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Columbus, OH –  Yesterday, J.D. Vance’s campaign canceled a fundraiser with one of the “top-10 prescribers of Oxycodone-Acetaminophen in the country” who received $26,000 from Purdue Pharma, after Spectrum News asked questions about the host’s role in a major lawsuit against Purdue and other pharmaceutical companies for their role in the opioid epidemic.   

Vance’s campaign initially defended the host of the event — which was supposed to take place today — saying he “hasn’t ever been accused of wrongdoing.” Only hours later did the campaign do an about-face and abruptly cancel the fundraiser.  

“J.D. Vance’s campaign was all too eager to defend and accept campaign support from one of the top ten prescribers of Oxycodone in the country, who Purdue Pharma paid tens of thousands of dollars to promote their poison. It wasn’t until J.D. Vance and his campaign got caught that they canceled this fundraiser — showing once again that J.D. Vance is a craven opportunist who will do or say anything to get elected,” said Michael Beyer, a spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party.  

Spectrum News: Fundraiser for Ohio GOP candidate JD Vance axed after Spectrum News asked questions about host
Taylor Popielarz
October 14, 2022

• A weekend fundraiser for Ohio U.S. Senate candidate JD Vance was abruptly canceled Friday after Spectrum News notified the Vance campaign it would report the host is one of several Ohio pain doctors cited in a lawsuit against Purdue Pharma and others for the amount of opioids they prescribed and the amount of money they received from major drug companies.
   
• Vance, a Republican venture capitalist and author, and Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan are battling for the seat held by retiring GOP Sen. Rob Portman, a contest in which the opioid crisis in Ohio has been a flashpoint.
   
• When Spectrum News first reached out to the Vance campaign Wednesday, the campaign said it was unaware the host was cited in the lawsuit and that he “hasn’t ever been accused of wrongdoing, never mind found guilty of wrongdoing in a court of law.” On Friday, shortly after being told Spectrum News was about to publish the story, the campaign replied that the organizers decided to cancel the fundraiser so it wouldn’t distract from Vance’s campaign.
   
• The fundraiser was scheduled for Saturday at the Cincinnati home of Dr. Rajbir Minhas. “The Asian Indian Alliance invites you to [a] special reception with Ohio Senate candidate JD Vance,” according to a copy of the invitation obtained by Spectrum News. The alliance is an organization that “seeks to promote active participation in the political process by Asian Indians and create a strong political presence in the State of Ohio,” and Minhas is its vice president, according to its website.
   
• The sweeping lawsuit was filed by Medical Mutual of Ohio against Purdue Pharma and other drug makers, distributors and pharmacies for their roles in the opioid crisis.
   
• In an updated filing in 2018, Medical Mutual of Ohio listed Minhas and 11 other Ohio doctors in a section focusing on a widespread industry practice of drug manufacturers paying doctors to pitch opioids to their colleagues. The filing alleges the companies “regularly used” these “speaker program monies to reward ‘high writer’ Ohio doctors.”
   
• “Cincinnati, Ohio pain doctor Dr. Rajbir Minhas is among the top-10 prescribers of Oxycodone-Acetaminophen in the country and has received some $145,281.11 between 2013 and 2016 from eight of the defendants: Insys, Teva, Depomed, Mallinckrodt, Janssen, Purdue, Endo, and Actavis,” the complaint reads.
   
• The filing cites information in databases compiled by the news organization ProPublica and by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, known as CMS. After the 2018 filing, ProPublica updated the database in 2019; Minhas dropped one notch, to be the 11th-top prescriber of the drug nationally. ProPublica has not updated the database since then.
   
• The lawsuit is still pending. Minhas is not a defendant in the litigation, and has not been accused of criminal wrongdoing or charged with a crime. He did not respond to two separate requests for comment. A spokesperson for the Asian Indian Alliance also did not respond to an email request for comment.
   
• Oxycodone, a powerful and addictive painkiller, was the main ingredient in the pain medicine sold by Purdue Pharma under the brand name OxyContin.
   
• The CMS data shows that from 2015 to 2016, Purdue Pharma paid Minhas nearly $26,000 for “services other than consulting, including serving as faculty or as a speaker at a venue other than a continuing education program.” The payments were among more than $200,000 he received for such services from pharmaceutical companies, including several cited in the 2018 lawsuit, from 2013 to 2018, according to the CMS and ProPublica data. The database shows Minhas did not receive any money from Purdue Pharma for speaking engagements from 2017 to 2021. Purdue Pharma filed for bankruptcy in 2019. 
   
• Such speaking engagements typically involve a physician being paid to promote a drug to their peers. While not illegal, the lawsuit alleges pharmaceutical companies would select “a high prescriber to serve on paid ‘speakers’ bureaus’ and/or to attend programs with free meals and other amenities.” 
   
• The other Ohio pain doctors cited alongside Minhas received similar payments, ranging from the mid-five figures to over half a million dollars in a similar period of time. 
   
• The Medical Mutual suit is one of many by insurance companies and third-party payers seeking reimbursements from the drug industry for allegedly excessive or unnecessary prescriptions of opioids, according to attorney Peter Weinberger, of Spangenberg, Shibley and Liber of Cleveland, one of the firms pressing the case. 
   
• In a separate case led by multiple states, local governments, Native American tribes and others, Purdue Pharma reached a settlement in March 2022 worth at least $10 billion for its role in the opioid crisis, which has been linked to more than 500,000 deaths in the U.S over the last 20 years.  
   
