New study: Opioid crisis cost US economy $631B over 4 years
The opioid crisis cost the U.S. economy $631 billion from 2015 through last year — and it may keep getting more expensive, according to a study released Tuesday by the Society of Actuaries.
Drugs
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7th Circuit vacates pleas in broad drug ring
Two guilty pleas have been vacated in a sweeping drug conspiracy that involved dozens of firearms and multiple illicit substances, though the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday declined to also adjust related sentences.
Mental health services center to open next year as first facility at justice center
A mental health services and addiction-treatment center planned for the city’s new Community Justice Campus will open years ahead of the new jail and courthouse facilities, Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett announced Wednesday.
Justices to hear arguments in 5 cases, decline nearly 40 others
Indiana Supreme Court justices granted transfer to five cases last week, declining review of nearly 40 others.
Authorities: Hartford City man found with drugs, synthetic urine
A 49-year-old Indiana man on probation has been charged with new drug charges including possession of synthetic urine. Kirk Allen Boughman was charged Friday with felony possession of methamphetamine and three misdemeanors.
Marion County halts simple marijuana possession prosecutions
Simple possession of marijuana will no longer be prosecuted in Indianapolis courts, the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office has announced. Acting Prosecutor Ryan Mears said Monday the office will no longer file charges against defendants accused of possessing less than 1 ounce, or roughly 30 grams, of marijuana.
Man pleads guilty to providing gun used in Boone County deputy’s killing
A man accused of providing a handgun used to kill a central Indiana sheriff’s deputy has pleaded guilty to all but one of the charges he’d faced. John Ball, 23, pleaded guilty Friday in Boone County to five drug-related charges and a charge of providing a firearm to an ineligible person.
Admission of parents’ drug tests upheld in TPR case
Parents who objected to the admission of drug tests in their termination of parental rights hearing were unable to convince the Indiana Court of Appeals that their children would not be affected by their drug use. The panel affirmed removal would be in the children’s best interests.
Appellate court affirms TPR case involving drug abuse
A mother struggling with drug abuse did not convince the Indiana Court of Appeals on Tuesday that her parental rights for her two sons should not be terminated.
Pharmacy owner sentenced to 33 months for making over-potent drugs
The former owner and CEO of Pharmakon Pharmaceuticals Inc. in Noblesville was sentenced Wednesday to 33 months in prison for manufacturing and selling drugs that were as much as 25 times more potent than they should have been.
Indiana joins states seeking to settle with Purdue Pharma
Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill is among the 29 attorneys general across the country backing a proposed settlement with OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, calling the agreement a “significant breakthrough in our important fight against the opioid crisis.”
Rehearing is little relief for convicted Muncie pain clinic doctor
A Muncie pain clinic doctor convicted of forgery and prescription-related offenses had his petition for rehearing granted Thursday. However, the Indiana Court of Appeals held that while testimony admitted from a Drug Enforcement Administration agent was in error, it was harmless.
Fort Wayne man gets 200 years in drug-related triple-slaying
A man who pleaded guilty in the drug-related killings of three people in northeastern Indiana has been sentenced to 200 years in prison.
Indiana man gets 14 years for deadly bus-minivan collision
A southern Indiana man has been sentenced to more than 14 years in prison for a collision between a bus and a minivan that killed three people.
COA affirms denial of dismissal of drug-dealing charges
The Indiana Court of Appeals declined Wednesday to accept a formerly incarcerated man’s argument that a trial court abused its discretion in denying his motion to dismiss charges against him under the speedy-trial rule.
Purdue University: School has no connection to Purdue Pharma
Purdue University wants the public to know that it has no connection to a company that’s negotiating a potential multi-billion-dollar settlement after being blamed for helping drive the nation’s opioid crisis.
State health department receiving $21M grant to combat drug overdoses
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has awarded the Indiana State Department of Health a three-year, $21 million grant to help prevent and detect drug overdoses.
DTCI: Neglected DEA regulatory obligations that ruin pharmacies
Most pharmacies’ legal and financial exposure is not with the diversion of controlled substances (e.g., stealing, selling or dispensing drugs without a legitimate medical purpose); it is instead with the tedious, prosaic record-keeping requirements that often go neglected.
New Castle prison guard charged with trafficking, misconduct
A guard at the New Castle Correctional Facility faces official misconduct and trafficking charges after allegedly delivering cellphones and unknown substances to two inmates. Charges were lodged Aug. 29 against 56-year-old Max Catron of New Castle.
Drug-possession convictions affirmed for woman following inventory of her purse
The Indiana Court of Appeals has affirmed a woman’s drug possession convictions after a traffic stop led to the discovery of contraband in a purse that the trial court inferred to be hers.