AG Announces Settlement With Two Pharmaceutical Companies
Two pharmaceutical companies have agreed to pay nearly $50 million to resolve allegations they conspired to artificially inflate generic prescription drug prices.
The settlement is with a coalition of nearly all U.S. states, including Oklahoma.
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond announced the settlement Thursday, which is part of multiple lawsuits led by Connecticut’s attorney general.
In it, Heritage Pharmaceuticals and Apotex agreed to cooperate in ongoing, multistate suits against generic drugmakers and executives. They’ve also agreed to internal reforms to ensure fair competition and compliance with antitrust laws.
The coalition has filed three antitrust complaints going back to 2016. They stem from investigations that pointed to claims of discouraging competition, raising prices and an ingrained culture of collusion.
Oklahomans who purchased generic prescription drugs from 2010 through 2018 may be eligible for compensation.
To determine eligibility, call 1-866-290-0182.
Interim Study Focuses On Kiamichi River, Hydroelectric Storage System
Lawmakers are considering restricting “foreign adversary” influence on Oklahoma’s energy grid.
But an interim study on the Kiamichi River and a hydro-electric storage project in the works nearby reveals it may be too late.
The Southeast Oklahoma Power Corporation, or SEOPC, wants to build a hydroelectric storage system using the natural terrain of the Kiamichi River Valley in Southeast Oklahoma.
Seth Willyard is among more than 500 landowners who could be displaced by the project. He said he has concerns about SEOPC and its owner’s apparent Chinese government connections.
“It's a Nevada-based shell company. They don't have any revenue, employees or prior experience with large infrastructure projects. In FERC documents, the owner provided an email address to Aquarian Capital. Aquarian capital has connections to the Chinese Communist Party,” Willyard said during the House Energy and Natural Resources Committee study.
FERC stands for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The agency is letting this project go ahead after Oklahoma Congressman Josh Brecheen submitted a letter to the regulators denouncing the project as a possible national security risk.
The company denies it has direct links to the Chinese government.
Powering A New Data Center Is On Ballot In Stillwater
Voters in Stillwater will decide whether OG&E, the state’s largest electric utility, will supply power for a new data center project.
Stillwater officials said the potential three billion dollar project would be an economic boon for the city. But it would require substantial power and water resources to operate.
Mayor Will Joyce said if approved, the proposition would alleviate some of the possible load on Stillwater’s electrical utility.
“It just makes a lot of sense for the load and for the stress on the system to be more distributed. It gives us the freedom with our electric utility to kind of not have that additional load on our system,” Joyce said.
If the proposal is denied, Joyce said the center could be placed on the city’s electric utility grid and that would prove costly for ratepayers down the road.
He stressed this vote won’t determine whether to approve the construction of the center. That will ultimately be up to the City Council.
Winter Homeless Shelter Opens in Oklahoma City
A winter shelter for people experiencing homelessness opens Friday in Oklahoma City.
With temperatures dropping, the Homeless Alliance’s winter shelter will remain open until the end of March.
CEO Megan Mueller said the shelter is designed to be low-barrier and easy to access.
The shelter is also trying something new in its second year – it will provide on-site medical care through a partnership with Healing Hands Health Care Services.
“People come to us in all sorts of conditions, especially when they're coming in out of the cold. We are hoping that by having medical services integrated into our shelter, we'll better be able to identify when people's medical concerns are acute or in need of a higher level of care," Mueller said.
Mueller said the partnership will decrease the winter shelter’s reliance on emergency medical services.
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