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J&J Opioid 6/15/2017
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States Launch Bipartisan Probe of Opioid Marketing and Addiction
Jun 14, 2017 | Wall Street Journal
By Sara Randazzo and Jeanne Whalen
A bipartisan group of state attorneys general is jointly investigating the marketing of prescription painkillers and the causes of widespread opioid addiction, according to people familiar with the matter, in another sign of growing pressure on the pharmaceutical industry. -
State attorneys general probe opioid drug companies
Jun 15, 2017 | Reuters
By Nate Raymond
A bipartisan group of state attorneys general announced on Thursday that they are jointly investigating the marketing and sales practices of drug companies that manufacture opioid painkillers at the center of a national addiction epidemic. -
Opioid Marketing Under Bipartisan Investigation
Jun 15, 2017 | The Street
By Nishant Mohan
Attorneys general from a bipartisan group of a majority of U.S. states is launching a joint investigation into the marketing of opioids, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. -
Mass. AG joins sweeping investigation of opioid makers
Jun 15, 2017 | Boston Business Journal
By Max Stendahl
Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said Thursday that her office has joined a broad, bipartisan coalition of states in investigating sales and marketing practices at opioid manufacturers. -
Drug makers being probed by states over opioid marketing
Jun 15, 2017 | Bloomberg
By Erik Larson
State attorneys general from across the U.S., including Indiana, have started a joint investigation into whether drug manufacturers are illegally marketing and selling opioids, a critical question as the country faces an epidemic leading to tens of thousands of overdose deaths each year. -
As deaths skyrocket, Alabama joins nationwide investigation of opioid sales
Jun 15, 2017 | AL.com
By Jeremy Gray
Attorney General Steve Marshall announced today he is joining a bipartisan coalition of Attorneys General nationwide investigating whether drug manufacturers have engaged in unlawful practices in the marketing and sale of opioids. -
State AGs Join to Investigate Painkiller Makers
Jun 15, 2017 | The Crime Report
By Crime and Justice Staff
A bipartisan group of state attorneys general is investigating the marketing of prescription painkillers and the causes of widespread opioid addiction, the Wall Street Journal reports. The probe, which includes a majority of states, is expected to be announced in the coming days. -
Colorado's Coffman joins other attorneys general in fight opioid drugmakers' tactics
Jun 15, 2017 | Colorado Gazette
By Joey Bunch
Colorado's Cynthia Coffman is joining a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general to investigate whether drug manufacturers' marketing contribute to the opioid addiction crisis in their states. Coffman talked of swords and shields. -
Connecticut Joins Multi-State Investigation Into Opioids
Jun 15, 2017 | The Village Suntimes
Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced on Thursday an investigation by her office and with attorneys general across the country into opioid manufacturers to determine whether the manufacturers have engaged in unlawful practices in the marketing and sale of opioids and what role the companies may be playing in creating or prolonging the country's opioid epidemic. Attorneys general in Indiana, New York, Connecticut and Vermont are also part of the bipartisan group. The opioid problem is the main cause of drug overdose deaths not only in Tennessee but across the nation. -
Georgia joins multistate investigation into manufacturers’ marketing, sale of opioids
| Albany Herald
By Jim Hendricks
ATLANTA – Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr said Thursday that his office is working with state prosecutors across the country in an investigation into whether manufacturers have engaged in unlawful practices in marketing and selling opioids. -
Opioid costs push struggling states, including Ohio, to dust off tobacco strategy
Jun 14, 2017 | Bloomberg
By Jef Feeley and John Lauerman
“State and local leaders fighting a worsening opioid-abuse epidemic are studying tactics used in the tobacco lawsuits of the 1990s, as they try to claw back billions from the companies who make and sell the powerful painkillers. -
Simmons Hanly Conroy files lawsuit for New York's Schenectady County against drug companies over opioid epidemic and addiction
Jun 15, 2017 | Riverbender.com
NEW YORK – Simmons Hanly Conroy, one of the nation’s largest law firms focused on consumer protection and mass tort actions, has filed a lawsuit on behalf of New York’s Schenectady County against pharmaceutical companies and physicians over aggressive and fraudulent marketing of prescription opium-like painkillers (opioid) that has led to a drug epidemic in the county. -
Schenectady County to sue opioid makers
Jun 15, 2017 | Timesunion
By Paul Nelson
