FLORIDA RECORD

Lawyers running anti-drug commercials should be held accountable for their claims. If they can’t substantiate those claims, they should be forced to compensate the companies whose sales they’ve depressed and the drug users whose health they’ve impaired.

What if Big Pharma is not to blame for the opioid crisis? What if it wasn’t the big bad drug companies that created and exacerbated the problem, but the politicians and government officials pretending to be the good guys?

There’s a classic scene in an episode of the 1970s BBC comedy Fawlty Towers in which a diner complains about the bad service provided by the waiter at this quaint seaside inn in southern England.

Today’s verdict by Judge Thad Balkman that Johnson & Johnson must pay the operating costs of Oklahoma state government as penance for the opioid crisis puts manufacturers of all lawful, but politically unpopular, products at risk.

Do we want justice or a quick jackpot for trial attorneys? The negotiation class leads to the latter. And, more important, it’s unconstitutional and unfair. The states and their attorneys general are the parties empowered to protect the rights and welfare of their citizens.

The Annual Environmental Permitting Summer School is attended by more than 850 attorneys, consultants, engineers, state and local government officials, developers, landowners and others with a strong interest in environmental issues in Florida.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) was established by the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 as a research agency focused on the study of worker safety and health.

A whole lot of money and effort go into promoting Florida as a place to live and make a living, and as a vacation destination.