More Nanny State stuff

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American Indian tribe sues beer makers, cites Neb. town for alcohol problems on SD reservation
02-09-2012 01:54 PM MST
By GRANT SCHULTE, Associated Press
LINCOLN, Neb. (Associated Press) --

An American Indian tribe sued some of the world's largest beer makers Thursday, claiming they knowingly contributed to devastating alcohol-related problems on South Dakota's Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

The Oglala Sioux Tribe of South Dakota said it is demanding $500 million in damages for the cost of health care, social services and child rehabilitation caused by chronic alcoholism on the reservation.

The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court of Nebraska also targets four off-site beer stores in Whiteclay, a Nebraska Panhandle town that, despite having only about a dozen residents, sold nearly 5 million cans of beer in 2010. Most of its customers come from the Pine Ridge reservation on the town's border.

Tribal leaders and activists blame the Whiteclay businesses for chronic alcohol abuse and bootlegging on the reservation, where all alcohol is banned.

"You cannot sell 4.9 million 12-ounce cans of beer and wash your hands like Pontius Pilate, and say we've got nothing to do with it being smuggled," said Tom White, the tribe's Omaha-based attorney.

Owners of the four beer stores in Whiteclay declined comment or were unavailable Thursday. A spokeswoman for Anheuser-Busch InBev Worldwide said she was not yet aware of the lawsuit, and the other four companies being sued _ SAB Miller, Molson Coors Brewing Company, MIllerCoors LLC and Pabst Brewing Company _ did not immediately return messages from The Associated Press.

The lawsuit alleges that the beer makers and stores sold to Pine Ridge's Indian population, knowing they would smuggle the alcohol into the reservation to drink or resell. The beer makers supplied the stores with "volumes of beer far in excess of an amount that could be sold in compliance with the laws of the state of Nebraska" and the tribe, tribal officials allege in the lawsuit.

The Connecticut-sized reservation has struggled with alcoholism and poverty for generations, despite an alcohol ban in place since 1832. Pine Ridge legalized alcohol in 1970 but restored the ban two months later, and an attempt to allow it in 2004 died after a public outcry.

The reservation encompasses some of the nation's most impoverished counties. U.S. census statistics place Shannon County, S.D., as the third-poorest, with a median household income of $27,300 and nearly half of the population falling below federal poverty standards.

The tribe views the lawsuit as a last resort after numerous failed attempts to curb the abuse through protests and public pressure on lawmakers, White said. He said the tribal council voted unanimously about four months ago to hire his law firm.

The lawsuit says one in four children born on the reservation suffer from fetal alcohol syndrome or fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. The average life expectancy is estimated between 45 and 52 years, the shortest in North America except for Haiti, according to the lawsuit. The average American life expectancy is 77.5 years.

"The illegal sale and trade in alcohol in Whiteclay is open, notorious and well documented by news reports, legislative hearings, movies, public protests and law enforcement activities," the lawsuit states. " All of the above have resulted in the publication of the facts of the illegal trade in alcohol and its devastating effects on the Lakota people, especially its children, both born and unborn."

Nebraska lawmakers have struggled for years to curb the problem, and are considering legislation this year that would allow the state to limit the types of alcohol sold in areas like Whiteclay. The measure would require local authorities to ask the state to designate the area an "alcohol impact zone."

Nebraska state Sen. LeRoy Louden of Ellsworth, whose district includes Whiteclay, said he introduced the measure with support from county officials who have seen their health care and jail incarceration costs rise.

I wasn't aware that it was illegal to sell alcohol in Nebraska. :palm:
 
Even MORE Nanny State stuff

Victim's family in NY pharmacy shootings announce lawsuit against drug maker, police, others
02-09-2012 01:55 PM MST
By FRANK ELTMAN, Associated Press
MILLER PLACE, N.Y. (Associated Press) --

The family of one of four people killed in a New York pharmacy holdup filed a $20 million lawsuit Thursday, alleging that a drug company that manufactures painkillers, a physician accused of improperly distributing the drugs, police officials and others were responsible for the victim's death.

