Preview Newsletter
Opioids Media Report 9/1/16
-
NY county sues drugmakers over addictive painkillers
Aug 31, 2016 | Associated Press
By Michael Balsamo
A suburban New York county struggling to curb an epidemic of opioid overdoses sued 11 pharmaceutical companies Wednesday, including the makers of OxyContin and Percocet, alleging they misled the public and doctors about the addictiveness of powerful prescription painkillers -
Suffolk County Sues Drugmakers Over Painkillers (video)
Aug 31, 2016 | NBC4 NY
By Michael Balsamo
Suffolk County is suing the makers of the pain medication OxyContin and other drug manufacturers alleging that the companies are misleading the public and doctors about the addictiveness of painkillers. The lawsuit was filed in a state court on Wednesday. View clip here: http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Painkiller-Lawsuit-Suffolk-County-OxyContin-391915141.html -
County to sue opioid companies citing negligent practices
Aug 31, 2016 | Long Island Advance
By Linda Leuizzi
Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone and Deputy Presiding Officer Rob Calarco announced the filing of a lawsuit against 15 pharmaceutical companies and their subsidiaries who manufacture prescription opioids, at a press conference in Hauppauge on Wednesday. -
Suffolk County Suing Drug Companies Over Opioids
Aug 31, 2016 | WSHU
By Jessica Opatich
Suffolk County is suing Connecticut-based Purdue Pharma along with a number of other pharmaceutical companies for deceptive practices that it claims led to the county’s opioid and heroin epidemic. Legislator Robert Calarco sponsored a bill passed into law last year that created a commission to explore a possible lawsuit. That committee recently decided to move forward. -
UPDATE: Suffolk County Officials Sue OxyContin Makers, Say Drug Companies 'Pushed' Pain Pills on Public (video)
Aug 31, 2016 | CBS 2
Suffolk County wants the pharmaceutical industry to compensate them for the cost of the “opiod epidemic” they allege the drug companies created. The county is suing the makers of the pain medication OxyContin and other drug manufacturers, alleging that the companies are misleading the public and doctors about the dangers of painkillers. -
UPDATE: Suffolk County sues pharmaceutical companies over drug abuse
Aug 31, 2016 | Newsday
By David Pollard
Suffolk County lawmakers have taken their fight against opioid addiction to the manufacturers. On Wednesday the county sued 11 pharmaceutical companies and four physicians who attorneys said promoted the drugs’ use. -
Suffolk to file suit against 'negligent' big drug companies (video)
Aug 31, 2016 | News12 Long Island
View clip here: http://longisland.news12.com/news/suffolk-to-file-lawsuit-against-negligent-pharmaceutical-companies-1.12247624 -
NY County Sues Drug Cos. Over Opioid Marketing
Aug 31, 2016 | Law360
By Shayna Posses
New York’s Suffolk County on Wednesday became the latest in a line of municipalities to sue Purdue Pharma LP, Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. and other drugmakers over their allegedly deceptive marketing of opioids, contending in a state court complaint that the companies reaped huge profits by downplaying the painkillers’ potential for addiction. -
Long Island county sues opioid drug makers for misleading marketing
Sep 1, 2016 | Pharmalot – STAT News
By Ed Silverman
You can add Suffolk County, N.Y., to the list of local and state governments that are filing lawsuits against the drug makers that market opioid painkillers. The Long Island county on Wednesday accused several companies — Purdue Pharma, Johnson & Johnson, and Endo International, among others — of using deceptive marketing to downplay the risks of their painkillers, and of improperly encouraging physicians to prescribe the medicines in a way that caused some patients to become addicts. -
News 12 Long Island
Sep 1, 2016 | DMA
View clip here: http://beta.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/23958802?token=95c789f0-f09f-4a56-a606-40873d461220 -
69 News Sunrise
Sep 1, 2016 | WFMZ
View clip here: http://beta.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/23958864?token=95c789f0-f09f-4a56-a606-40873d461220 -
News 12 Long Island
Sep 1, 2016 | N12LI
View clip here: http://beta.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/23958877?token=95c789f0-f09f-4a56-a606-40873d461220 -
Fox 5 News at 5
Aug 31, 2016 | WNYW
View clip here: http://beta.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/23958885?token=95c789f0-f09f-4a56-a606-40873d461220 -
Today in New York
Sep 1, 2016 | WNBC
View clip here: http://beta.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/23958899?token=95c789f0-f09f-4a56-a606-40873d461220
National Coverage
Local Coverage
Trade Coverage
Broadcast Coverage
Full Text of Stories Below
-
NY county sues drugmakers over addictive painkillers
Aug 31, 2016 | Associated Press
By Michael Balsamo
HAUPPAUGE, N.Y. (AP) — A suburban New York county struggling to curb an epidemic of opioid overdoses sued 11 pharmaceutical companies Wednesday, including the makers of OxyContin and Percocet, alleging they misled the public and doctors about the addictiveness of powerful prescription painkillers.
