Mallinckrodt reaches $1.6B deal to settle thousands of opioid lawsuits

Feb. 25 (UPI) -- Generic drug manufacturer Mallinckrodt announced a tentative $1.6 billion agreement Tuesday to settle thousands of claims brought against it in a sprawling lawsuit seeking financial compensation from pharmaceutical companies over their role in the ongoing opioid crisis.

Mallinckrodt, the United States' largest generic opioid manufacturer, said in a statement that the money will be paid into a trust over eight years and will cover the costs of opioid-addiction treatments and related efforts.

"In terms of next steps, the company is engaging with plaintiffs to finalize the details and satisfy the terms of the agreement in principle," the company's statement read. "Mallinckrodt intends to work through this process as quickly and efficiently as possible."

The company said its generic drug manufacture subsidiary will file for bankruptcy and once it emerges from the Chapter 11 process, the agreement, if finalized, will go into effect.

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The agreement, it added, was reached by a court-appointed executive committee representing the thousands of communities that have sued pharmaceutical firms over the country's ongoing opioid crisis.

It said the agreement was supported by 47 state and U.S. territory attorneys general.

The settlement comes as part of the National Presumption Opiate Litigation lawsuit out of Ohio against manufacturers of opioids, alleging they "grossly misrepresented the risks of long-term use" of their drugs by people with chronic pain, fueling the public health situation.

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"Reaching this agreement in principle for a global opioid resolution and the associated debt refinancing activities announced today are important steps toward resolving the uncertainties in our business related to the opioid litigation," Mallinckrodt President and CEO Mark Trudeau said in a statement. "Importantly, when finalized, we believe the proposed settlement and capital restructuring activities will provide us with a clear path forward to achieving our long-term strategy, preserving value for our financial stakeholders and providing us with the flexibility to operate effectively."

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said Mallinckrodt has also agreed to tightened restrictions on its future opioid business that will bar it from marketing its opioids and control its distribution so the pain medicine won't end up in the wrong hands.

"Nothing can undo the devastating loss and grief inflicted by the opioid epidemic upon victims and their families, but this settlement with Mallinckrodt is an important step in the process of healing our communities," Becerra said in a statement. "Our office has worked aggressively with our coalition partners to hold accountable bad actors who fueled this public health crisis. While today's settlement is a step in the right direction, we'll continue to work to bring more much-needed relief to families throughout California whose lives have been upended by the opioid crisis."

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According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2017, more than 70,000 people died in the United States from drug overdose with 68 percent of those deaths related to prescription or illicit opioids.

Mallinckrodt's global settlement in the Ohio lawsuit follows agreements in separate cases last year by OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, Teva Pharmaceutical and Johnson & Johnson.

Marijuana, hemp businesses bolster commercial real estate


Dispensaries and other marijuana and hemp businesses are having an effect on local real estate in states where the pot is legal. File Photo by Iriana Shiyan/Shutterstock

DENVER, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- Commercial real estate markets across the United States are feeling a positive influence from the cannabis industry as property is bought, sold and leased for medical and recreational marijuana, a new report shows.

Hemp also is making waves in agricultural land sales and industrial real estate, agents say.

There were desert cities no one cared about until cannabis came along, said Ryan George, founder of cannabis real estate listing site 420property.com. "In Palm Springs, Adelanto, Cathedral City, [Calif.,] I personally know people who bought warehouses for $50 a square foot and sold them for $500 a square foot."

Marijuana is illegal at the federal level, which interferes with some aspects of buying, renting and selling real estate. But 23 states have legalized medical pot, and 11 of them, plus Washington, D.C., also allow recreational cannabis sales.

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Mature markets in states like Oregon, Washington and Colorado appear to have gotten a commercial real estate boost from marijuana, according to a National Association of Realtors report issued this month based on a 2019 survey of commercial brokers.

In states where all forms of marijuana have been legal for more than three years, 42 percent of survey respondents reported an increased demand for commercial warehouse space, and between 20 and 30 percent said they saw an increase in sales of retail properties and land.

But cannabis properties can come with regulatory hassles, said Vince Sliwoski, a Portland, Ore., real estate attorney. Recreational cannabis was approved in Oregon in 2015.

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"Title insurance is a huge headache," Sliwoski said. "Buyers often have to use a third-party escrow instead of banks."

Landlords with mortgages run a risk of banks calling in their loans if they are renting to a retail or industrial cannabis tenant.

Hemp doesn't have these issues, Sliwoski said, because marijuana's non-psychoactive cannabis cousin no longer is federally illegal.

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A south Oregon sawmill has been repurposed as a hemp extractor facility, and that shows how the region's economy is changing, he said.