Attorney John Ray filed the lawsuit on behalf of the daughters of Jaime Taccetta, a customer who was killed in the June shooting at Haven Drugs in the Long Island community of Medford.

"They wish to ensure that everybody and anybody who did anything to harm their mother should be held liable and should have to pay," Ray said at a press conference where he was joined by one of Taccetta's daughters.

Miranda Malone, 17, appeared overwhelmed by the media attention and spoke haltingly of the lawsuit, frequently stopping to whisper in Ray's ear for advice before speaking. "I think all of this could have been prevented if people did their job," she said. The young woman was apprehensive about discussing the death of her mother and at one point appeared on the verge of tears before Ray brought an end to the questions.

He said Taccetta's other daughter, Kaitlyn, 6, was too young to attend the press conference.

Taccetta and three others were killed by a gunman who walked into the pharmacy and opened fire, then stuffed a backpack full of painkillers and fled. David Laffer was arrested days later and has since pleaded guilty to murder; he is serving consecutive life-without-parole sentences. His wife, who admitted driving the getaway car, is serving 25 years in prison.

The killings raised alarms nationwide about the growing problem of prescription painkiller abuse and prompted several follow-up investigations, both by the federal Drug Enforcement Agency and the local district attorney's office, which has empaneled a grand jury to investigate physicians who may be improperly prescribing the medication.

The lawsuit filed in state Supreme Court in Riverhead, N.Y., accused drug maker Abbott Laboratories of failing to monitor the distribution of painkillers like hydrocodone and oxycodone. Ray said the company should have been aware that some physicians were prescribing inordinate amounts of the painkillers.

Scott Stoffel, a spokesman for Abbott Laboratories, said in a statement that Vicodin and hydrocodone with acetaminophen medications have been available for more than 30 years and have an important role in pain control. He said the company works closely with Partnership for a Drug-Free America, the National Association of Drug Diversion Investigators and other experts to develop education, monitoring, and intervention programs.

"Generic forms of immediate-release Vicodin have been available since the 1980s and Abbott's Vicodin brand accounts for less than 1 percent of all prescriptions filled for hydrocodone with acetaminophen products," Stoffel said.

The Suffolk County police department and its former commissioner, Richard Dormer were named as defendants because, Ray said, officers failed to follow through on an investigation of a theft reported by Laffer's mother prior to the killings. An officer had learned during the theft investigation that Laffer had been issued a pistol permit, and although the officer recommended that he be the subject of a follow-up investigation, no further action appears to have been taken.

Dormer, who retired at the end of last year, said when the revelations came to light in September that the police department had no legal basis to follow up on the officer's recommendation to investigate further. He noted that Laffer had no prior criminal record at the time.

A spokeswoman said the police department does not comment on pending litigation; she also had no information on how to contact Dormer.

Also named in the lawsuit is the owner of Haven Drugs. Ray said that owner Vinoda Kudchadkar had been the target of three robberies prior to the June shooting, and he should have taken precautions to prevent further robberies, such as hiring a security guard to patrol the store.

A woman answering the telephone at Haven Drugs on Thursday declined to comment.

Another defendant in the lawsuit is a doctor who is already facing criminal charges of peddling painkiller prescriptions to addicts and drug dealers.

Dr. Stan Li provided 24 prescriptions filled by Laffer, Newsday has reported. Li's former lawyer, Aaron M. Wallenstein, said the doctor had refused to keep treating Laffer, Brady and others. Li made use of a database designed to combat painkiller abuse by tracking patients who seek prescriptions from multiple doctors, Wallenstein said after the doctor's arrest.

Li's current attorney was traveling and not immediately available for comment, according to his office in New York City.

Ray conceded the lawsuit was based on a unique legal theory: "Every one of these defendants, including the drug company, have created and knew they were creating a public nuisance when they dispensed these drugs to addicts like Laffer. Every abuser of drugs is a public nuisance and they should be liable, the defendants, who created and served the public nuisance."


I wasn't aware that the drug company was allowed to review a Dx's prescriptions.
 
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