SCHENECTADY, NY- In January, the Schenectady County Sheriff's Office expanded its drug unit to seven members to better equip the crimefighters in going after mid- and high-level dealers and suppliers -
District Attorneys General Sue Opioid Pill Makers
Jun 14, 2017 | Greenville Sun
By Ken Little
JOHNSON CITY — Attorney J. Gerard Stranch IV held up a half-full bottle of pills and shook it. The sound, reminiscent of a baby rattle, is as close to the real thing as too many children in Greene and surrounding counties ever get to hear. The action Tuesday at a news conference held at Niswonger Children’s Hospital in Johnson City also provides a glimpse of the motivation behind three district attorneys general from Northeast Tennessee in filing a lawsuit against Purdue Pharma L.P., related companies and other defendants in response to the regional epidemic of addiction to prescription painkillers and the devastation it causes. -
Delray Beach to consider holding pharmaceutical companies liable for overdose epidemic with lawsuit
Jun 14, 2017 | WPTV West Palm Beach
By Charlie Keegan
DELRAY BEACH, Fla. - Delray Beach is considering holding big pharma accountable for the opioid epidemic The city’s mayor presented the idea of suing the companies that produce painkillers. Many blame Oxycontin and similar drugs for introducing users to heroin. -
Tennessee prosecutors sue opioid drug makers
Jun 14, 2017 | AP
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Three Tennessee county prosecutors and the guardian of a baby born dependent on drugs have filed a lawsuit against the makers of several opioid drugs, accusing the companies of unleashing an epidemic by deceptive marketing practices that downplayed the addiction risks with their painkillers.
Attorney General Coverage
Other Litigation Coverage
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States Launch Bipartisan Probe of Opioid Marketing and Addiction
Jun 14, 2017 | Wall Street Journal
By Sara Randazzo and Jeanne Whalen
A bipartisan group of state attorneys general is jointly investigating the marketing of prescription painkillers and the causes of widespread opioid addiction, according to people familiar with the matter, in another sign of growing pressure on the pharmaceutical industry.
The probe, which includes a majority of U.S. states, is expected to be publicly announced in the coming days, the people said. The investigation is focused on manufacturers of prescription painkillers, one of the people said, and, like other opioid investigations launched in recent years, will focus on the allegedly deceptive marketing of the drugs. The full range of targets of the investigation isn’t yet clear and could change.
Widespread addiction to opioids, including prescription painkillers and heroin, is causing nationwide alarm and driving U.S. overdose death rates to all-time highs. The public-health crisis has become a major political issue in most states, with voters calling for greater government action to combat the problem.
Public-health officials have long blamed aggressive painkiller marketing and lax prescribing for sparking the crisis, which began in the late 1990s. Many people who became addicted by taking powerful opioid painkillers progressed to heroin and other illicit opioid drugs.
The multistate investigation adds to the public focus on the issue. Late last month, Ohio filed a lawsuit in state court against five pharmaceutical companies, alleging they fueled widespread addiction by misrepresenting the addictive risks of their painkillers. The lawsuit closely mirrored one filed by Mississippi in December 2015.
Both suits target parent companies and various subsidiaries, including Purdue Pharma L.P.; Johnson & Johnson ; Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. ;Allergan PLC; and Endo International PLC’s Endo Health Solutions unit. Johnson & Johnson denied the allegations, saying it “acted appropriately, responsibly and in the best interests of patients.” Purdue said: “While we vigorously deny the allegations…we share public officials’ concerns about the opioid crisis and we are committed to working collaboratively to find solutions.”
Allergan said the company “has a history of supporting—and continues to support—the safe, responsible use of prescription medications. This includes opioid medications, which when sold, prescribed and used responsibly, play an appropriate role in pain relief for millions of Americans.”
Teva said it is “committed to the appropriate promotion and use of opioids.” Endo declined to comment.
The multistate effort is months in the making, according to people familiar with the matter, and subpoenas have already been issued against some targets. The probe is in the investigatory stage and could lead to litigation, though such investigations can be protracted and don’t necessarily lead to lawsuits in every instance.
The full range of states involved may not be fully evident in the initial announcement, as some states are constrained by law from discussing ongoing investigations. The District of Columbia is helping lead the group.