• Ohio has been hit particularly hard by the opioid epidemic, recording 2,500 to 4,300 deaths a year due to unintentional opioid overdoses from 2015 to 2020, according to the Ohio Department of Health. 
   
• On Thursday, a spokeswoman for the Vance campaign told Spectrum News, “We were unaware of Dr. Minhas being mentioned in this filing. At the same time, Dr. Minhas hasn’t ever been accused of wrongdoing, never mind found guilty of wrongdoing in a court of law. He’s one of the few doctors in Cincinnati who practices non-interventional chronic pain management…”
   
• At the debate, Ryan cited another Associated Press story, about a nonprofit Vance started in 2016 to fight opioid abuse. The AP revealed that the nonprofit, Our Ohio Renewal, hired a doctor with ties to Purdue Pharma. Other reports about the charity show it raised little money before shutting down, all while paying one of Vance’s political advisers.
   
• “I didn’t start a fake nonprofit pretending like I was going to help people with addiction, like JD Vance did… in fact, he brought in somebody from Purdue Pharma to be the spokesperson for the nonprofit,” Ryan said.

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Columbus, OH — In case you missed it, Cosmopolitan Magazine listed the Ohio Supreme Court race as one of the top five most important races in the nation when it comes to protecting abortion rights. Ohio is the only state in the country with the opportunity to flip its Supreme Court from Republican control to Democratic. And Republicans in the legislature have made it clear they plan to pass a comprehensive ban on abortion, with no exceptions for rape or incest, and come after birth control after that. A Democratic-controlled Supreme Court would serve as an important check on the Republican attacks on women’s freedoms and their abortion rights.

“Over the past decade, we’ve seen efforts to pass approximately a bajillion abortion bans in Ohio, including ‘heartbeat bills,’ but it wasn’t until the Supreme Court overturned Roe in June that the bill Governor Mike DeWine had signed in 2019 officially went into effect. Overnight, he effectively banned all abortions in the state. Thankfully, Ohio does have one ~saving grace~ to keep a check on all this madness: its judiciary. Its courts have repeatedly challenged 6-week bans, including putting a temporary halt on DeWine’s latest attempt just a few weeks ago,” writes Cosmopolitan. 

“Abortion rights are on the ballot this November. While Republicans have made clear that they’re ready to rip away Ohioans’ reproductive freedoms, Ohio Democrats are committed to protecting reproductive rights and keeping politicians and judges out of Ohioans’ personal medical decisions,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokesperson Matt Keyes. 

Read more from Cosmo HERE and below.

• Ohio has always been a purple state, with the big cities (hiii, Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati, ILY) consistently showing up to vote for progressive candidates while rural areas remain staunchly conservative. 
• Over the past decade, we’ve seen efforts to pass approximately a bajillion abortion bans in Ohio, including “heartbeat bills,” but it wasn’t until the Supreme Court overturned Roe in June that the bill Governor Mike DeWine had signed in 2019 officially went into effect. Overnight, he effectively banned all abortions in the state.
• Thankfully, Ohio does have one ~saving grace~ to keep a check on all this madness: its judiciary. Its courts have repeatedly challenged 6-week bans, including putting a temporary halt on DeWine’s latest attempt just a few weeks ago. 
• We know, we know, the Supreme Court is part of the reason we’re even in this mess, but the state’s Supreme Court is a bit different: Ohio has seven justices (not nine), with term limits of six years and an age limit of 70 (!!). As of 2021, justices can have party affiliations listed on the ballot and even make public political statements—more on that in just a bit!
• Perhaps most importantly, Ohio citizens can actually vote for every single one of these justices. They’re elected “by large,” meaning voters don’t just choose one person representing their circuit or region—everybody gets to choose them all. 
• “In recent weeks, we’ve been fortunate enough to have Ohio’s statewide ban on abortion temporarily blocked,” notes Iris E. Harvey, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio. “However, a long-term solution is needed, and that begins with electing leaders that our patients and supporters can count on. It is imperative that we elect justices to the court who will protect a person’s individual right to choose what is best for them.”
• Judge Jennifer Brunner, who was elected to the court just last year but is now running for chief justice, and Judge Marilyn Zayas and Judge Terri Jamison, who are running as first-time justices. If they win, Zayas would be the first Latina to ever serve on the high court, and Jamison would be the third Black woman in Ohio state Supreme Court history. 
• The Democrats will gain control of the court if either Zayas or Jamison wins, which will come in handy if (or really, when) Governor DeWine and the Republican-controlled state legislature try to push more abortion restrictions through.

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Columbus, OH — Dave Yost is so intent on ripping away labor protections from members of Ohio’s National Guard that he’s headed all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court. It’s a despicable act of playing politics with the well-being of our servicemembers after members of Ohio’s Army and Air National Guards lodged complaints that the Ohio National Guard was committing unfair labor practices. Rather than push the Ohio National Guard to abide by federal law and heed the ruling of a judge who ruled in favor of the servicemembers, Yost has decided that he’ll head to the highest court in the land to rip away their rights instead. 

“Dave Yost’s entire campaign seems to be focused on ripping away fundamental rights from Ohioans. He’s now turned his ire to members of Ohio’s National Guard, deciding to go after their livelihood to score some political points. It’s a disgusting use of taxpayer dollars and our servicemembers deserve better,” said Matt Keyes, spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party. 

Yost has spent the last four years playing politics with the office of attorney general, pursuing taxpayer-funded lawsuits to further his own political career. And instead of fighting to protect the rights of hard-working Ohioans, he’s been laser-focused on ripping them away – from abortion rights to the rights of Ohio’s servicemembers. 

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