Martinsville doctor found guilty of 460+ counts of opioids distribution
A federal court jury in Abingdon found Dr. Joel Smithers, who previously practiced in Martinsville, guilty of 466 federal counts of illegally prescribing Schedule II controlled substances, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Western Virginia announced Dec. 31, 2024. He was also found guilty of one count of maintaining a place for the purpose of illegally […]
Chesterfield pharma company to pay $30M in Suboxone settlement
Chesterfield County-based pharmaceutical manufacturer Indivior Inc. has reached a $30 million settlement agreement in a federal class-action antitrust lawsuit brought by a group of health plans over the manufacturer’s opioid addiction treatment drug, Suboxone. The global parent company, Indivior PLC, announced the settlement Monday, and the plaintiffs filed a memorandum in support of the set[...]
Civica announces plans for $27.8M lab in Chesterfield
Nonprofit drugmaker Civica Rx is investing $27.8 million to establish a new 55,000-square-foot laboratory in Chesterfield County’s Meadowville Technology Park, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Thursday. The expansion will add 51 jobs, according to a news release. The company will also host a scale-up manufacturing facility run by Virginia Commonwealth University’s Medicines for All Instit[...]
Civica to produce lower-cost insulin
Civica Rx, a nonprofit generic drug-maker with a pharmaceutical manufacturing plant under construction in Petersburg, plans to produce three forms of insulin priced at $30 per vial beginning in early 2024, a project that dovetails with a bill in Congress that would cap consumers’ out-of-pocket insulin costs. Civica’s 140,000-square-foot, $124.5 million Petersburg production facility wi[...]
Economic healing
Over the years, Petersburg has become accustomed to bad economic news. After Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., Petersburg’s largest employer for decades, left the city in 1985, Petersburg suffered an economic downturn from which it’s never quite recovered. More recently, in 2016, Petersburg city government had a roughly $12 million shortfall in its operating budget, […]