Some individual states have already publicly pressed ahead with their own investigations into opioid marketing. New Hampshire, for instance, issued subpoenas in August 2015 against Actavis Pharma Inc., Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc., Purdue Pharma, Janssen Pharmaceuticals and Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. seeking information on the scope of their marketing of opioids.
The companies have resisted turning over any documents and have challenged New Hampshire’s ability to hire an outside law firm under a contingency-fee agreement. That issue is now before New Hampshire’s highest court, and a decision is expected at any time. In a statement, Purdue said it objects to the “delegation of law-enforcement authority to a private law firm with a financial interest in the outcome.”
James Boffetti, the chief of the consumer protection and antitrust bureau in New Hampshire Attorney General Gordon MacDonald’s office, said the state’s investigation continues despite the holdup and has narrowed to Purdue.
Alaska last month began an official search for a law firm to represent it “in the investigation and potential litigation of claims relating to the manufacture, distribution, advertisement and marketing of opioid pain killers,” according to a copy of the state’s solicitation document, provided by the state.
Individual cities and counties, including in California and New York, have filed their own lawsuits over the marketing of prescription painkillers. Teva agreed in May to pay $1.6 million to settle misleading marketing claims brought by California’s Orange and Santa Clara counties, the counties said in a statement. Teva said it denied any wrongdoing and agreed to the settlement to show commitment “to addressing the important public health issues relating to opioids.”
State attorneys general often team up on investigations as a way of both increasing the impact and helping smaller jurisdictions pool limited resources. Such probes often lead to settlements, like a $1.375 billion deal with Standard & Poor’s in 2015 resolving claims the firm inflated residential mortgage bond ratings and a $25 billion deal reached in 2012 with the nation’s five largest mortgage servicers. Both deals involved large groups of states and the federal government.
Multistate probes can bring some efficiencies for the targets of the investigation, said Lori Kalani, the co-chair of law firm Cozen O’Connor’s state attorneys general practice, who isn’t involved in the opioid case. Instead of fielding requests for information from multiple fronts, it “may be beneficial to have one discrete investigation of one issue that could wrap up rather quickly,” Ms. Kalani said.
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State attorneys general probe opioid drug companies
Jun 15, 2017 | Reuters
By Nate Raymond
A bipartisan group of state attorneys general announced on Thursday that they are jointly investigating the marketing and sales practices of drug companies that manufacture opioid painkillers at the center of a national addiction epidemic.
Attorneys general from states including Massachusetts, Texas, Illinois and Pennsylvania announced the investigation two weeks after Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine sued five drug manufacturers for misrepresenting the risks of opioids.
“We are looking into what role, if any, marketing and related practices might have played in the increasing prescription and use of these powerful and addictive drugs,” District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine, a Democrat, said in a statement.
It was unclear exactly how many states are involved in the probe, though officials said a majority of attorneys general are part of the coalition. Among those leading the probe is Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery, a Republican.
Officials did not specify which companies were under investigation.
Opioid drugs, including prescription painkillers and heroin, killed more than 33,000 people in the United States in 2015, more than any year on record, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Separate lawsuits by attorneys general in Ohio and Mississippi, the two states that have pursued opioid-related cases to date, have targeted Purdue Pharma LP, Johnson & Johnson, Endo International Plc, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd and Allergan Plc.
Teva in a statement said on Thursday it is “committed to the appropriate promotion and use of opioids.” Representatives for the other companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The companies have denied wrongdoing, saying the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved their products as safe and effective and saying that they carried warning labels that disclosed their risks.
In announcing his office’s lawsuit on May 31, Ohio Attorney General DeWine said the drug companies helped unleash the crisis by spending millions of dollars marketing and promoting such drugs as Purdue’s OxyContin.
The lawsuit said the drug companies disseminated misleading statements about the risks and benefits of opioids as part of a marketing scheme aimed at persuading doctors and patients that drugs should be used for chronic rather than short-term pain.
Similar lawsuits have been filed by local governments, including two California counties, the cities of Chicago, Illinois and Dayton, Ohio, three Tennessee district attorneys, and nine New York counties.
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Opioid Marketing Under Bipartisan Investigation
Jun 15, 2017 | The Street
By Nishant Mohan
Attorneys general from a bipartisan group of a majority of U.S. states is launching a joint investigation into the marketing of opioids, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
The Journal reported that the targets of the investigation are not yet known, but that it will focus on drug manufacturers.
