Republicans Are SUING Big Pharma

OHIO IS ONE OF THE STATES THAT HAS BEEN HIT HARDEST
IN THE OPIOID EPIDEMIC UP TO THIS POINT, AND IN ORDER TO
FIGHT BACK, WE NOW HAVE A SERIOUS LEGAL CHALLENGE.
OHIO AT ATTORNEY GENERAL MIKE DEWINE FILED A LAWSUIT
YESTERDAY, AND IT IS ONE OF THE
MOST SWEEPING LAWSUITS IN THIS
AREA, AND OHIO IS THE FIRST STATE IN THE COUNTRY TO FILE
SUCH A SUIT.
SOME OF THE COMPANIES INCLUDE JOHNSON & JOHNSON, ITS
SUBSIDIARY JANSSEN --
THESE ARE SOME OF THE SUBSIDIARIES THAT HAVE PRODUCED
THE OPIOIDS THAT HAVE BECOME SO RIFE ACROSS THE COUNTRY,
BUT IN PARTICULAR IN OHIO.
I WANT TO GIVE YOU THE NUMBERS TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA OF THE
SEVERITY OF THE PROBLEM.
ACCORDING TO THE CDC, 3300 OHIOANS DIED DUE TO OVERDOSE IN
2015 ALONE, AN INCREASE OF OVER 21% IN ONE YEAR.
I'M SORRY, I WANT TO GIVE YOU A LITTLE BIT OF CONTEXT.
TO BE FAIR, YES, 3,310 PEOPLE DIED THAT YEAR FROM PRESCRIPTION
DRUGS, OVERDOSE, BUT HOW ENABLE DIED MARIJUANA?
OH RIGHT, 0.
I WANT TO GIVE YOU SOME MORE NUMBERS, BACK IN 2012, MORE THAN
790 MILLION DOSES OF OPIOIDS WERE PRESCRIBED TO PATIENTS IN
OHIO, ENOUGH TO SUPPLY EVERY MAN, WOMAN, AND CHILD IN THE
STATE WITH 68 PILLS EACH.
AMAZING!
I KNOW, SOME OF THESE NUMBERS I CAME ACROSS...
I DON'T THINK THAT'S HOW THEY DISTRIBUTE THEM.
YOU HAVE TO REGISTER AT THE DMV AND THEN THEY SEND YOU YOUR
PILLS, 68 EACH.
IN 2016,
20% OF THE STATES POPULATION WAS PRESCRIBED OPIOIDS.
ADDICTION RATES ARE SKYROCKETING, AND WE STILL
HAVE THIS OR THAT IT IS A PAINKILLER.
I'VE TAKEN PAINKILLERS BEFORE, AND IT'S THE DOCTORS WITH
THE PROFIT MOTIVE, GIVEN MONEY BY THE PHARMACEUTICAL
COMPANIES TO PUSH THESE DRUGS, THAT ARE CREATING THESE
DEADLY MISCONCEPTIONS.
MORE AMAZING THINGS ABOUT THIS STORY.
IF 20% OF THE POPULACE IS TAKING THE PILLS, AND YOU GET 68 PILLS
PER PERSON IN THE STATE, WELL YOU DO A LITTLE BIT OF MATH, AND
YOU GET 340.
SO, FOR EVERYONE WHO WAS PRESCRIBED THE PILLS, THEY
ARE TAKING, ON AVERAGE, 340 PILLS, PER YEAR.
OF COURSE A LOT OF IT IS BEING SOLD TO PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT
PRESCRIBED THE DRUGS.
WE ARE HOOKED ON THIS STUFF, LITERALLY.
YOU KNOW THE GATEWAY DRUG THEY WARNED US ABOUT?
THEY SAID WAS MARIJUANA, BUT IT ISN'T, THIS IS LITERALLY
THE GATEWAY DRUG.
CAN KILL YOU, AND IF IT DOESN'T, IT LEADS YOU TO SEEK OUT
THINGS THAT ARE CHEAPER, BUT GIVE YOU THE SAME EFFECT,
WHICH IS HEROIN, AND THEN HEROIN THEN OFTEN TIMES KILLS YOU,
LET ALONE ALL THE PEOPLE WHO SURVIVED, BUT WHOSE LIVES
ARE ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE.
REALLY FAST, BEFORE YOU ON FROM THAT, THOSE NUMBERS ARE NOT
INCLUDED IN THIS.