Suffolk County filed the lawsuit against pharmaceutical giants Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin; Endo Health Solutions, which makes Percocet and Percodan; and Johnson & Johnson, the maker of painkillers Duragesic and Nucynta.
The suit, which seeks unspecified monetary damages, alleges the companies engaged in deceptive business practices by marketing highly addictive and dangerous pain medication and "misleading consumers and medical providers" about the risks of taking the drugs.
It follows on the heels of similar lawsuits elsewhere in the country in the past few years, including claims by the city of Chicago and two counties in California. Purdue Pharma settled a lawsuit last year brought by Kentucky for $24 million, but did not admit any wrongdoing.
A spokesman for Purdue Pharma declined to comment Wednesday.
Jessica Castles Smith, a spokeswoman for Johnson & Johnson's drug company, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, said the allegations in the suit were "both legally and factually unfounded."
She said the company acted appropriately and in the best interests of its patients. The company's painkillers, she noted, carry federally-required warning labels alerting consumers about the risks of addiction.
An Endo spokeswoman said the company had not been formally notified of the lawsuit and does not comment on pending litigation.
Suffolk County legislator Rob Calarco, a Democrat, said at a news conference Wednesday with the county's executive, Steve Bellone, that the pharmaceutical companies encouraged doctors to prescribe the powerful pain medication without properly warning medical providers that patients could become easily addicted.
The companies "not only misled the public, but more importantly they misinformed doctors who are responsible for prescribing the medication," he said. "Despite the best evidence proving otherwise, they deceptively told our doctors and the public at large these things are safe."
County officials said they believe a surge in addiction to legal painkillers ultimately fueled a broader opioid addiction epidemic on Long Island that has led many users to an illicit drug, heroin.
There have been more than 200 fatal overdoses and more than 1,000 non-fatal overdoses in Suffolk County this year, said the county's police commissioner Tim Sini.
"There's no question that the intelligence we've gathered suggests the start of this epidemic was from painkillers," he said. "When an Oxy pill can cost $80 on the street, people couldn't afford to keep their habits and gravitate toward heroin, which is sometimes as cheap as $5 a bag."
-
Suffolk County Sues Drugmakers Over Painkillers (video)
Aug 31, 2016 | NBC4 NY
By Michael Balsamo
Suffolk County is suing the makers of the pain medication OxyContin and other drug manufacturers alleging that the companies are misleading the public and doctors about the addictiveness of painkillers.
The lawsuit was filed in a state court on Wednesday.
The county, on the eastern half of Long Island, targets OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma as well as Johnson & Johnson, Endo and subsidiaries of the companies.
Suffolk County officials say the companies encouraged doctors to prescribe powerful pain pills without properly warning them of the risks of addiction.
Representatives for the pharmaceutical companies didn't immediately respond to comment requests.
Purdue Pharma settled a similar lawsuit with the state of Kentucky for $24 million last year, but admitted no wrongdoing.