Marketing of the prescription painkillers has been connected with widespread addiction to both legal and illegal drugs, leading to lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies by Ohio last month and Mississippi and New Hampshire in 2015, the Journal reported.
The investigations looked into the practices of Purdue Pharma L.P., Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) , Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (TEVA) , Allergan PLC (AGN) , Endo International PLC (ENDP) and Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc., according to the Journal.
Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals (MNK) , Insys Therapeutics Inc. (INSY) and Mylan Inc. (MYL) are also large producers of opioid painkillers, according to various media reports.
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Mass. AG joins sweeping investigation of opioid makers
Jun 15, 2017 | Boston Business Journal
By Max Stendahl
Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said Thursday that her office has joined a broad, bipartisan coalition of states in investigating sales and marketing practices at opioid manufacturers.
Healey and a group of state attorneys general from across the country announced that they are participating in the investigation, which aims to determine whether drug companies have contributed to the nationwide opioid abuse crisis.
The announcements did not identify which companies are being targeted. A U.S. Senate committee is pursuing a separate investigation into sales and marketing practices at five companies: Depomed, Purdue Pharma, Mylan, Janssen and Insys.
“The opioid epidemic is a public health crisis that is claiming lives in our state and across the country, and we want to assure our residents that we are doing all that we can to combat it,” Healey said in a statement. “I am working with my colleagues in actively investigating whether manufacturers used illegal practices in the marketing and sale of opioids and worsened this deadly crisis.”
It is rare for prosecutors to publicly disclose ongoing investigations. For that reason, it is possible that some states that did not issue press releases on Thursday are also participating.
According to the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office, the investigation involves a “majority” of states.
The opioid crisis has taken a deadly toll in Massachusetts. According to the state public health department, more than 2,000 people died from opioid-related overdoses last year, a record number.
Healey’s office recently announced a partnership with the GE Foundation to provide substance use prevention curriculum materials to every public middle school in the state. The foundation is contributing $1.5 million to the initiative, with Healey’s office contributing $500,000.
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Drug makers being probed by states over opioid marketing
Jun 15, 2017 | Bloomberg
By Erik Larson
State attorneys general from across the U.S., including Indiana, have started a joint investigation into whether drug manufacturers are illegally marketing and selling opioids, a critical question as the country faces an epidemic leading to tens of thousands of overdose deaths each year.
The states are issuing subpoenas for documents and testimony as part of the probe, but won’t name any companies that are being investigated, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, whose state is helping to lead the effort, said in a statement on Thursday. Attorneys general in Indiana, New York, Connecticut and Vermont are also part of the bipartisan group.
“The opioid epidemic is a public health crisis that is claiming lives in our state and across the country,” Healey said. “I am working with my colleagues in actively investigating whether manufacturers used illegal practices in the marketing and sale of opioids and worsened this deadly crisis.”
More than 20 U.S. states, counties and cities have sued firms including Johnson & Johnson, Purdue Pharma Inc., and McKesson Corp. in the past year, claiming they fueled a public-health crisis with misleading marketing and aggressive distribution of opioidAttorneys general in Alaska and Tennessee are also considering lawsuits as their health and legal budgets are stretched to a breaking point by the surge in addictions, overdoses and crime.
Rising Overdoses
Opioid overdoses have quadrupled since 1999, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The states are investigating what role, if any, opioid manufacturers have played in making the epidemic worse. The drugs were involved in more than 33,000 deaths in the U.S. in 2015, up from 19,000 in 2014, the CDC said. In Massachusetts, 2,000 people died last year, a 17 percent increase from the year before, according to Healey’s statement.Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill released statistics on overdose deaths in Indiana Thursday showing 1,245 opioid-related deaths in 2015. That's up nearly 10 percent from 2014.
Hill's statement also said he wants to "assure Hoosiers that he is taking steps to help address this opioid epidemic in Indiana."
In Connecticut, the state's attorney general, George Jespen, said in a separate statement, “The opioid epidemic continues to have a devastating impact in Connecticut. It would be irresponsible to predict at this stage whether our efforts will lead to legal action or relief, but Connecticut residents can be assured that we will pursue this investigation fully.”