THOSE PEOPLE WHO START ON OPIOIDS, AND THEN END UP ON
ILLEGAL DRUGS AND DIE AS A RESULT OF THAT, THAT IS ITS
OWN EPIDEMIC THAT PEOPLE DON'T REALIZE IS INHERENTLY
CONNECTED TO THIS ONE.
AND ALL THOSE AMAZING NUMBERS PALES IN COMPARISON TO THE MORE
AMAZING PART OF THIS STORY; THAT IT IS REPUBLICANS IN OHIO THAT
ARE SUING TIGHT PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES, INCLUDING JOHNSON &
JOHNSON, AND HOLDING THEM ACCOUNTABLE.
I LITERALLY CANNOT IMAGINE THAT I LITERALLY CANNOT REMEMBER
THE LAST TIME THAT HAPPENED, THAT'S AMAZING.
AND BY THE WAY, CONGRATULATIONS TO THEM, MIKE DEWINE, AND JOHN
KASICH WHO IS THE GOVERNOR IN OHIO.
VIDEO BUFFERING --
SHE SAYS THEY ARE BOTH DOING BETTER, BUT IT IS A DAILY
STRUGGLE, IT'S BETTER RIGHT NOW BUT IS JUST AWFUL AND NO
FAMILY SHOULD HAVE TO GO THROUGH IT.
THAT'S THE THING, THERE ARE SOME PEOPLE WHO JUST HAVE ADDICTION
IN THEIR GENES, AND THERE'S NOTHING THEY CAN DO ABOUT IT,
BUT IT SEEMS LIKE, FROM FAMILY AND FRIENDS THAT I KNOW,
THIS DOES NOT DISCRIMINATE, IT DOESN'T CARE IF YOU HAVE AN
ADDICTIVE ISSUE OR NOT, YOU WILL GET ADDICTED.
IF YOU ARE IN PAIN, ONE PILL ISN'T ENOUGH EVENTUALLY,
FOR PILLS ISN'T ENOUGH EVENTUALLY, EIGHT PILLS
ISN'T ENOUGH EVENTUALLY; THAT COULD HAPPEN TO ALL OF US.
OHIO IS THE FIRST STATE TO FILE A LAWSUIT LIKE THIS, AND
AGAIN, CONGRATULATIONS TO THEM FOR BEING RIGHT, AND WHAT
ARE THEY SUING THEM ABOUT?
THEY ARE SAYING THAT THERE ARE DECEPTIVE MARKETING
PRACTICES HERE, BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT SEEING ANY MORE THAT
YOU SHOULD JUST TAKE IT AS A TEMPORARY SOLUTION TO PAIN,
THEY ARE SAYING YOU SHOULD TAKE IT ALL THE TIME FOR CHRONIC
PAIN, BUT IS HORRIBLY MISLEADING, BECAUSE IF YOU
DO YOU WILL ALMOST CERTAINLY GET ADDICTED.
AND CAN I PILE ONTO THAT, AND SAY, THE CRAZIEST THING ON THE
PLANET IS THAT WE ARE NOW NORMALIZING THE FACT THAT YOU
CAN'T GO TO THE BATHROOM BECAUSE YOU ARE HOOKED ON ñ THERE
ARE SO MANY COMMERCIALS FOR OPIOID CAUSED CONSTIPATION.
THAT IS A REAL THING.
I THOUGHT IT WAS FROM THE ONION WHEN I FIRST SAW IT.
IT'S INSANE.
SO, THE REAL DANGEROUS DRUG DEALERS IN AMERICA, THIS IS
NOT AN EXAGGERATION AT ALL, ARE THE PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES.
AND I WANT YOU HAVE CONTEXT; THAT DOESN'T MEAN THEY ONLY
DO BAD THINGS, THEY ALSO CREATE DRUGS THAT SAVE LIVES.
SO, THE WORLD IS NOT JUST BLACK AND WHITE, AND JUST EVILDOERS
AND GOOD FOLKS AND STUFF, SO WHAT WE ARE TRYING TO DO ñ AND
APPARENTLY WHAT THE STATE OF OHIO IS TRYING TO DO ñ KEEP
MAKING THE DRUGS THAT SAVE LIVES, AND BY THE WAY, HAVE
PAINKILLERS WHEN PEOPLE NEED PAINKILLERS, BUT DO NOT
MARKET IT AS SOMETHING THAT TREATS A CHRONIC CONDITION,
BECAUSE IT WILL GET PEOPLE HOOKED, AND PEOPLE WILL DIE.