View clip here: http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Painkiller-Lawsuit-Suffolk-County-OxyContin-391915141.html
-
County to sue opioid companies citing negligent practices
Aug 31, 2016 | Long Island Advance
By Linda Leuizzi
Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone and Deputy Presiding Officer Rob Calarco announced the filing of a lawsuit against 15 pharmaceutical companies and their subsidiaries who manufacture prescription opioids, at a press conference in Hauppauge on Wednesday.
Claiming that defendants engaged in deceptive acts and practices in their promotion, utilized false advertising and, as an expected and intended result of their conscious wrongdoing, have profited and benefited from opioid purchases, the county is hoping to recoup funds for varying additional costs it has beared as a result of opioid drug addiction.
Opioids include brand-name drugs like OxyContin and Percocet and generics like oxycodone and hydrocodone. Deaths from prescription opioids have quadrupled since 1999, the county said; from 2000 to 2014 nearly half a million people died from such overdoses.
“These companies have under-represented or misrepresented the dangers of their product,” said Legis. Rob Calarco (D-Patchogue), who initiated the lawsuit last year. “They launched their marketing campaigns in the early 1990s to make it seem that opiate-based drugs were effective in treating patients’ chronic pain and resuming their lifestyles without real support. They also indicated their medication was not addictive. There was no scientific study to back up the claims.”
On March 22, 2016, the FDA recognized opioid abuse as a “public health crisis” that has a “profound impact on individuals, families and communities across our country” in a press release announcing enhanced warnings for immediate-release opioid pain medications related to risks of misuse, abuse, addiction, overdose and death.
Suffolk County employs approximately 10,000 people in 22 departments and is one of the largest employers on Long Island.
“We have employees whose healthcare we’re paying for to be prescribed that have been misinformed,” Calarco said.
Those named in the lawsuit include: Purdue Pharma LP; Purdue Pharma Inc.; The Purdue Frederick Company Inc.; Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc.; Cephalon Inc.; Johnson & Johnson; Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc.; Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. N/K/A Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc.; Janssen Pharmactutica Inc. N/K/A Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc.; Endo Health Solutions Inc.; Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc.; Russell Portenoy; Perry Fine; Scott Fishman and Lynn Webster, confirmed county attorney Dennis Brown.
“There’s an incremental cost involved and that’s where the statistical analysis will come into play,” Brown said regarding damages. “Overall, it may be additional healthcare costs, what kind of additional costs has the health department and social services seen, as well as law enforcement prosecution. But there is a differential. Our goal is to [assess] it through using statistical analysis to extrapolate as to what the estimated damages would be.”
Calarco commented on the fallout of opioid drug addiction and the burgeoning crime factor once a patient gets hooked and steals for another high. The horrific Father’s Day murders in 2011 is mentioned in the lawsuit, when David Laffer, 33, from Medford, walked into Haven Drugs on Father’s Day in his quest to rob oxycodone and other pain killers for his wife Melinda Brady. After stealing about 10,000 pills, Laffer shot and killed pharmacist Raymond Ferguson, 45; drugstore employee Jennifer Mejia, 17; and customers Jaime Taccetta, 33, and Bryon Sheffield, 71.
“We probably go on an opioid overdose at least three or four times a week,” related Patchogue Ambulance Company chief operating officer John Rocco. “Either it’s a heroin overdose or sometimes it’s prescription medication. Unfortunately, our story is not unusual. You can ask any EMS in the country and you’ll hear the same thing.”
The disturbing catch is its far-reaching effects, he said.
Patchogue Ambulance services 3,000-plus calls a year, a 240-call increase this year, Rocco said.
“The majority of the calls from opioids we get are not from lower socioeconomic people, but those from the middle class,” said Rocco.
“It’s a slow creep,” Calarco agreed. “It’s not like a doctor gives a prescription today and you stick a needle in your arm. That addiction doesn’t manifest itself for some time. The patient comes back and says, ‘I’m still experiencing pain.’ The doctor may give you a 90-day script so you can save on your copays.”
Rocco added there is also another disturbing result.
