1/ A @Walgreens pharmacy in Northern California has caught the eye of DEA investigators.
It ordered unusually large amounts of the highly addictive opioids hydrocodone and oxycodone, according to an affidavit filed earlier this year. revealnews.org/article/this-w…
2/ This particular Walgreens purchased around twice the amount of both drugs as the next-largest buyer in its area, per the records: About 2 million doses of hydrocodone and 1 million of oxycodone.
3/ The DEA is curious about an “unexplained loss” in October 2016 of roughly 8,000 hydrocodone tablets, valued at $6,213.
4/ There's been quite a bit of police activity at this @walgreens.
5/ Butte County, California, has a drug-induced death rate roughly 3x higher than California’s average, putting it among the five worst across the state’s 58 counties.
Its director of public health said, “Anecdotally, we hear that drugstores are running out all the time."
6/ In May, Butte County joined more than 300 cities and counties nationwide in a lawsuit against opioid distributors and manufacturers. buttecounty.net/NewsAnnounceme…
7/ A @Walgreens spokesman said that the company is “committed to the safe and appropriate dispensing of all medications and working together with federal, state and local officials.”
8/ But Walgreens has been in hot water for years over issues related to the #opioidcrisis.
2/ Almond growers need two honeybee colonies per acre during the height of pollination season. And California’s total almond acreage has nearly tripled in the past 20 years, a spike due in large part to foreign demand. bls.gov/opub/btn/volum…
3/ Hives have never been more valuable. The average seasonal rental price for one is $185, and that number is only expected to climb in the coming years. For beekeepers with thousands of hives, it can be quite a payday. beeculture.com/2018-almond-po…
1/ Ahead of today’s #KavanaughHearings, some, including @realdonaldtrump, asked why Dr. Christine Blasey Ford didn’t report her experience sooner.
There are a lot of reasons victims of sexual abuse don’t immediately speak up. And a lot of reporting on the subject, too.
2/ First: Context. 1 in 10 adults – 24 million people – were sexually abused before they reached 18. Yet less than 40 percent of children who are sexually abused tell anyone. And a fraction of those cases end up being reported to authorities.
3/ Reporter @tennesseejane has firsthand experience with this. It took her decades to tell police that her gymnastics coach sexually abused her as a child.
Her story is at the center of this August 2016 episode:
1/ Last year, hundreds of people were sickened by an E. coli outbreak after eating lettuce grown in Arizona. 27 suffered kidney failure. Five died.
Six months before that, Trump’s FDA had shelved rules designed to prevent this very sort of incident. revealnews.org/article/5-peop…
2/ William Whitt escaped with his life. But his sickness was harrowing. He suffered days of diarrhea and vomited blood. His body swelled like a balloon. He was given painkillers every 10 minutes.
3/ The culprit? Salad.
It turns out that leafy greens are particularly vulnerable to bacteria. And a gaping hole in the U.S. food safety system contributes to the problem. Produce growers don’t have to test the water they use on their crops.
1/ New with @marshallproj and @USAToday: In several states, crime victims can seek compensation from a public fund. But states reserve the right to deny some requests. And in Ohio and Florida, black people were banned disproportionately. revealnews.org/article/the-vi…
2/ Here’s how it works. “Victim compensation funds,” as they’re called, are designed to help crime victims pay for things like loved ones’ funerals.
But in some states, you can’t get access to the money if you have a criminal conviction.
3/ In Ohio, where the rules are particularly stringent, you can be denied for even being *suspected* of one. And unlike in other states, a denial can stem from a juvenile crime. Those records are usually expunged.