"In southern Oregon, the biggest driver of the economy used to be timber, but now hemp is the new big agricultural commodity that people are banking on."

Denver-based Foster, of VIP Commercial real estate, remembers when Colorado legalized medicinal pot in 2008, "just as the entire economy was falling apart."

Many blamed the marijuana industry for higher rents, he said, but cannabis money for warehouses, dispensaries and doctor's offices was welcome. Colorado legalized recreational pot in 2014.

As the industry has matured, landlords are recognizing some pitfalls unique to renting to cannabis businesses.

Respondents from mature cannabis markets in the Realtor association study said the smell was the largest concern for property owners renting to cannabis-related businesses. Other concerns were moisture and mold and theft and fire.

"There are complaints that large warehouses that grow produce a smell that kind of takes over the neighborhood," Foster said. "You smell it on the highway, and it's like 'Welcome to Denver.'"

But even if marijuana initially helped hold up the prices of Colorado warehouse space, it's now too expensive to grow cannabis indoors, Foster said. Growers are turning to greenhouse properties in southern Colorado -- in the poorest areas of the state -- where land is cheaper.

Hemp cannabidiol extractors are moving into prime warehouse space with complicated build-outs including "explosion-proof rooms and air-release vents 150 feet high," Foster said.

"It's like a second gold rush," Denver commercial real estate agent Pete Foster said. "First it was cannabis in 2008 through 2012, and now it's the hemp."

In California, cannabis-friendly municipal ordinances and low tax rates caused a land rush between 2017 and 2018 in the Palm Desert area where the Coachella music festival is hosted, George said. But some investors were burned when they realized the high cost of retrofitting warehouse space to grow cannabis.

Some towns didn't have the electrical capacity to upgrade electricity in warehouses to grow, he said, adding, "Some people lost millions."

The ride has not been as wild in states where medical marijuana has been legalized.

"You need to get it approved by the county and then sometimes by the municipality, too," Miami-based Realtor April Rodriguez said.

Getting into the medical marijuana business is a billionaire's game, she said, with strictly limited state licenses going for $40 million "for the piece of paper -- that's before they even buy the land."

Rodriguez said some landlords want nothing to do with a medical marijuana dispensary, but sometimes change their minds after town hall meetings.

"Most of it is landlord education. They don't know what it is and wonder, are they going to get in trouble?" she said.

For states with no legal cannabis, but growing hemp industries, real estate is trickier, said Harold Jarboe of Tennessee Homegrown hemp in Readyville.

Jarboe, a hemp consultant, and others in former tobacco country, are operating on slim margins after a glut of 2019 supply and a steep drop in prices.

GenCanna, Tennessee's biggest hemp processor, filed for bankruptcy protection, and several others have shut their doors or lost financing, he said.

Jarboe said real estate agents are trying to find an entrance into the agricultural farm market.

"In agricultural areas where farming has been stressed, there's all sorts of warehouses and barns that need no refurbishing for hemp. But this next year, it will be extremely hard, because where will the margin be for the person doing the real estate?"

United Nations: More than 948K displaced in Syria in last 12 weeks

Civilians walk amid debris of a Russian military fighter jet in the eastern Idlib countryside in Syria on February 3, 2018. File Photo by Abdalla Saad/EPA-EFE

Feb. 26 (UPI) -- The United Nations said Wednesday the Syrian military offensive against rebel forces in the northwest portion of the country, including Idlib, has displaced nearly 1 million civilians in the last three months.

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said a total of 948,000 have been displaced since Dec. 1, including almost 180,000 families and 560,000 children. A surge in recent fighting has led 14 European foreign ministers to call on the regimes in Syria and Russia to stop the hostilities.

The OCHA said in a report last week the humanitarian crisis has reached "horrifying levels" and exceeds "worst-case planning figures."

"Indiscriminate attacks in civilian areas continue to drive people from their homes and destroy vital services, including hospitals, markets, and schools," the report said. "Cold weather has made the situation worse.

"The frontlines in northwest Syria are rapidly moving closer to densely populated areas, with bombardments increasingly affecting [Internally Displaced Persons] sites and their vicinity."

The humanitarian organization Syria Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets, has documented many of the dead and displaced, saying Wednesday it rescued 95 people, including 21 children, during a recent shelling that killed more than two dozen people and forced civilians from their schools and homes.

Russian Foreign Intelligence Service Director Sergey Naryshkin accused the White Helmets Wednesday of helping Western intelligence circulate lies and wage a media war against Syria.

"Two years ago, information spread around the world which claimed the responsibility of the Syrian Arab Army for the use of chemical weapons in Douma City and that was a pre-planned misleading by this organization and it was backed by Western states," Naryshkin said.

