What A Day - Pharm-Accountability In The Opioid Crisis

Episode Date: May 3, 2021

The COVID crisis in India is getting worse by most metrics, with Saturday marking another daily record of new cases. In the U.S., Oregon is emerging as a hotspot. On the brighter side of things, the U.S. vaccination campaign remains extremely successful with over 103 million adults now fully vaccinated.A landmark lawsuit in the decades-long opioid crisis begins today between two communities in West Virginia and the nation's three largest drug distributors. The trial centers around an explosion in opioid prescriptions between 2006 and 2014, and the communities seek $500 million for recovery efforts and resources for those affected.And in headlines: Israel observed a day of mourning following a deadly stampede, Apple and Epic Games face off in court, and a damning confession letter from a political ally of Matt Gaetz.Show Notes:Show some love and vote for us as Best News and Politics podcast in the 25th Annual People’s Voice Awards! – https://vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting#/2021/podcasts/general-series/news-politicsFor a transcript of this show, please visit crooked.com/whataday.

it's monday may 3rd i'm akilah hughes and i'm gideon resnick and this is what a day where we are still not ready to shake anyone's hand that's right we will maybe do a high five or a salute but that's as close as we're getting yeah maybe a little like hip bump booty bump type thing on the street maybe i can get comfortable with that. On today's show, the nation's first federal trial begins against drug manufacturers and their role in the opioid crisis. Plus, we'll have headlines, but first, the latest. We have a responsibility as the United States, in particular as it relates to the people that we have partnered with over the years, to step up when people are in a time of need. And as it relates to the people of India, we have a longstanding, decades-old relationship with India, with the Indian people, in particular around public health issues. That was Vice President Kamala Harris speaking from an

airfield last Friday about COVID. We'll talk more about India's response in a moment. But let's begin with the state of things here because the US has mostly positive news, while across the globe, things are on fire. That is exactly right. So in the US, the vaccination campaign, even though it has slowed down from its earlier daily highs, is still very, very successful. As of this past weekend, the CDC says over 103 million people are fully vaccinated, 103 million people, which is just so many. I am not capable of conceiving of that. That's just about 40% of the population that is 18 and older. But there are still plenty of reminders that COVID isn't done with the US.

One example is an emerging hotspot in Oregon, where a third of the state's counties have had to go back to the most severe level of restrictions at the end of last week. Another is that younger people who haven't been vaccinated are still at risk. Adults under 50 make up a reported 35% of COVID hospitalizations. Yeah, wow. Well, that's the state of things here in the US. But as we mentioned, the rest of the planet is struggling, particularly in India, as we talked about on Friday's show. So where do things stand there now? Unfortunately, by most metrics, it's still getting worse before it gets better in the future. Over the weekend, India hit another daily record of cases with more than 400,000 on Saturday. India and South America are part of what is driving a new peak in overall cases around the world. And some epidemiologists are saying that cases in India could hit 500,000 in the coming weeks

before vaccines can get to many places throughout the country. And just yesterday, the country's health ministry reported another record, more than 3,600 deaths in just a 24-hour span. Wow, it's just unfathomable. Yeah, it is really, really scary. And this has all influenced the policy decision Vice President Harris was talking about. Starting tomorrow, the United States is restricting most travel from India indefinitely. There are some exemptions, like U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and family members will all still be allowed to enter. But it does harken back a little bit

towards early last year, when the previous administration imposed a similar ban on travel from China and then parts of Europe, with both not having the full intended effect. Now, granted, there were no vaccines then, very different in tons of different ways. And at the same time, more aid began arriving in India this weekend from France, the UK, and the US. But there is still increasing pressure on the Biden administration to call for the lifting of the patent restrictions on vaccines.

Here is White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain getting asked about it on Face the Nation on Sunday. Our US Trade Representative Catherine Tai is going to the WTO next week to start talks on how we can get this vaccine more widely distributed, more widely licensed, more widely shared. We're going to have more to say about that in the days to come. Yeah, so we'll see. And we'll track that over the coming days. Yeah. Also, we were talking about Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party holding election

rallies with thousands of maskless supporters during the last few weeks. So what sort of pressure is he facing now? Well, for one thing, it seems like those rallies didn't exactly work in his favor. In West Bengal, Modi's party was defeated in crucial state elections. Some saw that as a sign of the increased criticism he has been facing in his response to the crisis. And the Associated Press reports that the Delhi High Court will start contempt proceedings for government officials who fail to provide oxygen and other essentials to hospitals. We're going to continue to track all of that as it develops. But turning to the U.S. again, Akilah, there is a pretty major lawsuit beginning today

over a decades-long health crisis we have here. Take us through what we know. All right. So today is the first federal civil trial in a landmark opioids case. The city of Huntington and Cabell County, both in West Virginia, versus the nation's three largest drug distributors, McKesson Corp., Amerisource, Bergen Corp., and Cardinal Health, Inc. The trial is expected to last dozens of weeks