AS YOU KNOW, LED BY A THINK OBAMA FIRST, AND THEN CERTAINLY
HILLARY CLINTON EMBRACED IT, AND BERNIE SANDERS WAS IN FAVOR OF
IT, OPIOID ADDICTION BECAME SORT OF THE SURPRISING ISSUE IN THE
2016 CAMPAIGN AND GOT TALKED ABOUT A LOT.
DONALD TRUMP, LOOKING TO SLASH THE WHITE HOUSE OFFICE OF
CONTROL POLICY BY 95%, AND THE REACTION TO THAT AMONG MANY
REPUBLICANS, INCLUDING SOME VOTERS I READ, I THOUGHT WE
TALKED ABOUT IT, MAYBE WITH JOHN, BUT THERE WAS A REACTION
LIKE, HEY I THOUGHT, THE DEAL WAS THAT YOU ARE CONCERNED,
ESPECIALLY IN PLACES LIKE WEST VIRGINIA AND OHIO, WHERE THE
EPIDEMIC IS SO WIDESPREAD.
PEOPLE ARE LIKE, WE NEEDED HELP ON THIS.
THIS NEEDS TO BE AN ISSUE THAT IS ADDRESSED BY A WHITE HOUSE
OFFICE OF NATIONAL DRUG CONTROL POLICY, THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT THEY
SHOULD BE DOING, AND THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION IS PROPOSING A
95% CUT.
THAT IS ANOTHER PLACE WHERE JOHN KASICH WAS VERY OUTSPOKEN
AS WELL.
AND ESPECIALLY WHEN TALKING ABOUT TREATING CHRONIC
PAIN, IMAGINE IF WE HAD A DRUG THAT TREATED CHRONIC PAIN
THAT DID NOT LEAD TO OVERDOSE DEATHS, AND FOR SOME REASON
THAT IS STILL IN THE VAST MAJORITY OF OUR COUNTRY
ILLEGAL, YOU CAN GO TO JAIL FOR IT, IT'S STIGMATIZED, GOD
HELP US IF KIDS ARE EXPOSED TO IT, AND IT'S MARIJUANA.
THE WAY WE TALK ABOUT THESE DRUGS IS SO STUPID, AND AT
ONE POINT IT JUST SHOCKED ME THAT PEOPLE WOULD ARGUE SO
FERVENTLY AGAINST WEED, AND THEN GO HOME AND GET DRUNK OFF A
BOTTLE OF WINE, OR WHISKEY, OR WHATEVER.
AND I GET IT, IT'S INGRAINED IN OUR SOCIETY, AND OKAY, PEOPLE
CAN'T SEE HOW RIDICULOUS IT IS, BUT THAT THEY DON'T SEE THE
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WEED AND THIS, AND THINK THAT THEY ARE ON
THE SAME TIER ñ PEOPLE LIKE OUR ATTORNEY GENERAL, THAT
THINK THESE ARE COMPARABLE SUBSTANCES.
NO, THIS IS A LEGAL SUBSTANCE AND MARIJUANA ISN'T, IT'S
INSANE.
AND EVEN DEMOCRATS ARE NOT YET WILLING TO CONSIDER
LEGALIZING MARIJUANA.
I WAS TRYING TO AVOID SAYING IT, BUT YOU KNOW, THERE IS A
RACIAL COMPONENT TO IT.
JEFF SESSIONS IS AN OLD-SCHOOL RACIST, AND HE STILL THINK IT'S
THE HOP HEADS AND COLLARDS WHO ARE STILL USING MARIJUANA,
AND OBVIOUSLY I'M USING THE TYPE OF LANGUAGE THAT PEOPLE
LIKE JEFF SESSIONS WOULD USE.
HOP HEADS.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS.
I'M GOING TO HAVE TO GOOGLE IT.
BUT MY SAFE SEARCH ON.
AND THE SENSE IS, THESE ARE WHITE PEOPLE DRUGS; THIS IS
MEDICINE PRESCRIBED IN AN OFFICIAL WAY.
WHAT IS GOING TO CHANGE MARIJUANA POLICY IN THIS COUNTRY
IS WHEN GUYS LIKE JEFF SESSIONS COME TO UNDERSTAND THAT ñ WHITE
PEOPLE, MEN AND WOMEN LIKE TO ñ JUST, I'M JUST SAYING, MIGHT
ENJOY MARIJUANA ALSO, AND MIGHT BENEFIT FROM MARIJUANA, TO
JOHN'S POINT, THAT THERE ARE ACTUAL LEGITIMATE MEDICINAL
QUALITIES.