"After that, we were able in cooperation with Syrian journalists through their investigations to prove that these allegations and hypotheses regarding the use of chemical weapons are a complete fabrication by the [White Helmets] which is backed by the West."

Starbucks to offer plant-based sandwich in Canada stores

WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE IN ALBERTA 

WE'RE BEEF AND PORK COUNTRY AS WELL AS OIL

The breakfast sandwich will be available in Canadian Starbucks stores on March 3. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

Feb. 26 (UPI) -- Starbucks announced Wednesday it will introduce a Beyond Meat sandwich to its menu at locations in Canada, following a growing trend of North American restaurant chains that are now offering plant-based meat substitutes.

The company said it will add a new "meat," egg and cheese breakfast sandwich in Canadian stores starting March 3. Beyond Meat is one of the largest food companies that produce plant-based protein alternatives.

Starbucks said it has worked with the California-based Beyond Meat on the custom recipe, which features a plant-based patty topped with cheddar and egg.

"Starbucks is constantly innovating its menu to reflect a range of food and beverages from wholesome to indulgent, which allows customers to make nutritional and dietary choices that are right for them," the company said in a statement.

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Beyond Meat is competing with rival Impossible Foods for clients in the restaurant industry as it responds to rising customer demand for meatless alternatives.

Burger King, for instance, now offers an Impossible Whopper -- a plant-based version of its signature sandwich -- and McDonald's tested a Beyond Meat plant, lettuce and tomato (PLT) sandwich in Canada late last year. Since it debuted on Wall Street last May, Beyond Meat has also landed partnerships with Dunkin' Donuts, Del Taco and Subway -- and said last summer it will produce plant-based fried chicken for KFC.

Impossible Foods also has a large and growing client list, in addition to Burger King.

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Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson said last month the coffee chain intended to add a meat alternative as part of an expanded sustainability plan that aims to cut carbon emissions in half within 10 years.

Researchers find hidden door, room in London House of Commons

The hidden doorway was filled with bricks during reconstruction work following World War II, officials said. Photo courtesy U.K. Parliament/Jessica Taylor

Feb. 26 (UPI) -- While performing heavy renovations at London's House of Commons this week, crews uncovered a long-forgotten doorway that officials say dates back to the mid-1600s -- and was probably used by some prominent British historical figures.

The House is undergoing a $5 billion restoration project and work recently found the doorway behind wooden panels. The passageway and subsequent room were originally installed for guests heading to the celebratory banquet at the 1660 coronation of Charles II, and was later used by lawmakers to access the Palace of Westminster, a medieval building where Parliament convened until the structure burned in an 1834 fire.

In a small room beyond the door, researchers found the original hinges for two wooden doors that would have opened into the old Westminster building.

The doorway was filled in with bricks during reconstruction work after the expansive legislative building was bombed in World War II.

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Experts say among those who likely used the doorway in the 17th century were Robert Walpole, Britain's first prime minister, statesman William Pitt the Younger and diarist Samuel Pepys.

Crews also found graffiti -- in pencil -- from 1851 when bricklayers closed part of the doorway. It read, "This room was enclosed by Tom Porter who was very fond on Ould Ale."

More graffiti read, "These masons were employed refacing these groines August 11th 1851 Real Democrats," a reference to a movement that called for all British men to have the right to vote.

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"To think that this walkway has been used by so many important people over the centuries is incredible," said House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle. "I am so proud of our staff for making this discovery and I really hope this space is celebrated for what it is, a part of our parliamentary history."

"We were trawling through 10,000 uncatalogued documents relating to the palace at the Historic England archives in Swindon, when we found plans for the doorway in the cloister behind Westminster Hall," said University of York historical consultant Liz Hallam Smith. "As we looked at the paneling closely, we realized there was a tiny brass keyhole that no one had really noticed before, believing it might just be an electricity cupboard. Once a key was made for it, the paneling opened up like a door into this secret entrance."

The hidden room even had working electricity, they said. After researchers opened the doors, they turned on a single, still-functioning light bulb that experts guess was probably installed during post-World War II restoration.

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Watchdog sues gov't for info about controversial Trump adviser

Adviser Stephen Miller attends a Cabinet meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House on November 19, 2019. File Photo by Oliver Contreras/UPI | License Photo

Feb. 26 (UPI) -- A government ethics watchdog filed a lawsuit against several federal agencies Wednesday to obtain information about the involvement of White House adviser Stephen Miller in the Trump administration's "public charge" immigration rule.

American Oversight said the suit seeks information from communications, including emails, between Miller and the Departments of Labor, Housing and Agriculture and the Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services.

