opioid insurance Archives

Stigma and Shame Hampered AIDS Treatment in the 80s, and Opioid Treatment Today

By Tom Hagy I worked in the press office of the New Jersey Department of Health in the 1980s. Aside from hazardous waste, asbestos, cancer, a chemical fire or two, the annual influenza "crisis" and the occasional salmonella outbreak, AIDS was one of the most urgent, frightening and misunderstood health issues of the day. The U.S. epidemic began with one reported case in 1981, according to the Centers for Disease Control, and grew to an astounding 36.9 million people living with HIV/AIDS in 2017 as reported by the World Health Organization. The office I worked in was tasked with providing information to the public and members of the press. At the time many public health professionals believed -- as is the case with many diseases -- that education on how to prevent transmission of the HIV virus would all but eliminate its spread. All we had to do was educate the public and, most importantly, the high-risk groups. Education is a common weapon in fighting disease. It's why we wash our hands, cough into our elbows and try not to put salt on absolutely everything we put in our mouths. In the early 1980s the "problem" was that the high-risk groups were having homosexual sex and injecting drugs -- not typical themes addressed by politicians. Early on more conservative policymakers didn't want [...]

Miller Friel: Opioid Suppliers Are Right to Expect Insurance Coverage

June 1st, 2018|Categories: HB Risk Notes, HB Tort Notes|Tags: opioid class actions, opioid insurance, opioid litigation|

An excerpt from a post by Bernard Bell of Miller Friel PLLC "Because insurers are facing a difficult time evading coverage for opioid claims, they are raising all sorts of non-contractual defenses to avoid coverage, including a 'social insurance' argument they have raised in the past. "If past public health crises are prologue, these arguments will run something like this: Holding insurers responsible to pay for the costs of public services, including health care, will transform private party liability insurance into social insurance to underwrite public health epidemics caused by all manner of ills. According to insurers, this will, at a minimum, increase the cost of liability insurance, and financially harm liability insurers, who have not priced this risk into their premiums. Moreover, holding insurers liable to pay will shift costs away from those best equipped to address the social problem; the companies that supply the opioid products. "These arguments are inconsistent with insurance law, which permits parties to freely contract to cover risks, and which place the burden on insurers to pay for insured risk, even if they made an error in underwriting. Courts interpret insurance contracts according to their language and construe them against insurers if they are ambiguous, and in favor of an insureds’ reasonable expectations of coverage. "Moreover, to the extent courts are inclined to look past contract [...]