and centers around an explosion in opioid prescriptions between 2006 and 2014. In that time frame, more than 1.1 billion pills ended up in West Virginia. And in just Cabell County, there were more than 81 million prescription hydrocodone and oxycodone pills distributed, which shakes out to about 94 pills per person per year. That is unbelievable. So what exactly are the plaintiffs hoping to get from this case? So they're seeking $500 million for recovery efforts and resources for those affected, which

in my opinion is the least those companies can give considering the amount of death and destruction they've brought throughout the nation's opioid crisis. On one of the worst days in Huntington in 2016, 26 people overdosed over the course of four hours, and that's according to the Huntington Herald Dispatch. It's awful on the broad scale and on the granular level, just awful. Yeah, it's just, it's senseless. But it's also seen as a test case for other cities and counties to sue drug manufacturers too. If they win, it would set a major precedent in drug abuse liability for major corporations. There's only ever been one other trial over the opioid crisis and our day ones remember us covering it. Back in 2019, Oklahoma won $465 million against Johnson & Johnson in state court.

So for Huntington and Cabell County to win in federal court could set off a reckoning of accountability for reckless drug manufacturers. And it's worth noting that there was another federal case brought by Summit and Cuyahoga counties in Ohio against these same companies. But on the eve of their trial in 2019, they settled for $215 million. Attorneys for the West Virginia government said in the past that they would settle the Cabell County and Huntington cases for $500 million themselves or $1.25 billion plus attorney's fees for all West Virginia-based cases. And then so what are the defendants expected to argue here? So they don't deny that they supplied the drugs, but they believe they were just keeping up with demand and that they're not responsible for the demand. Cardinal Health is expected to argue that they're

simply scapegoats because the DEA is broke. They're also expected to argue that most of those deaths came as a result of heroin use, not prescription drugs, but they may have a difficult time proving that the heroin use was despite their efforts. Reports from a national survey on drug use and health said that those facing substance use disorder with prescription opioid painkillers are 40 times more likely to become addicted to heroin. Yeah, so this sounds like a gateway. And we know that rural areas were some of the hardest hit for the opioid crisis. So what would it mean for there to be accountability there? Well, I think it would mean several things.

I come from a place where the high school reunion Facebook page has more funeral announcements for parents in their 30s than really anything else. And I personally lost two friends to overdoses, and I didn't even know that they were on those drugs at the time. And it's due to this same opioid crisis. It's all the same problem. So I think one part of it would be a lifting of the shame stigma associated with the crisis. The reality is that these are addictive drugs that were flooded into communities, and taking the blame off of individuals who succumbed or didn't just say no is incredibly important. And it's also important for people who've had to grieve the loss of family members and friends who were victims in this case. It means that these communities can rebuild and get back on track with resources to actually help people who've become addicted rather than just

criminalizing them. And it means better outcomes for families and less violence and crime and so much bad that comes from these drugs being so accessible. So I'm obviously rooting for them in this case. We'll let you know what we learn as the case moves forward, but that's the latest for now. It's Monday WOD Squad, and for today's Tim Check, we're sending support to people across the East Coast and Midwest who might be meeting a bunch of huge bugs. Trillions of cicadas are emerging over the next few weeks after going underground 17 years ago

much like low-rise genes which are also making a huge comeback cicadas typically come out when the soil temperature is about 64 degrees these ones are from brood 10 which is considered one of the largest generations of cicadas they make a screeching high-pitched mating call but don't sting bite or carry diseases and once they come up they have about three or four weeks to mate and lay eggs before they die so the end is already in sight giddy you grew up with these guys your old buds what are your thoughts on the cicadas yeah i'm gonna take issue with the phrasing there that i lived in the soil with giant bugs so you came out of the gross ground with those nasty bugs a little did we know that was the origin story.

Yeah, I mean, so my thing with them always was the alive version is terrible. Yeah. And the dead shell version that was on the trees was kind of like finding a fossil in a way if you were young and stupid and you hadn't seen that before. But just like thousands of them. You don't have to even search for the fossils like where do you live where the fossils

are that abundant right right yeah it's the opposite in terms of of rarity but yeah um my thoughts are don't get near them if they are flying um if you ever wanted to know what like the weight of having a bat on your body was, but it was a bug. You are going to find out. It is pretty gross. They're so thick. They're thick boys. I don't like them. I,

I've never, uh, it's like this and starship troopers where bugs are that heavy. Um, there's no other thing that exists where you could lift a bug and it would feel like a rock in your hand. Yeah, it's so gross. But you're familiar with these bad boys as well. So what are you thinking here?

All right. So as everybody knows, Gideon and I grew up very close to each other, but somehow it had no crossover episode in our youth. And I'm just thinking about, for one, they're so loud. And in a world where we're all on Zoom calls, people who are taking Zoom calls and it's just like loud ass bugs. No, thank you. Like, I don't want to hear them on my side or your side. It just sounds gross. Yeah, I just like them.

I specifically remember like skinning my knee, jumping off of my bike because one had landed on me. And I was like, oh, please get off of me. Like people don't realize they're sticky. They're not just big bugs that are black with giant wings and red eyes they're also stuck to you you can't just like white like if you like hit at it like it's a fly it's not gonna react you have to like knock it off you and it like it will do that screeching sound while it's on you like it is an alien monster and the first time i experienced it the only time i experienced it it really was when I've been like 17 years ago, I guess. And yeah, I did not like it.

