As far back as 2017, parts of Ohio were showing up to 99% of OD’s toxicology contained illegal fentanyl.  https://www.pharmaciststeve.com/dayton-ohio-area-99-of-opiate-ods-tested-positive-for-illegal-fentanyl-analog/

While everyone seems to feel obligated to “keep the numbers” of those who have OD’d… no one seems to bother to CORRECTLY COUNT the number of chronic pain pts that die from under/untreated pain either from complications of their comorbidity issues and or they commit SUICIDE…  Here is just one family whose loved one committed suicide from having his opiate dose cut by 55% and decided to seek restitution thru our court system.  https://www.pharmaciststeve.com/7-million-awarded-to-family-of-man-who-killed-himself-after-pain-medication-denied/  there have been other suicides but apparently none of the surviving families have sought restitution via our legal system… and apparently most premature deaths are either classified as “natural causes” or because the person has a Rx for some controlled substances, their death is classified as a “opiate related death” and another death put in the “opiate OD column”.

I am aware of two intractable chronic pain pts who are in need of total knee replacement in both knees and the “opiate management protocol” of the hospitals that their Orthoped surgeon practices at… limits pain management to 90 MME and both of these pts are already above that amount to treat their existing intractable chronic pain and anyone who knows “two cents” about pain management and surgically induced acute pain with a intractable chronic pain pts… is that they are going to need substantially more pain management post surgery.  I know at least one of these pts already have blood pressure in what most would consider “stroke range” and this pt is already taking blood pressure medication, but this pt’s pain intensity of pain is regularly in the upper end of the scale range.  It has been reported that total knee replacement is once of the post painful surgical procedures, can anyone really realize the EXTRA PAIN that these pts are to have to deal with and apparently no one within the surgeon’s office or the hospital wants to listen…   Their “one size fits all” pain management protocols appears to currently be “written in stone”.  Apparently what has historically been labeled as “the practice of medicine” has been revised to “science of medicine” which has no real practical application, since we are all individuals.

Giant Eagle settles pharmacy lawsuits with Ohio counties

https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Giant-Eagle-settles-pharmacy-lawsuits-with-Ohio-16576147.php

CLEVELAND (AP) — One of the four retail pharmacy companies on trial for their alleged roles in fostering an opioid crisis in two Ohio counties announced Friday it had settled lawsuits filed by 10 government entities in the state that have accused the companies of creating a public nuisance.

The settlement by Pittsburgh-based Giant Eagle includes Lake and Trumbull counties, whose federal lawsuits are being heard in a bellwether trial in Cleveland that began in early October. The other defendants on trial are CVS, Walgreens and Walmart.

Settlement terms were not announced. Another pharmacy chain, Rite-Aid, settled with the two counties in August. Rite-Aid agreed to pay Trumbull County $1.5 million. The amount Lake County will receive has not been disclosed.

Giant Eagle in a joint statement with a committee representing plaintiffs in the national litigation denied causing the opioid crisis but said it recognizes the severity of the crisis, the impact on the public and the “hard work of the public officials working to address the harms.”

“Giant Eagle intends to continue helping the communities in which it operates to address the opioid crisis in a productive way,” the statement said.

In a separate statement, Lake and Trumbull County officials said they are focused on “supporting our necessary action to combat the persistent negative impacts caused by the opioid epidemic.”

U.S. District Judge Dan Polster is overseeing the current trial in Cleveland and supervises nearly 3,000 opioid lawsuits filed by government agencies and tribal entities from across the country.

More than 500,000 people in the U.S. have died from drug overdoses in the last two decades.

The Cleveland trial has been focused on how the companies contributed to the opioid crisis by filling millions of prescriptions for addictive pain killers. All four companies at various times also distributed those drugs to their retail pharmacies.

Around 80 million prescription painkillers were dispensed in Trumbull County between 2012 and 2016 — 400 for every county resident — while 61 million pills were dispensed in Lake County during that five-year period — 265 pills for every resident.

The cost of abating the crisis in each county totals around $1 billion, one of the counties’ attorneys has said.

“We were hit with a tsunami and we were pulling bodies out of the water,” April Caraway, executive director of the Trumbull County Mental Health & Recovery Board, testified earlier this week.

The counties are arguing that the companies’ lax or nonexistent controls and systems for detecting suspicious orders and prescriptions contributed to the crisis. The companies have said their pharmacies filled prescriptions written by doctors for legitimate medical needs.

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