“We have carried Narcan on the ambulance for over 30 years and the cost was only $6 a dosage,” he said of the opioid antidote. “Because of the vast increase of opioid drug use, it’s now in excess of $60 a dose and budget-wise, we buy an awful lot.
But it is a miracle drug. You can get someone who’s clinically dead and on life support and can wake up and not have a clue what happened. Many times we may see the same patient multiple times and, in more than one case, we have saved the patient from expiring with actions of the ambulance company and then you never hear and wonder if they got the help they needed.”
Legis. William “Doc” Spencer (D-Centerport) has a private practice, Long Island Otolaryngology & Pediatric Airway, P.C. in Huntington. Spencer is also chief of otolaryngology at Huntington Hospital and associate clinical professor at Stony Brook University Hospital. He’s been a medical doctor since 1993.
“The issue doesn’t relate to using opioids, they’re extremeely effective,” Spencer said. “I prescribe 10 to 12 prescriptions a week for painful surgeries like taking out tonsils and they do a great job. The issue is more related to [patients] becoming addicted. In medical school we were trained to treat pain, but also not to do harm. So one of the things most important was to make sure your patient isn’t suffering. These products came out in the late 1990s and one of the ways they were marketed was that this was a better way to treat pain because they were not addicting. And a lot of litigation has centered on not getting effective pain control.
“It was an assiduous process; it was a while before we realized [patients] were getting addicted. It appears [drug companies] knew all along this was a possibility.”
Spencer pointed to a massive street gang enterprise that is present, underscoring Calarco’s comments about crime that includes robberies, burglaries and break-ins.
“I think asking the pharmaceutical companies to contribute is important,” he said. “It’s a nationwide problem; we don’t have the funds for enforcement, for rehab clinics and here you made trillions in profits. The purpose is: Come to the table and help us.”
Suffolk County joined the ranks of three other municipalities, Orange and Sonoma counties in California and the city of Chicago, who in 2014 partnered in two separate lawsuits alleging that “aggressive marketing” by five drug companies has caused an addiction epidemic. Just last week, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan filed a lawsuit against Insys Therapeutics Inc. for alleged deceptive marketing of an opioid drug meant for cancer patients.
-
Suffolk County Suing Drug Companies Over Opioids
Aug 31, 2016 | WSHU
By Jessica Opatich
Suffolk County is suing Connecticut-based Purdue Pharma along with a number of other pharmaceutical companies for deceptive practices that it claims led to the county’s opioid and heroin epidemic.
Legislator Robert Calarco sponsored a bill passed into law last year that created a commission to explore a possible lawsuit. That committee recently decided to move forward.
The suit alleges Purdue and other companies took extensive efforts to deceive the Food and Drug Administration and doctors about the risks of their products.
Dr. Andrew Kolodny is the co-founder of Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing. He says the broader Suffolk County suit gets to the heart of why doctors were overprescribing opioids.
“We were responding to marketing – really a brilliant marketing campaign – and in some cases marketing disguised as education – that led us to believe that the risks of addiction had been overblown, led us to believe that we had been allowing patients to suffer needlessly, that we could be more compassionate if we prescribed opioids more liberally; and that campaign was filled with misinformation.”
Legislator Calarco says the county has been financially burdened by the cost of combatting the rise in opioid addiction.
“When you add in our methadone clinics, when you add in our treatment facilities, when you add in the cost to our police department and the fact of the matter through Medicaid and our own insurance provided to our employees that we’re paying for the opiate medications to be prescribed in the first instance, and then paying for the rehab to be done afterwards. It is a very large number.”
The suit does not specify the amount of money the county is seeking. Other defendants include Johnson & Johnson and Janssen Pharmaceuticals.
-
Aug 31, 2016 | CBS 2
HAUPPAUGE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) — Suffolk County wants the pharmaceutical industry to compensate them for the cost of the “opiod epidemic” they allege the drug companies created.
The county is suing the makers of the pain medication OxyContin and other drug manufacturers, alleging that the companies are misleading thepublic and doctors about the dangers of painkillers.
