competition Commission in a statement on July 5 said it decided not to prosecute a complaint against J&J regarding “allegations of abuse of dominance,” which was prompted after J&J and its subsidiary filed a secondary patent for bedaquiline last year, used to treat drug-resistant TB.
Experts argued that the patent prevented generic producers from making cheaper medicines, threatening the treatment of tens of thousands of people in South Africa, where TB killed more than 50,000 people in 2021, making it the country’s leading cause of death.
Authorities said J&J has now agreed not to enforce its patent and to drop the price charged to South Africa by about 40%. “We hope this sends a strong message to pharma that they cannot continue their anti-competitiveness monopoly and prioritize profits over people’s lives,” said Candice Sehoma, an advocacy adviser at Doctors Without Borders in South Africa.
