Wellness & Well-being Highlights July 1

Wellness & Well-being Highlights

for the

Week of July 1, 2024

This week’s edition of our Worker Wellness & Well-being blog offers so much to write about but too little time and space. Here’s my best shot: There was the US Surgeon General’s announcement to elevate our nation’s GUN VIOLENCE as a threat to Public Health—to how a prominent Catholic Church in the west STL county area placed a notice in their weekly bulletin in an attempt to recruit young men for a militia—to how many hospital closings/mergers are not reducing costs as promised. This week I would like to touch on the recent US Supreme Court ruling regarding the Sacklers’ opioids settlement.¹ Many of my blogs over the past 3 years have touched on the negative impact of the US opioids epidemic and how the rich truly got away with murder. No doubt that this ruling will help some while hurting others. Several states and communities have been waiting for the millions of dollars resulting from the proposed settlement to assist them with funding localized prevention, intervention, and postvention programs with sights set on stemming the tide of this scourge. Furthermore, families who have lost members will no longer receive payments tied to their losses.

The greater good of this recent ruling may be difficult for some to understand. After all, in my opinion, it was more about setting a precedent concerning the misuse of our bankruptcy laws going forward than making victims and/or communities whole (I would argue that anyone’s loved one’s life is worth more than $3500 – $48000). To allow a family of billionaires total immunity from future related law suits was a bridge too far for the majority of our Justices. Although the lower court may have agreed that something was better than nothing in moving our nation forward, the supreme court in this land felt otherwise. They did so, having more time to contemplate the ramifications of the settlement on the table. To be sure, it is easy to play armchair quarterback…consider this: A family enriches themselves (via deceitful marketing, etc.) to the tune of $11b since the early 1990s (and moves the bulk of those gains to offshore banks) while over 220 people/day² were dying from opioid overdoses in 2022…but this family is only required to pay $6b for the offense plus walks away from ANY future damages related to their nefarious actions. While I am not a big fan of this far right-leaning court, as for now, I believe they did the right thing!

Sources: [1] https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/27/us/supreme-court-opioid-settlement.html?unlocked_article_code=1.3E0.IXFb.Pp0XhjtA0d-n&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

[2] https://usafacts.org/articles/opioid-addiction-deaths-and-treatment-latest-analysis-data/

Supreme Court on the Homeless

Construction’s Alarming Rate: Suicide

US Surgeon General & Firearm Deaths (1)

US Surgeon General & Firearm Deaths (2)

US Surgeon General & Firearm Deaths (3)

Firearm Violence: Advisory Report

Stats on Gun Shootings

Is Gun Violence a Public Health Crisis?

UN & Nitazenes

Buffalo & Recent OD Deaths