Colorado joins $26B settlement to address opioid crisis
By AP DENVER (AP) — A proposed $26 billion settlement with the nation’s three largest drug distribution companies and the drugmaker Johnson & Johnson would bring at least $300 million to Colorado to address the opioid addiction and overdose crisis. State Attorney General Phil Weiser said Wednesday the deal is a “once-in-a-generation opportunity,” and Colorado […]
Santa Fe hospital reaches settlement over fraudulent billing
By AP SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Federal prosecutors have reached a settlement with a Santa Fe hospital over claims of fraudulent billing. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Mexico announced Wednesday that Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center will pay nearly $564,000 as part of the agreement. Prosecutors say a doctor at the hospital […]
Pharmacist in meningitis outbreak gets more prison time
By AP BOSTON (AP) — A former Massachusetts pharmacist convicted for his role in a deadly 2012 multistate meningitis outbreak that killed more than 100 people and sickened hundreds of others will spend more time behind bars after a federal judge on Wednesday lengthened his original sentence by 2 1/2 years. Glenn Chin, former supervisory […]
Experts: Spend opioid settlement funds on fighting opioids
By BEN FINLEY and GEOFF MULVIHILL As a $26 billion settlement over the toll of opioids looms, some public health experts are citing the 1998 agreement with tobacco companies as a cautionary tale of runaway government spending and missed opportunities for saving more lives. Mere fractions of the $200 billion-plus tobacco settlement have gone toward […]
Unvaccinated staff eyed in rising nursing home cases, deaths
By JASON DEAREN and RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR WASHINGTON (AP) — Lagging vaccination rates among nursing home staff are being linked to a national increase in COVID-19 infections and deaths at senior facilities, and are at the center of a federal investigation in a hard-hit Colorado location where disease detectives found many workers were not inoculated. The […]
Rare ‘breakthrough’ COVID cases are causing alarm, confusion
By LAURAN NEERGAARD Reports of athletes, lawmakers and others getting the coronavirus despite vaccination may sound alarming but top health experts point to overwhelming evidence that the shots are doing exactly what they are supposed to: dramatically reducing severe illness and death. The best indicator: U.S. hospitalizations and deaths are nearly all among the unvaccinated, […]
Michael Avenatti denies embezzlement charges in California
By AP SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — Michael Avenatti, the brash lawyer recently sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison in a $25 million extortion case in New York, now is on trial in California on charges of embezzling millions from his clients and told jurors Wednesday that he “gave people who had no chance a fighting […]
Stocks climb on Wall Street as more company earnings roll in
By ALEX VEIGA Stocks closed higher on Wall Street for a second straight day Wednesday following a sharp drop at the beginning of the week. The S&P 500 rose 0.8% and is now on pace for a weekly gain. Technology stocks, banks and companies that rely on consumer spending helped drive the benchmark index’s advance. […]
A small victory: Used-car prices slip from dizzy heights
By TOM KRISHER and MIKE HOUSEHOLDER DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — For months, anyone who wandered onto a dealer lot to look for a used car could be forgiven for doing a double take — and then wandering right off the lot. Prices had rocketed more than 40% from their levels just before the viral pandemic […]
US airlines say COVID-19 variants aren’t hurting bookings
By DAVID KOENIG Rising concern about the fast-spreading delta variant of COVID-19 is creating turbulence for the stocks of big travel companies, but airline executives say they don’t see any slowdown in ticket sales, maybe because a high percentage of their best customers are fully vaccinated. “We haven’t seen any impact at all on bookings, […]