Comparing them to common drug dealers, county officials filed suit against 11 pharmaceutical companies Wednesday, WCBS 880’s Mike Xirinachs reported. OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma as well as Johnson & Johnson, Endo and subsidiaries of the companies were named in the suit.
“They did it in a fashion that not only tricked the public, but more importantly misinformed doctors who are responsible for prescribing the medications,” Legislator Rob Calarco said.
Suffolk County officials said the companies encouraged doctors to prescribe powerful pain pills without properly warning them of the risks of addiction.
“They deceptively told our doctors and the public at large that these products are safe and the best treatment for chronic pain use,” Calarco said. “They pushed a drug, that’s absolutely what they did. They simply looked to make a profit.”
The suit seeks unspecified damages for the treatment and rehabilitation of Suffolk County addicts.
“We firmly believe the allegations in this litigation are both legally and factually unfounded. Janssen has acted appropriately, responsibly and in the best interests of patients regarding our opioid pain medications, which are FDA-approved and carry FDA-mandated warnings about the known risks of the medications on every product label,” said Jessica Castles Smith, spokesperson for Janssen Pharmaceuticals. “At Janssen, we put the needs and well-being of the patients, caregivers and families we serve first. More than 100 million American adults suffer from chronic pain, a significant public health problem that places a tremendous emotional and financial burden on patients and their families. Our opioid pain medications give doctors and patients important choices to help manage the debilitating effects of chronic pain.”
Purdue Pharma settled a similar lawsuit with the state of Kentucky for $24 million last year, but admitted no wrongdoing.
-
UPDATE: Suffolk County sues pharmaceutical companies over drug abuse
Aug 31, 2016 | Newsday
By David Pollard
Suffolk County lawmakers have taken their fight against opioid addiction to the manufacturers.
On Wednesday the county sued 11 pharmaceutical companies and four physicians who attorneys said promoted the drugs’ use.
The lawsuit, filed in New York State Supreme Court, alleges the companies engaged in fraudulent and misleading marketing by omitting details on the use of the drugs and the risks that go along with them.
“We are in deep here in Suffolk County,” Deputy Presiding Officer Rob Calarco said at a news conference. “It is costing us a lot of money for crime prevention, for rehab, for treatment. We are struggling and it is time for the pharmaceutical companies to be held accountable for that.”
Named in the lawsuit are Purdue Pharma L.P., Purdue Pharma Inc., The Purdue Frederick Co., Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Cephalon Inc., Johnson & Johnson, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Janssen Pharmaceutica, Endo Health Solutions, Endo Pharmaceuticals, Russell Portenoy, Perry Fine, Scott Fishman and Lynn Webster.
The Suffolk County Legislature voted unanimously on Tuesday to hire the Manhattan law firm of Simmons Hanly Conroy to file the lawsuit.
“We firmly believe the allegations in this litigation are both legally and factually unfounded,” Jessica Castles Smith, spokeswoman for Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., said in a statement. “Janssen has acted appropriately, responsibly and in the best interests of patients regarding our opioid pain medications, which are FDA-approved and carry FDA-mandated warnings about the known risks of the medications on every product label.”
Purdue Pharma officials had no comment about the lawsuit. Representatives of other firms could not be reached or did not respond to requests for comment.
County officials said they have tried to deal with opioid abuse problem by forming a task force to address the issue, instituting public awareness programs and supplying Narcan, a drug that reverses opioid overdoses, to county emergency personnel.
But Suffolk officials said they shouldn’t have to carry the load alone and that it is time for the pharmaceutical companies to be held responsible.
The county is seeking monetary compensation from the companies and want it used for rehabilitation and prevention efforts in the county, but they did not identify the amount they were looking for.
Between 1996 and 2011, the number of people entering substance abuse programs in Suffolk County increased 1,136 percent, according to the lawsuit.
Calarco said opioid medications were at one time just used for patients who were at their “end of days,” but over time that changed with pharmaceutical companies motivating doctors to prescribe opioids such as OxyContin and Percocet for other uses.
