Tech companies, including Meta (Facebook, Instagram), Google (YouTube), TikTok, and others have refused to answer to the government or parents like me who must bury their children because of the dangerous and toxic effects of social media. We are finally at a point in which Big Tech may have to answer for its greedy and misguided actions.
Drugs
Posted inOpinion
I saw parallels to Clancy case as a juvenile court judge
THE TRAGIC DEATH of the beautiful Clancy children may portend a long overdue indictment of the cavalier use of powerful psychotropic medications over non-pharmacological methods of treatment for those suffering […]
Posted inDrug Addiction
Meth use poses rising threat in Massachusetts
THE SCOURGE of opioid addiction has made headlines for years, as state policymakers aim to reduce the epidemic of overdose deaths. Less noticed – but still highly dangerous – is […]
Posted inOpinion
Moderna should do its part, share its vaccine
THROUGH MOST of 2020, most of us had never heard of Moderna, a small start-up pharmaceutical company based in Cambridge. The company had brought no product to market and had […]
Posted inHealth Care
Friedman, Senate push transparency in pharmaceutical drug costs
MASSACHUSETTS HAS taken lots of steps to rein in runaway spending on healthcare, but one area has largely avoided state regulation: prescription drugs. “If we’re really going to have a […]
Posted inHealth Care
Senate misfires with prescription drug bill
ON THURSDAY, the Massachusetts Senate passed another ill-considered piece of legislation, Senate Bill 2651, that would impose price controls on one of Massachusetts most important economic sectors, biopharmaceuticals. The bill […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Marijuana regulators support updates to drugged driving laws
SINCE MASSACHUSETTS LEGALIZED recreational marijuana, Gov. Charlie Baker has been pushing the Legislature to also update the state’s laws against driving under the influence of drugs. But a lengthy […]
Posted inThe Download
A fix for the crisis at Mass. and Cass?
Acting Mayor Kim Janey declared last week that Boston will move to dismantle the tent city of homeless people that has grown in the area of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea […]
Posted inHealth Care
Massachusetts preps for Nov. vaccine rollout to kids
MASSACHUSETTS EXPECTS to receive 360,000 doses of the pediatric Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine by November 5, Secretary of Health and Human Services Marylou Sudders said Thursday. Unlike the initial vaccine […]
Posted inHealth Care
FDA’s controversial approval of Alzheimer’s drug draws calls for reform
WHEN MASS GENERAL BRIGHAM announced two weeks ago that it would not offer a controversial new drug treatment for Alzheimer’s disease to patients, it was an important statement from the […]
Posted inDrug Addiction
Key flashpoints in debate over ‘supervised consumption sites’
FOR SEVERAL YEARS, Massachusetts lawmakers have been bandying about the idea of authorizing “supervised consumption sites” – locations where someone could use illicit drugs under medical supervision to prevent fatal overdoses. These sites could offer such services as clean […]
Posted inDrug Addiction
Sackler family members to pay $4.3b settlement — $90m to Mass.
MEMBERS OF THE Sackler family who own Purdue Pharma will pay $4.3 billion to settle a lawsuit over Purdue’s role in perpetuating the opioid addiction epidemic, a lawsuit first initiated […]
Posted inOpinion
AG could give big lift to supervised drug sites
PATRICK RADDEN KEEFE’S Empire of Pain describes Attorney General Maura Healey’s quest, not just for financial restitution from members of the Oxycontin-promoting Sackler family but also to expose their deep […]
Posted inDrug Addiction
HIV cases spiking among Boston homeless
HEALTH OFFICIALS have identified a growing cluster of 134 HIV cases primarily among homeless people who inject drugs in the Boston area, a worrying sign for health officials who several […]
Posted inUncategorized
Pharmacists blame middlemen for high drug costs
AMID growing attention being paid in Massachusetts to the high cost of prescription drugs, independent pharmacists are pointing a finger at a little known culprit: the middlemen who mediate between drug manufacturers, insurers, and pharmacies. […]
Posted inUncategorized
Baker joins Lamont to push drug pricing proposal
MASSACHUSETTS GOV. Charlie Baker teamed up with Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont on Tuesday to advocate for a policy both have proposed that would curb the growth in prescription drug prices. […]
Posted inUncategorized
Magic mushroom advocates following cannabis playbook
ALEXANDER KARASIK, a 31-year-old engineer living in Somerville, first tried using “magic mushrooms” while traveling in Thailand. He said his experience with the illicit hallucinogenic drug opened him up to […]
Posted inDrug Addiction
Mass. to get $13.2m from McKinsey opioid settlement
MASSACHUSETTS WILL get $13.2 million from a national settlement with consultant McKinsey & Company over the company’s role working for opioid companies. Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, who has been […]
Posted inUncategorized
Baker says proposed drug overcharging penalties would total $70m
IT’S BAKER versus drug companies, take two. Gov. Charlie Baker, in his fiscal 2022 budget proposal, is reviving a controversial plan to penalize drug companies for charging too much for […]
Posted inUncategorized
Marijuana trade association drops delivery lawsuit amid public pressure
FACING INTENSE PUBLIC PRESSURE from its members, the Commonwealth Dispensary Association on Monday withdrew its lawsuit seeking to overturn the state’s new marijuana home delivery regulations. The trade association representing major […]
Posted inUncategorized
Cannabis regulators approve home delivery
THE CANNABIS CONTROL COMMISSION on Monday approved new regulations that should, within months, let recreational marijuana consumers in Massachusetts get legal marijuana delivered to their home. The final decision to license […]
Posted inDrug Addiction
No marijuana ‘apocalypse,’ but legalization brings concerns
Second of two parts. Read the first part here. WHEN MASSACHUSETTS VOTERS were considering the 2016 ballot question to legalize recreational marijuana sales, opponents, including Gov. Charlie Baker, Attorney General Maura […]
Posted inOpinion
We must address black, brown mistrust of COVID-19 vaccine
MASSACHUSETTS IS IN DANGER of failing communities of color, once again, if we do not start preparing for a COVID-19 vaccine now. Black Americans, in particular, are both more susceptible […]
Posted inHealth Care, State House News Service
Legislative panel backs 2 safe injection sites
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE endorsed a proposal to establish at least two locations in Massachusetts for supervised drug consumption, giving some momentum to a controversial idea that […]