The watchdog said Miller is the architect of the "public charge" rule, which allows the government to restrict immigration based on how likely it is any given migrant would apply for food stamps, Medicaid or other domestic services while living in the United States. American Oversight, and other critics of the rule, say it amounts to a "wealth test."

Miller has been an outspoken critic of unlawful immigration and in the past has been accused of having a white supremacist ideology. He is widely believed to have led President Donald Trump's tougher immigration policies. Federal lawmakers introduced legislation this month that called for Miller's condemnation.

"Stephen Miller has remained one of President Donald Trump's most influential aides," American Oversight said in a statement. "He has been the architect of the administration's Muslim-country travel ban, the defender of zero-tolerance family separation, the advocate of reducing refugee admissions and the promoter of rules that would allow the government to deny green cards to immigrants considered likely to use public assistance."

The "public charge" rule, which took effect Monday, restricts legal immigrants from receiving government assistance. After it was introduced last year, the rule was challenged in federal court until the U.S. Supreme Court voted to affirm it in a 5-4 vote Friday.

The lawsuit is part of American Oversight's overall investigation of Miller

Japan lifts last remaining ban on Fukushima fish

Fish caught off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, are safe for consumption, Japan's nuclear authorities say. File Photo courtesy of Air Photo Service Co. Ltd. | License Photo

Feb. 26 (UPI) -- Japan has lifted a ban against all Fukushima seafood shipments for the first time since the 2011 nuclear disaster, after restrictions against the last remaining species of fish, skate, were lifted on Tuesday.

Tokyo's Nuclear Emergency Response Headquarters said all species of fish caught in waters off Fukushima Prefecture meet safety standards, Jiji Press and Yomiuri Shimbun reported.

There are a total of 43 species of Fukushima fish, according to authorities.

Japan placed a ban on shipments of fish with more than 100 becquerels per kilogram of radioactive cesium, which is considered unsafe for consumption, following the 2011 nuclear accident. A becquerel is a measurement of radioactive consumption

According to reports, skate was deemed safe after 1,008 skate specimens were tested for radiation. All specimens were found to be safe.

Japan's decision to lift restrictions on all Fukushima fish comes at a time when nuclear reactors damaged by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami could restart after a period of decommissioning.

Kyodo News reported Wednesday the No. 2 unit of Tohoku Electric Power Co.'s Onagawa plant in Miyagi Prefecture has been approved for operations after clearing a nuclear watchdog safety screening.

In March 2011, reactors at Onagawa were shut down in response to the earthquake. The underground floors of the No. 2 nuclear unit were flooded, according to the report.

The plant was spared thanks in part to the cooling system. At Fukushima Daiichi plant, a nuclear meltdown resulted in the daily production of nuclear wastewater.

Japan recently said it has no choice but to release tainted water from Fukushima, and plans to go forward with the discharge despite protests from neighboring South Korea.

About 170 tons of water is contaminated every day at the Fukushima plant. Tokyo has said the water is being purified, using an advanced liquid-processing system. The process does not remove tritium and leaves traces of radioactive elements.

BEYOND PETROLEUM (BP)
Deepwater Horizon oil spill was bigger than previously thought, study finds


The Deepwater Horizon disaster was the largest oil spill in U.S. history. Photo courtesy of U.S. Coast Guard

Feb. 12 (UPI) -- Oil from the Deepwater Horizon disaster spread well beyond the spill footprint established by satellites, according to new analysis by scientists at the University of Miami.

To determine the true size of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, researchers supplied oil-transport models with water sampling results and remote sensing data. The simulations confirmed that a portion of the oil spilled in the wake of the deadly explosion remained invisible to satellites, but proved toxic to marine wildlife.

"We found that there was a substantial fraction of oil invisible to satellites and aerial imaging," Igal Berenshtein, lead author of the new study and a postdoctoral researcher at Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, said in a news release. "The spill was only visible to satellites above a certain oil concentration at the surface leaving a portion unaccounted for."

Over the course of three months in the spring of 2010, following the late-April explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, some 210 million gallons of crude oil spewed into the Gulf of Mexico. It was the biggest oil spill in U.S. history.

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In the wake of the spill, scientists used satellite images to measure the size of the oil slick created by the disaster. The spilled oil created an oil slick covering 57,000 square miles.

But the latest research, published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances, suggests the spill's true footprint was significantly larger.

According to the new models, the oil and its toxins reached the shores of Texas, the West Florida shelf and the Florida Keys. Oil was even carried by the Gulf Stream to the East Florida shelf.

