Oklahoma is seeking $17 billion in damages from Johnson & Johnson, the pharmaceutical giant. After a seven-week trial, a judge will decide if the opioid drugmaker is liable and if so, for how much.
As states struggle to respond to the national drug crisis, officials around the country are watching Oklahoma. The state’s attorney general says opioid drugmakers helped ignite a health crisis that has killed thousands of residents.
Health officials and doctors treating patients with HIV welcome the funding push, but warn that the strategies that work in progressive cities don’t necessarily translate to rural areas.
Medicaid drug spending doubled in five years in Massachusetts. The state wanted to exclude expensive drugs that weren’t proven to work better than existing alternatives from its Medicaid plan, but the federal government blocked the effort.