oops
SAM869 USAF G5 on descent/approach for Miami Int'l from JBA depart
good to see ya muh fren
doing well
keepin' outta trouble ftmp
Spouse took a trip up yonder few weeks ago hated ebery minute.
Drug Distributors and J.&J. Announce $26 Billion Deal to End Opioids Lawsuits
After two years of wrangling, the country’s three major drug distributors and a pharmaceutical giant have reached a $26 billion deal with states that would release some of the biggest companies in the industry from all legal liability in the opioid epidemic. The announcement was made Wednesday afternoon by a bipartisan group of state attorneys general. The offer will now go out to every state and municipality in the country for approval. If enough of them formally sign on to it, billions of dollars from the companies could begin to be released to help communities pay for addiction treatment and prevention services and other steep financial costs of the epidemic. In return, the states and cities would drop thousands of lawsuits against the companies and pledge not to bring any future action. The settlement binds only these four companies — the drug distributors Cardinal Health, AmerisourceBergen McKesson, and Johnson & Johnson — leaving thousands of other lawsuits against many other pharmaceutical defendants, including manufacturers and drugstore chains, in the mammoth nationwide litigation still unresolved. But these four companies are widely seen as among the defendants with the deepest pockets.
In an emailed statement, Michael Ullmann, executive vice president and general counsel of Johnson & Johnson, said: “We recognize the opioid crisis is a tremendously complex public health issue, and we have deep sympathy for everyone affected. This settlement will directly support state and local efforts to make meaningful progress in addressing the opioid crisis in the United States.” The distributors did not respond immediately to requests for comment. The distributors, which by law are supposed to monitor quantities of prescription drug shipments, have been accused of turning a blind eye for two decades while pharmacies across the country ordered millions of pills for their communities. Plaintiffs also allege that Johnson & Johnson, which used to contract with poppy growers in Tasmania to supply opioid materials to manufacturers and made its own fentanyl patches for pain patients, downplayed addictive properties to doctors as well as patients.
According to federal data, from 1999 to 2019, 500,000 people died from overdoses to prescription and street opioids. Overdose deaths from opioids hit a record high in 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said earlier this month. Under the agreement, the country’s three distributors would make payments over 18 years. Johnson & Johnson would pay $5 billion over nine years. A key feature of the agreement is that the distributors would establish an independent clearinghouse to track and report one another’s shipments, a new and unusual mechanism intended to make data transparent and send up red flags immediately when outsized orders are made. A separate deal between the companies and Native American tribes is still being negotiated. The agreement was presented by attorneys general from North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware, Louisiana, Tennessee and Connecticut.
Wednesday’s announcement suggests that a critical element — a large majority of states agreeing in principle — has been met. But there are daunting obstacles remaining before any checks are actually cut. The states and the District of Columbia will now have 30 days to closely review the agreement, including how much each would be paid over 17 years. Many states have not yet had the chance to scrutinize the deal. And while many permit their attorneys general to sign off, others require that legislators must be consulted. An unspecified number of states must sign on, for the deal to proceed. If that threshold is not met, the companies could walk away. While the states are deciding, a trial brought by several California counties in state court against Johnson & Johnson and a local West Virginia trial in federal court against the distributors will continue. States also have to begin cajoling their localities, including those that have already filed cases and those that have not, to agree to the deal. The greater the number of local governments that sign on, the greater the amount of money each state will receive.
“The lawyers will do a lot of the strong-arming of their clients, the localities, into agreeing to the settlements, because if the deal doesn’t go through, the lawyers won’t get paid,” said Elizabeth Burch, a law professor at the University of Georgia who has followed the litigation closely.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/21/health/opioids-distributors-settlement.html
SAM760 USAF C-40B departed JBA and heading sw
Treasury to run out of cash to pay bills in October or November absent debt-limit hike, CBO says
The Treasury Department will probably run out of cash and be unable to make usual payments in October or November absent an increase in the U.S. debt limit, the Congressional Budget Office predicted Wednesday. The borrowing limit is suspended through July 31, and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has previously warned that so-called extraordinary measures her department uses to keep paying obligations may not last long past the end of July. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has suggested Democrats would need to raise the limit on their own, something Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called "shameless, cynical and totally political." The White House on Tuesday said President Joe Biden expects Congress to raise the limit.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/treasury-to-run-out-of-cash-to-pay-bills-in-october-or-november-absent-debt-limit-hike-cbo-says-2021-07-21
Not AF1 Joe in 82-8000 USAF 747 departed JBA for Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport
09-0017 USAF C-32A departed JBA behind Not AF1 Joe in 82-8000 as escort-will go to a different Airport
Here's Where Not AF1 Joe Will Go While in Cincinnati for CNN's Town Hall Wednesday
Not AF1 Joe is in Cincinnati today, so plan for traffic snarls and logistical puzzles if you're out and about.
U.S. President Joe Biden is in the Queen City on July 21 for a town hall hosted by CNN, as CityBeat reported last week. The event, which begins at 8 p.m., is expected to be one hour long and will cover "a wide range of issues facing the nation ranging from COVID-19 to the economy," the cable network said. Tonight's event will take place at Mount St. Joseph University, a private Catholic college in Delhi Township. But Biden plans to make some stops along the way, which means that traffic near the Presidential route could get tricky. According to the President's public schedule for Wednesday, Biden will arrive at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in Hebron around 4:10 p.m. He'll then travel to the IBEW / NECA Electrical Training Center in Westwood, which could mean that the Presidential motorcade will make I-71/I-75 over the Ohio River even more unbearable. According to the public schedule, Biden will discuss union jobs at 5:40 p.m.
The President then will head to Mount St. Joseph University in Delhi for CNN's town hall. The event is scheduled to start at 8 p.m. and will be moderated by CNN anchor Don Lemon.
https://www.citybeat.com/news/blog/21154181/heres-where-us-president-joe-biden-will-go-while-in-cincinnati-for-cnns-town-hall-at-mount-st-joseph-university-on-july-21-2021