I did not realize that that was a thing that was going to happen in my life. I was very upset to learn last minute that that was going to be my summer. And, you know, Godspeed to everyone who has to try to maneuver around them. You really can't. They're everywhere. You know, you either just have to succumb or not leave your house. I am grateful that one has never touched me. I have only ever seen it in human or in a live form on its back or in the air.

It's never landed on me, and I hope it never does. Oh, gosh. Well, I hope it never does either, Gideon. It's like black snow. You look up, and it's just a bunch of snowflakes, but they're giant bugs. Anyway, just like that, we've checked our temps. Stay safe. Maybe just avoid outside if you're somewhere on the eastern seaboard. And we'll be back after

some ads. Let's wrap up with some headlines. Headlines. Israel observed a day of mourning yesterday following what is being called one of the country's deadliest civilian disasters. On Friday, 45 people, including six U.S. citizens, were killed in a stampede on the religious site Mount Moran in northern Israel. The night began as a pilgrimage and religious celebration for tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews onto the slopes of a religious site that many had warned was not equipped to handle the growing sizes of the crowds. This was also the first mass religious gathering to be held legally after the country lifted all of its COVID restrictions. The tragedy began when people slipped and fell in a narrow metal passageway due to the immense

weight of the massive crowd. President Biden reached out to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and offered U.S. assistance. Apple and the company behind Fortnite are set to face off in court today in a battle that could majorly shake up the App Store. The beef started last year when video game maker Epic Games allowed iOS Fortnite players to bypass the App Store's payment system to buy in-game currency. That let the company avoid what's called the Apple tax, a 30% commission on all digital purchases made on the App Store. Apple was not happy about that, so it kicked Epic off its store, blocking the company from a market of over a billion iPhone and iPad users, only some of whom had already been grounded from Fortnite for swearing or not doing tours. Epic then sued the tech giant for antitrust violations,

arguing that the way Apple runs its app store constitutes an illegal monopoly. Apple is expected to argue that the 30% fee is on par with other mobile distribution platforms and that it exerts control over its app store to keep users safe. If the court sides with Epic, Apple could be forced to let users download and install software freely as if we were grownups

who bought our little computers with our own money. What a concept. Yeah, wow, thanks, thanks guys give us a shot scared scared of choice frankly uh we're kicking off the elon musk news cycle early this week thank the lord spacex's crew dragon landed in the waters of the gulf of mexico early yesterday morning making it the first ever commercially produced vehicle to carry humans to and from the international space station this was also the first nighttime splashdown by NASA since the Apollo 8 mission in 1968. So this option was chosen in part to take advantage of calm nighttime weather.

As a devoted fan and advocate for daytime splashdowns, to me it feels like a betrayal, but I'm glad it worked out for everyone else. Have fun. A Crew Dragon was carrying three NASA astronauts as well as an astronaut from JAXA, Japan's space agency. The NASA partnership with SpaceX will continue, with SpaceX set to build the lander that NASA will use to take astronauts to the surface of the moon, or as Grimes calls it, home sweet home. Grimes dates Elon Musk. She's a bit weird. That's the idea here. Yeah. Yeah, I got you.

Thank you. Towards the end of last week, things got even worse for congressman and man shaped tube of rancid hair gel Matt Gaetz. On Thursday night, the Daily Beast published excerpts from a confession letter by his friend and fellow scumbag Joel Greenberg that claims both Greenberg and Gaetz paid for sex with multiple women, including a girl who is only 17. Greenberg used to work as a Florida tax official, and he's now facing 33 charges, including sex trafficking. He's also cooperating with investigators at the Justice Department, which is very bad news for Matt Gates. Greenberg's confession is detailed in its description of the many sexual encounters he and Gates had with young girls and the financial transactions behind them. The confession was

written last year as a part of a sort of I'm a sex offender AMA document Greenberg put together to get a pardon from outgoing President Donald Trump with the help of none other than Roger Stone. Screenshotted text messages show that Stone felt confident about a pardon and wanted $250,000 for it. Anyway, this story is truly heinous. And that makes sense considering the expanding network of disgusting men it involves. Yeah, every time you get to the point where Roger Stone enters the story, it's just like, OK, maxed out on gross. Yeah, it's pretty bad. I hope this is the thing that takes him down. And those are the headlines. One more thing before we go, pet owners rejoice. Brand new what a dog bandanas have dropped in the Crooked store.

So head to crooked dot com slash store now to pick yours up today. That is all for today. If you like this show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, support daytime splashdowns, and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading and not just Fortnite strategy guides like me, What A Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at crooked.com slash subscribe. I'm Akilah Hughes. I'm Gideon Resnick. And welcome home, astronauts.

A lot's changed. A lot has changed. Yeah. Sorry. But, you know, we tried. What can we say? You know, it's all just happening to all of us. Whataday is a production of Crooked Media.

It's recorded and mixed by Charlotte Landis. Sonia Tun and Jazzy Marine are our associate producers. Our head writer is John Milstein, and our executive producers are Leo Duran, Akilah Hughes, and me. Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kashaka.