Ohio sued five drugmakers in May including J&J, Purdue, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., and Allergan Plc, alleging they made false and deceptive statements about the risks and benefits of prescription opioids. Drugmakers and distributors defend the safety of prescription opioids and say they work actively to keep the powerful painkillers from being abused.
The Food and Drug Administration has increased its scrutiny of opioids, directing drugmaker Endo International Plc last week to pull its Opana ER opioid from shelves. Endo said it’s working with the agency to address the request.
“Prosecutors across the country recognize that opioid abuse is a critical issue affecting families everywhere,” Eric Soufer, a spokesman for New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, said in an email. “This effort reflects the commitment of a bipartisan group of Attorneys General to bring their combined resources to bear to take a hard look at every facet of this crisis.” -
As deaths skyrocket, Alabama joins nationwide investigation of opioid sales
Jun 15, 2017 | AL.com
By Jeremy Gray
Attorney General Steve Marshall announced today he is joining a bipartisan coalition of Attorneys General nationwide investigating whether drug manufacturers have engaged in unlawful practices in the marketing and sale of opioids.
"Alabama has disproportionately suffered from prescription painkiller abuse and I have joined with a majority of my fellow Attorneys General to investigate what role opioid manufacturers may have had in creating or prolonging the opioid abuse epidemic," Marshall said.
Opioids were involved in 33,091 deaths nationwide in 2015, and opioid overdoses have quadrupled since 1999. Alabama was among the top five states reporting opioid overdose death increases from 2014 to 2015.
The Attorneys General are currently issuing subpoenas for documents and testimony to determine the appropriate course of action in addressing opioid abuse.
The Washington Post on Wednesday reported state and local leaders nationwide are studying tactics used in the tobacco lawsuits of the 1990s, as they try to claw back billions from the companies who make and sell the powerful painkillers.
That report stated:
"More than 20 U.S. states, counties and cities have sued firms including Johnson & Johnson, Purdue Pharma Inc., and McKesson Corp. in the past year, claiming they fueled a public-health crisis with misleading marketing and aggressive distribution of opioids. Attorneys general in Alaska and Tennessee are also considering lawsuits as their health and legal budgets are stretched to a breaking point by the surge in addictions, overdoses and crime.
"It's a strategy cigarette manufacturers will recognize: Two decades ago, they faced similar allegations as states and local governments sued, saying they'd shouldered huge costs for treating diseases blamed on tobacco.
"Last month, Ohio sued five drugmakers, alleging they made false and deceptive statements about the risks and benefits of prescription opioids. And Nassau County, New York, this week sued drugmakers, distributors and doctors, saying it has had to increase spending on health care and law enforcement as a result of the epidemic.
"It's difficult to say how successful such legal action will be. The companies who make and distribute opioids defend the drugs' safety and say they work actively to keep them from being
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State AGs Join to Investigate Painkiller Makers
Jun 15, 2017 | The Crime Report
By Crime and Justice Staff
A bipartisan group of state attorneys general is investigating the marketing of prescription painkillers and the causes of widespread opioid addiction, the Wall Street Journal reports. The probe, which includes a majority of states, is expected to be announced in the coming days. It is focused on manufacturers of prescription painkillers, and will target the allegedly deceptive marketing of the drugs. The full range of targets of the investigation isn’t yet clear and could change. Widespread addiction to opioids, including prescription painkillers and heroin, is causing nationwide alarm and driving U.S. overdose death rates to all-time highs. The public health crisis has become a major political issue, with voters calling for more government action to combat the problem.
Public health officials have long blamed aggressive painkiller marketing and lax prescribing for causing the crisis, which began in the late 1990s. Many people who became addicted by taking powerful opioid painkillers progressed to heroin and other illicit opioid drugs. Last month, Ohio filed a lawsuit against five pharmaceutical companies, alleging they fueled widespread addiction by misrepresenting the addictive risks of their painkillers. The lawsuit closely mirrored one filed by Mississippi in 2015. Both suits target parent companies and subsidiaries, including Purdue Pharma L.P.; Johnson & Johnson; Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.; Allergan PLC; and Endo International PLC’s Endo Health Solutions unit. Several of the firms have denied the charges.
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Colorado's Coffman joins other attorneys general in fight opioid drugmakers' tactics
Jun 15, 2017 | Colorado Gazette
By Joey Bunch
Colorado's Cynthia Coffman is joining a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general to investigate whether drug manufacturers' marketing contribute to the opioid addiction crisis in their states. Coffman talked of swords and shields.