WE ARE NOT TALKING JUST ABOUT PEOPLE WITH SERIOUS ILLNESSES,
AND I DON'T WANT TO DISREGARD THAT, BECAUSE IT'S IMPORTANT,
BUT LIKE YOU SAID, CHRONIC PAIN, CHRONIC ANXIETY, A WAY TO
ALLEVIATE THAT.
AND MY QUESTION, AND MAYBE IT IS COMING FROM A NAœVE PLACE,
BUT I DON'T THINK IT IS, DO WE TRULY BELIEVE THAT THESE
PEOPLE DON'T UNDERSTAND THIS, OR DO YOU JUST FOLLOW THE
MONEY, AND ONCE BIG PHARMA GETS TO MARKET IT AND SELL IT
IT'S WANT TO BE A DIFFERENT STORY?
YEAH, SO OF COURSE YOU ARE RIGHT ABOUT THAT GINA, AND WE KNOW
THAT RICHARD NIXON'S WAR ON DRUGS, AND THIS CAME DIRECTLY
FROM ONE OF HIS AIDES, JUST LIKE JOHN SAID, IT WAS TARGETING THE
HIPPIES AND LIBERALS AND BLACK PEOPLE, BECAUSE THEY WERE THE
ONES WHO TOOK DRUGS.
BUT NOW WE HAVE GOT TO THE POINT WHERE, IF WE CAN BE A
MULTIBILLION-DOLLAR INDUSTRY AND CAN ALSO ADDRESS CHRONIC PAIN,
WELL, I DON'T WANT YOU TO LEGALIZE MARIJUANA ñ
THERE IS THE PHARMACEUTICAL ELEMENT TO IT, AND BY THE
WAY, THEY ARE THE NUMBER ONE POLITICAL DONORS IN THE COUNTRY.
MORE THAN WILL COMPANIES, MORE THAN BANKS, DRUG COMPANIES ARE
NUMBER ONE IN POLITICAL CORRUPTION, WHERE THEY
PURCHASE POLITICIANS.
AND IT'S ALSO THE ALCOHOL COMPANIES.
ALCOHOL COPIES ARE FIGHTING BACK AGAINST MEASURES TO
LEGALIZE MARIJUANA ACROSS THE COUNTRY, BECAUSE WHEN WEED
IS LEGALIZED, ALCOHOL SALES GO WAY DOWN, BECAUSE IT'S MUCH
CHEAPER AND YOU STILL GET BUZZED.
LOWER CARB.
UNTIL YOU GOT THE MUNCHIES.
THEY COME IN RICE CRISPIES YOU KNOW?
AND FINALLY, BACK TO THE PARTICLE REASONS BEHIND THIS.
I'M GOING TO GIVE YOU THE CYNICAL REASON, BUT IT
DOESN'T TAKE AWAY ANY CREDIT.
OH, YES, I THINK BEN IS RIGHT, IT IS STARTING TO AFFECT
WHITE PEOPLE, IN THIS CASE LITERALLY.
THERE IS A POLITICIAN IN THIS STORY, WE EXPLAINED, THERE ñ
THEIR FAMILY MEMBERS WERE AFFECTED.
AND IT'S LIKE, HEY WAIT, THAT'S NOT THE BAD GUYS, THE OTHER
GUYS, THAT'S ME, SO WE GOT TO DO ABOUT THAT.
AND THEN SECONDARILY, JOHN KASICH IS GOING TO RUN AGAINST
DONALD TRUMP IN THE PRIMARIES, IF DONALD TRUMP IS STILL AROUND,
AND HE HAS OPPOSED TRUMP ON ALMOST EVERYTHING ñ HE WAS ONE
OF THE TOP THREE FINISHERS DURING THE CAMPAIGN ñ
AND HE WANTS TO POSITION HIMSELF AS A MODERATE REPUBLICAN.
THAT IS IN AT LEAST ñ THAT IS A REALLY SMART STRATEGY.
SO, THERE ARE POLITICS BEHIND US, BUT I WILL TAKE IT.
IF YOUR POLITICS AS A REPUBLICAN IS TO DO THE SMART AND
CORRECT THING BECAUSE YOU THINK IT WILL HELP YOU WITH
THE
VOTERS, I'M ALL FOR IT.

Republicans Are SUING Big Pharma

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