He said big money is responsible for the change and the millions of dollars generated by the “end of days” patients has turned into billions of dollars in profits for pharmaceutical companies.
“We are the only industrialized nation in the world that allows these products to be given for anything other than end of life care,” Calarco said.
-
Suffolk to file suit against 'negligent' big drug companies (video)
Aug 31, 2016 | News12 Long Island
View clip here: http://longisland.news12.com/news/suffolk-to-file-lawsuit-against-negligent-pharmaceutical-companies-1.12247624
HAUPPAUGE - Suffolk County is filing a major lawsuit against big drug companies over actions it claims helped fuel the drug epidemic.
Suffolk officials say the big pharmaceutical companies have been "negligent" and those actions have contributed to the opioid addiction crisis.
They say drug companies have misled consumers and providers by failing to properly represent the risks of using their products.
The suit is set to be filed against a total of 15 companies.
-
NY County Sues Drug Cos. Over Opioid Marketing
Aug 31, 2016 | Law360
By Shayna Posses
New York’s Suffolk County on Wednesday became the latest in a line of municipalities to sue Purdue Pharma LP, Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. and other drugmakers over their allegedly deceptive marketing of opioids, contending in a state court complaint that the companies reaped huge profits by downplaying the painkillers’ potential for addiction.
The eastern Long Island county makes many of the same allegations as Chicago and two California counties made in lawsuits filed over the last several years. The suits argue that the drugmakers began a coordinated campaign in the late 1990s to knowingly mislead doctors and patients about the risks, safety and appropriate uses of prescription opioids.
Companies including Cephalon Inc., Johnson & Johnson and Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc. knew that opioids are “too addictive and too debilitating” for long-term use, but “in order to expand the market for opioids and realize blockbuster profits, defendants sought to create a false perception of the safety and efficacy of opioids in the minds of medical professionals and members of the public that would encourage the use of opioids for longer periods of time and to treat a wider range of problems, including such common aches and pains as lower back pain, arthritis, and headaches.”
The promotional effort has been a rousing success for the drugmakers, driving the amount of prescription opioids to nearly quadruple since 1999 and generating billions in profits, $8 billion in 2012 alone, Suffolk's complaint alleges.
But the results for Americans have been catastrophic, the county says. The number of deaths associated with prescription opioids have also quadrupled since 1999, with 78 Americans dying every day from an overdose, the complaint says.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recognized opioid abuse as a “public health crisis” in March, a crisis that has certainly been felt in Suffolk County, where opioids were responsible for 8,271 emergency room visits and 214 overdose deaths in 2012, according to the complaint.
“As a direct and foreseeable consequence of defendants’ wrongful conduct, plaintiff has been required to spend millions of dollars each year in its efforts to combat the public nuisance created by defendants’ deceptive marketing campaign,” the complaint says. “Plaintiff has incurred and continues to incur costs related to opioid addiction and abuse, including, but not limited to, health care costs, criminal justice and victimization costs, social costs, and lost productivity costs.”
The suit alleges deceptive acts and practices, false advertising, public nuisance, fraud, unjust enrichment and violations of New York social services law.
Paul J. Hanly Jr., lead counsel for the county, said in a statement Wednesday that other jurisdictions across the country may begin to evaluate their own losses as a result of this litigation and come to similar conclusions about drug companies' "conspiratory and fraudulent actions."
“It is fair and accurate to compare this action by Suffolk County to the landmark tobacco industry litigation of the 1980s that alleged that cigarette manufacturers knew — but did not warn consumers — that smoking caused lung cancer and that cigarettes were addictive,” Hanly said.
However, Janssen spokeswoman Jessica Castles Smith said in a Wednesday statement that the company firmly believes the allegations are both legally and factually unfounded.
“Janssen has acted appropriately, responsibly and in the best interests of patients regarding our opioid pain medications, which are FDA-approved and carry FDA-mandated warnings about the known risks of the medications on every product label,” she said.
A Purdue representative declined to comment. Representatives for the other companies didn’t immediately return requests for comment late Wednesday.
