THIS MONTH IN LATE CAPITALISM

* OPIOIDS KILL TENS OF THOUSANDS ANNUALLY, so four Big Pharma corporations are paying out $26 billion for the role they've played in the crisis. Of course, Johnson & Johnson, McKesson, AmerisourceBergen and Cardinal Health still "disavow any wrongdoing or legal responsibility." And they'll rake back in $1 billion each from related tax deductions. So, four cheers for corporate tax deductions!

* SEVEN-YEAR-OLD LIZA'S BRAIN SURGERIES are being funded one lemonade at a time, thanks to the stand she set up in Birmingham, Ala. (Liza's mom did purchase additional health insurance but is still short thousands of dollars.) As Republican Rep. Buddy Carter (Ga.) once *' said (despite the pandemic), the United States has the "best healthcare system in the world." Liza says, "I hope I make it.... I feel like I'm not [going to make it]."

* COVID-19 VACCINES ARE SUPPOSED TO BE FREE at point of service, but reports are surfacing of providers charging fees, like the $195 "vaccine consultation" billed to a patient at Chicago's Michigan Avenue Immediate Care. After public outcry, the clinic says it will end the practice. No word yet on what fee-cancelation fees may be incurred.

* THE BATTLE FOR THE COVETED "RICHEST-PERSON-IN-THE-WORLD" TITLE continues between Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Bezos is ahead at press time with a net worth of $180 billion (Musk is at a paltry $166 billion). According to Rupert Hoogewerf, whose Hurun Report tracks these figures, "The world has never seen this much wealth created in just one year... [unexpected for a year so badly disrupted by Covid-19." Hindsight is, after all, 20/20.