"Every day our country and state lose loved ones to the opioid epidemic," Coffman said in a statement Thursday morning. "My office understands that the fight against opioid addiction requires many partners. We will use the law as a sword and a shield to best serve those we represent - as a sword to hold accountable those who promote or sell opioids in violation of state law, and as a shield to protect the vulnerable struggling with addiction."
The list of attorneys general asking for the investigation was not immediately available.
The strategy is similar to the one employed against tobacco companies by attorneys general, led by Mississippi, in the 1990s. Those cases led to huge payouts to states to encourage people not to smoke and recoup tax dollars spent on public health, as a result.
Last month, Ohio filed a lawsuit against five drug companies, similar to one filed earlier this year by Mississippi, alleging the companies downplay the risks while extending their brands.
In March, U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri said she is conducting a probe of drugmakers, citing 91 Americans who die each day from heroin, prescription drugs and other opioids.
Drug companies did not have an immediate response Thursday, but in March Jessica Castles Smith, a spokeswoman for Johnson & Johnson, said, "We believe that we have acted appropriately, responsibly and in the best interests of patients regarding our opioid pain medications."
Bloomberg News reported Thursday that more than 20 states, counties and cities have sued drugmakers over the opioid crisis in the last year. None of them are in Colorado. Among the defendants are Johnson & Johnson, Purdue Pharma and McKesson Corp.
Coffman's office said that between 2002 and 2014 Colorado experienced a 68 percent rise in drug overdose deaths, and nationally fatalities have increased four-fold since 1999, killing 33,091 people in 2015 alone, a number higher than the combined populations of Grand and Pitkin counties.
Coffman chairs the Colorado Substance Abuse Trend and Response Task Force, and which issued a report in April, in partnership with the state health department and the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, on the heroin crisis in Colorado. Heroin deaths alone rose from 79 in 2011 in Colorado to 160 in 2015.
Last September Coffman announced the Colorado Naloxone for Life Initiative to extend the use of the opioid overdose antidote Naloxone by law enforcement and other first-responders. To date the program has reported more than 170 overdose treatments.
Colorado Politics has kept readers abreast of efforts in the legislature to fight the rise of opioid addiction and deaths.
Rangely Police Chief Vince Wilczek has been a notable holdout, telling council members the antidote might encourage use and opens his department up to liability.
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Connecticut Joins Multi-State Investigation Into Opioids
Jun 15, 2017 | The Village Suntimes
"The opioid epidemic continues to have a devastating impact in CT", said Attorney General Jepsen.
Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced on Thursday an investigation by her office and with attorneys general across the country into opioid manufacturers to determine whether the manufacturers have engaged in unlawful practices in the marketing and sale of opioids and what role the companies may be playing in creating or prolonging the country's opioid epidemic. Attorneys general in Indiana, New York, Connecticut and Vermont are also part of the bipartisan group. The opioid problem is the main cause of drug overdose deaths not only in Tennessee but across the nation.
Though the bipartisan coalition of Attorneys General is not identifying specific targets of its investigation at this time, Attorney General Herring and his colleagues want to assure their constituents that they are actively taking steps to help address the ongoing opioid epidemic and considering all tools including litigation against manufacturers.
The State of South Dakota is proactively working to keep the opioid epidemic at bay. Majority were caused by heroin and other opioids.
Secondly, Attorney General Jackley sponsored legislation in 2015 that would enable all first responders to carry naloxone, a medicine to reverse the effects of opioid overdoses.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says more than 4,600 Pennsylvanians died of drug overdoses a year ago, a jump of more than one third from 2015.
Teva in a statement said on Thursday it is "committed to the appropriate promotion and use of opioids".
OH sued five drugmakers in May including J&J, Purdue, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., and Allergan Plc, alleging they made false and deceptive statements about the risks and benefits of prescription opioids.
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Georgia joins multistate investigation into manufacturers’ marketing, sale of opioids
| Albany Herald
By Jim Hendricks
ATLANTA – Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr said Thursday that his office is working with state prosecutors across the country in an investigation into whether manufacturers have engaged in unlawful practices in marketing and selling opioids.
Carr said his office’s Consumer Protection Unit will work with a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general.