The suit comes as many of the same companies continue to fight similar litigation filed by the city of Chicago. Recently, the parties have been sparring over which, if any, recent decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court and other appeals courts apply to the dispute.
Suffolk County is represented by Paul J. Hanly Jr., Jayne Conroy, Andrea Bierstein, Thomas I. Sheridan III and Sarah S. Burns of Simmons Hanly Conroy LLC and its own Dennis M. Brown and Lynne A. Bizzarro.
Counsel information for the companies wasn’t immediately available Wednesday.
The suit is the County of Suffolk v. Purdue Pharma LP, case number unavailable, in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of Suffolk. -
Long Island county sues opioid drug makers for misleading marketing
Sep 1, 2016 | Pharmalot – STAT News
By Ed Silverman
You can add Suffolk County, N.Y., to the list of local and state governments that are filing lawsuits against the drug makers that market opioid painkillers.
The Long Island county on Wednesday accused several companies — Purdue Pharma, Johnson & Johnson, and Endo International, among others — of using deceptive marketing to downplay the risks of their painkillers, and of improperly encouraging physicians to prescribe the medicines in a way that caused some patients to become addicts.
The lawsuit arrives as opioid painkillers continue to be blamed for fueling addiction and crime, and serving as a bridge to a growing heroin trade. Every day, more than 40 Americans die from overdoses of opioid painkillers, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And each year, 2 million people abuse or misuse the drugs.
The allegations are, essentially, identical to lawsuits filed by the city of Chicago; Orange and Santa Clara counties in California; and the state of Mississippi. In each case, the governments have charged the drug makers with illegally widening markets for their opioid painkillers and, as a result, forcing taxpayers to pay for medicines that were often prescribed unnecessarily.
The companies “sought to create a false perception of the safety and efficacy of opioids in the minds of medical professionals and members of the public that would encourage the use of opioids for longer periods of time and to treat a wider range of problems, including such common aches and pains as lower back pain, arthritis, and headaches,” the lawsuit stated.
The drug makers “accomplished that false perception through a coordinated, sophisticated, and highly deceptive marketing campaign that began in the late 1990s, became more aggressive in or about 2006, and continues to the present.” And the lawsuit maintained this marketing campaign, which involved several doctors who were also named as defendants, has been expensive for the county.
Four years ago, there were more than 8,200 emergency room visits due to opiate use, according to the lawsuit. Substance abuse programs in the county served more than 18,700 people for opioid abuse, and deaths from prescription opioids quadrupled since 1999. From 2000 to 2014, nearly half a million people died from such overdoses. In 2012 there were 214 overdose deaths related to opioids.
To what extent the lawsuit will succeed remains to be seen, of course. The lawsuits filed by the California counties have been indefinitely delayed, while Chicago officials recently revised their lawsuit, although a settlement was reached with Pfizer — a relatively minor player in the opioid market — in exchange for providing the city with information about opioid marketing.
Meanwhile, New Hampshire is battling with Purdue Pharma over information it has sought in connection with its own investigation — the company has refused to respond to a subpoena. Last March, Endo reached a deal with New York officials to pay a $200,000 fine and revamp marketing of its Opana ER tablet.
And last December, Kentucky officials settled a pair of long-running lawsuits against Johnson & Johnson and Purdue Pharma. STAT, however, has gone to court to force the state to disclose documents that were sealed as part of the settlement.
As for the latest lawsuit, we asked the companies for comment and will update you accordingly.
A Johnson & Johnson spokeswoman wrote us that “we firmly believe the allegations in this litigation are both legally and factually unfounded. Janssen has acted appropriately, responsibly, and in the best interests of patients regarding our opioid pain medications, which are FDA-approved and carry FDA-mandated warnings about the known risks of the medications on every product label.”