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"Our results change established perceptions about the consequences of oil spills by showing that toxic and invisible oil can extend beyond the satellite footprint at potentially lethal and sub-lethal concentrations to a wide range of wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico," said senior study author Claire Paris, professor of ocean sciences at the Rosenstiel School.

"This work added a third dimension to what was previously seen as just surface slicks," Paris said. "This additional dimension has been visualized with more realistic and accurate oil spill models developed with a team of chemical engineers and more efficient computing resources."

Previous studies of the spill suggest as much as half of the oil spewed during the disaster may have ended up on the floor of the Gulf. One study showed an oil dispersant used during the cleanup, called concoction, actually prevents microbes from naturally breaking down the oil.

Massachusetts gas company to pay $53M fine for deadly 2018 blasts

An 18-year-old was killed while sitting in a car in the driveway 

of a home in Lawrence, Mass., on September 13, 2018. 

File Photo by CJ Gunter/EPA-EFE

Feb. 26 (UPI) -- A Massachusetts gas company responsible for a series of explosions that killed one person in 2018 has agreed to pay a $53 million criminal fine, federal prosecutors announced Wednesday.

As part of the settlement, Columbia Gas of Massachusetts pleaded guilty to violating the national Pipeline Safety Act for failing to prevent the over-pressurization of its gas system.

The explosions in September 2018 destroyed 80 structures and also injured at least 25 people in the towns of Andover, Lawrence and North Andover.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts said the fine represents twice Columbia Gas' profits between 2015 and 2018 from a pipeline infrastructure program. In addition to the fine, the company will be subject to monitoring for three years to ensure its compliance with state and federal regulations.

Federal prosecutors also entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with Columbia Gas' parent company, NiSource, which agreed to "undertake their best reasonable efforts" to sell the gas company. Once sold, both Columbia Gas and NiSource will agree to stop all gas pipeline operations in Massachusetts.

NiSource also agreed to forfeit any profit from the sale of Columbia Gas.

In May, Columbia Gas reached an $80 million settlement with the communities of the blast, agreeing to pay 50 percent of the total to Lawrence, 30 percent to Andover and 20 percent to North Andover.

The funds were expected to go toward repairing roads and sidewalks damaged by the blasts, and other losses and expenses incurred by the towns. Workers dug up some 50 miles of roadways to repair gas lines in the region.

Lawmakers criticize Pentagon plan to divert defense funds for border wall

Defense Secretary Mark Esper arrives to testify on the Defense Department's fiscal 2021 budget request Wednesday. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

Feb. 26 (UPI) -- Members of Congress from both parties cautioned Pentagon leaders Wednesday against diverting money designated for the defense budget to construct more sections of a wall along the southern border of the United States.

During a House Armed Services Committee hearing on the Department of Defense budget for fiscal year 2021, Republicans and Democrats both expressed concern that the Pentagon would dip into funds earmarked for projects like counter-drug operations and military construction projects.

Earlier this month the Pentagon submitted a reprogramming request to divert $3.8 billion -- $2.02 billion from fiscal 2020 funds and $1.6 billion in fiscal 2020 overseas contingency operations -- to fund sections of the border wall.

The Pentagon legally has the power to reprogram up to $6 billion per year at its discretion. Last year it pulled $1 billion from excess Army personnel funds.

"This year is very different," said Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, the committee's ranking member. 

"This is not taking excess funds, this is substituting the judgment of the department -- and actually the administration. I think, my opinion is, this is not totally at the discretion of the secretary. It is substituting the judgment of the administration for the judgment of Congress. I am deeply concerned about where we're headed with the constitutional issue."

Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., blasted the reprogramming request when it was first made public Feb. 13, and was heavily critical at Wednesday's hearing.

"This is an enormous problem. The message it sends is that the Pentagon has plenty of money. It undercuts the congressional process. This basically says that Congress doesn't spend the money, the president does," Smith said.

Rep. Trent Kelly, R-Miss., said he was supportive of President Donald Trump's policy on the border, but "we have to be careful about how we re-program."

"I think we risk a whole lot with the $3.8 billion reprogramming to fund a border wall without consulting with Congress," he said.

The Democratic-led House of Representatives has repeatedly declined to fund efforts to construct more sections of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, prompting the president to seek money from the Pentagon.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper defended the move Wednesday, telling lawmkers, "The president has decided there's a national emergency on the border," likening the shift in priorities to a natural disaster response.

Esper also said the $705.4 billion fiscal 2021 budget -- which is 0.1 percent higher than that for fiscal 2020 -- is not sufficient for keeping up with inflation.

"Given this flattened funding level, we made many tough decisions to ensure our highest priorities were adequately funded," Esper said.