“America’s biggest drug problem isn’t only on our streets, it is also in our medicine cabinets,” Carr said. “From June of 2016 to May of 2017, the total number of legal opioid doses prescribed to Georgia patients surpassed 541 million, and we are losing far too many citizens as a result of drug overdoses.
“I am pledging to the residents of Georgia that our office is prepared to take every step necessary to help combat this epidemic, and we will continue to find ways to work with our federal, state and local partners to seek justice on behalf of the people of Georgia.”
Nationwide and in Georgia opioids — both prescription and illegal — are the main driver of drug overdose deaths, Carr said. Opioids were involved in 33,091 deaths nationwide in 2015, and opioid overdoses have quadrupled since 1999. Currently, 55 Georgia counties have overdose rates higher than the national average.
A 2017 white paper by the Georgia Prevention Project found a growing trend of the number of deaths in Georgia attributable to overdoses of opioids or heroin, as well as a steady increase in all drug overdose deaths year-to-year. In 2001, there were 559 overdose deaths in the state, with 243 of those coming from the use of opioids and heroin, the latter of which accounted for three of the opioid-related deaths. In 2015, the overall number of overdose deaths had risen to 1,307, with 900 of those from opioids/heroin. Heroin that year accounted for 90 of the deaths.
Of the opioid deaths from prescription medication, the study found a steady rise from 152 in 2001 to 498 in 2011. After a two-year decline, the number peaked at 588 in 2014 and dropped to 549 in 2015, with researchers saying that was because users had switched to heroin, which rose from 90 deaths in 2014 to 121 in 2015.
Drug OD deaths are catching up with fatal auto crashes in the number of deaths per year. In 2001 there were 1,509 deaths from motor vehicle crashes compared to the 559 drug overdose deaths. Auto cash deaths peaked for the period with 1,673 in 2007 (when there were 859 drug deaths), but the two causes have since grown much closer as crashes have fallen and ODs have risen. In 2015, there were only 38 more auto crash deaths (1,345) than drug OD deaths.
Those abusing opioids also are finding deadlier street options. In recent days, a powerful new street drug has shown up in Georgia that is designed to resemble Percocet, a prescription drug that combines the opioid oxycodone with acetaminophen (Tylenol).
The new compound has been linked to deaths and a number of hospital visits for overdoses. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said this week that the knockoff street drug contains a mixture of two synthetic opioids, cyclopropyl fentanyl and U-47700.
U-47700 is 7.5 times stronger than morphine. Officials are unsure of the effect cyclopropyl fentanyl, which is chemically similar to fentanyl, can have on people. Cyclopropyl fentanyl is a new drug, primarily used in research and forensic work, that is not intended for use on people or animals. GBI officials caution that the drugs, which can be absorbed through the skin and inhaled, are unsafe at any level of exposure.
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Opioid costs push struggling states, including Ohio, to dust off tobacco strategy
Jun 14, 2017 | Bloomberg
By Jef Feeley and John Lauerman
“State and local leaders fighting a worsening opioid-abuse epidemic are studying tactics used in the tobacco lawsuits of the 1990s, as they try to claw back billions from the companies who make and sell the powerful painkillers.
More than 20 U.S. states, counties and cities have sued firms including Johnson & Johnson, Purdue Pharma Inc., and McKesson Corp. in the past year, claiming they fueled a public-health crisis with misleading marketing and aggressive distribution of opioids. Attorneys general in Alaska and Tennessee are also considering lawsuits as their health and legal budgets are stretched to a breaking point by the surge in addictions, overdoses and crime.
It’s a strategy cigarette manufacturers will recognize: Two decades ago, they faced similar allegations as states and local governments sued, saying they’d shouldered huge costs for treating diseases blamed on tobacco.
Last month, Ohio sued five drugmakers, alleging they made false and deceptive statements about the risks and benefits of prescription opioids. And Nassau County, New York, this week sued drugmakers, distributors and doctors, saying it has had to increase spending on health care and law enforcement as a result of the epidemic.
“The costs of this opioid crisis are more severe for governmental entities than those posed by tobacco,” said Steve Berman, a plaintiffs’ lawyer aiding the states, who helped negotiate the $246 billion tobacco settlement in 1998. “States and cities are getting slammed with opioid-dependence costs that are a much more immediate threat than long-term illnesses tied to tobacco.”