-
Sep 1, 2016 | DMA
View clip here: http://beta.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/23958802?token=95c789f0-f09f-4a56-a606-40873d461220
Rough transcript: suffolk law makers are now going after pharmaceutical manufacturers -- in their fight to stop the opioid epidemic. a newly filed lawsuit names 11 companies and 4 physicians who officials say fueled the drug problem on our island. the suit alleges the companies mislead users through marketing campaigns -- and omitting details on drug use. the county is looking for cash from the companies -- to help fund rehab and prevention efforts in suffolk.
-
Sep 1, 2016 | WFMZ
View clip here: http://beta.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/23958864?token=95c789f0-f09f-4a56-a606-40873d461220
Rough transcript: a county in new york has filed suit against the makers and manufturers of oxycontin and other drug companies. suffolk county, which is on the eastern half of long land, filed the suit yesterday. it alleges the companies are misleading the public and doctors about the addictiveness of painkillers. it names purdue pharma as well as johnson and johnson and endo health soluons. the suit claims the companies encouraged doctors to prescribe powerful pain pills without properly warning them about the addiction risks. johnson and johnson says it acted appropriately and responsibly and the other companies did not respond. >>>eve russo: locally, lawmakers and activists were fighting against the opioid epidemic. hundreds of supporters gathered outside bethlehem city hall last night for a rally called "fed up!" it was to encourage a federal response to the nationwide drug crisis. organizers say the goal is to create a voice that calls for the end of addiction and overdose deaths caused by opioids.. including heroin and prescription painkillers.
-
Sep 1, 2016 | N12LI
View clip here: http://beta.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/23958877?token=95c789f0-f09f-4a56-a606-40873d461220
Rough transcript: suffolk says pharmaceutical companies are partially to blame for the island's opioid epidemic. today - county officials announced they're suing 15 drug makers. they say the companies have "misled" consumers and providers -- by failing to properly represent the risks of using their products. "they knew were very likely to cause addiction and addiction problems and that they none the less pushed because they were looking to get a bigger market share for their products." the lawsuit is demanding the companies help pick up the tab - for dealing with the epidemic. several other states and municipalities have filed similar lawsuits.
-
Aug 31, 2016 | WNYW
View clip here: http://beta.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/23958885?token=95c789f0-f09f-4a56-a606-40873d461220
Rough transcript: alison: suffolk county says drug makers should pay for their part in fuelling the opioid epidemic. dari: jodi goldberg shows us how lawmakers are going to court to break the cycle of addiction. >> we are struggling and it is time for the pharmaceutical companies to be held accountable for that. 5:09 PM>> reporter: suffolk county is filing a lawsuit against 11 pharmaceutical companies. why? they say the companies are misleading doctors into prescribing addictive pills, causing patients to get hooked before they heal. >> they first convinced the fda and others that we should use these medications for other daily chronic pain uses, for acute pain uses, and it was safe to do so. >> in 2012, 214 people from suffolk county overdosed on opioids. officials say this year they're expecting the number to be even higher. >> perdue pharma made $45 million in revenue off oxycontin. by 2000, the number rose to $1.1 billion. >> the legislator says they're making over $3.1 billion annually. they declined to comment. people we spoke with say it's easy to trust your doctor. >> if the doctor says to take it because you're going to feel pain later, i would think most people would be taking the prescription and hopefully they just stop it as soon as the pain ceases. >> a doctor gave me oxy to stop the pain. i didn't want to get addicted to it. i used it the first few days. after the pain went away, i stopped. >> suffolk county is hoping to limit the number of pills doctors can prescribe and they're looking for financial compensation. jodi goldberg, fox 5 news.
-
Sep 1, 2016 | WNBC
View clip here: http://beta.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/23958899?token=95c789f0-f09f-4a56-a606-40873d461220
Rough transcript: suffolk county taking the fight against prescription drug abuse to court, they filed a lawsuit against the makers of oxycontin and percocet. they claim the companies who make the drugs misled consumers and doctors about their addict ichbs. they claim deceptive practices led to the county'sopioid and heroin epidemic. >>>
National Coverage
Local Coverage
Trade Coverage
Broadcast Coverage
Full Text of Stories Below
Add recipients
Suggested