It’s difficult to say how successful such legal action will be. The companies who make and distribute opioids defend the drugs’ safety and say they work actively to keep them from being abused.
Janssen, the J&J unit that sells opioids, has acted “appropriately, responsibly and in the best interests of patients,” said Jessica Castles Smith, a spokeswoman. Purdue Pharma said it’s concerned about the crisis and is working toward solutions. McKesson said that it doesn’t comment on pending litigation. The Healthcare Distribution Alliance -- a trade group that includes McKesson -- called attempts to target the industry “misguided and unsupported by the facts.”
Unexpected burden
There were 33,000 overdose deaths in the U.S. in 2015, up from 19,000 in 2014, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Costs related to opioid abuse, including spending on treatment and policing as well as lost economic output, amount to tens of billions of dollars per year, according to a study by Wolters Kluwer Health in the journal Medical Care last year.
Near Cleveland in Lorain, Mayor Chase Ritenauer says that the epidemic is wearing out his fleet of police cars. A 25% jump in overdose-response calls is putting so much strain on the department’s Ford Explorers and Tauruses that some are breaking down.
“We had to have one towed after it just shut down during a call,” he said.
Ritenauer says he may have to put off replacing the roof on the police headquarters or fixing the jail’s elevator to come up with enough money to buy new cruisers.
“All these unexpected costs are crashing down on cities and leaving them scrambling to shift money around to keep things going,” said Hunter Shkolnik, a plaintiff’s lawyer who sued pharma makers and sellers on the city of Lorain’s behalf.
Critical mass
Alaska Attorney General Jahna Lindemuth has asked law firms involved in the tobacco battle to pitch a possible opioid suit after Gov. Bill Walker declared a state of disaster in February and ordered statewide distribution of naloxone, a drug that can reverse overdoses. There were at least 95 opioid-overdoses deaths in Alaska last year, up from 86 in 2015, and a cluster of nine deaths linked to fentanyl in Anchorage this year, said Jay Butler, the state’s chief medical officer.
“We saw that other states were gaining some traction with these suits and thought we should look at whether we have a shot at offsetting some of these opioid costs,” said Clyde “Ed” Sniffen, Lindemuth’s deputy. He said the state wants to hire an outside lawyer by August.
Tennessee lawmakers have encouraged Herbert Slattery, the state’s attorney general, to consider suing drugmakers to recoup opioid costs.
“We’re moving toward a critical mass” of states and municipalities suing pharma makers over their handling of opioids, “but we aren’t there yet,” said Joe Rice, a plaintiffs’ lawyer who helped New York and other states in the tobacco fight and who has sued drugmakers on behalf of cities such as Chicago and Los Angeles.
Best defense
The opioid lawsuits will be different in substance from the tobacco cases, said University of Kentucky law professor Richard Ausness. States went after tobacco giants over costs tied to an unregulated product being used as intended, he said. The drug lawsuits center on the misuse of regulated products, which may make it harder for juries to blame drugmakers and distributors, Ausness said.
“The companies’ best defense is going to be that the FDA approved the manufacture and sale of these painkillers along with the addiction warnings,’’ the professor said. “They can maintain they had no duty to investigate further into the misuse of their products.”
The ultimate cost for the companies involved would depend on how many states and private plaintiffs’ law firms join in and how aggressively they pursue the lawsuits, said law professor David Logan of Roger Williams University law school in Bristol, Rhode Island. States can pursue consumer protection, fraud or other claims, many with statutory fines for each inappropriate prescription, Logan said.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has taken a tougher stance on opioids, asking Endo International Plc last week to pull its Opana ER abuse-resistant opioid from shelves. The drug has been linked to an outbreak of HIV and hepatitis C infections among addicts injecting it with shared needles, the agency said. The cost of treating such outbreaks can fall to state or local governments.
The FDA has approved 10 opioids designed to thwart addicts who crush or liquefy medications to snort or inject. Endo said last week that it is confident in the benefits of Opana ER when it is used as intended.
Immeasurable cost
In West Virginia, lawyers for Cabell County and other local governments have sued drug sellers including McKesson, Cardinal Health Inc. and AmerisourceBergen Corp., alleging they reaped $17 billion while creating a public-health hazard by flooding the state with drugs. In Cabell County, the companies sold 40 million doses of prescription opioids from 2007 to 2012 in a county with a population of 96,000, according to their lawsuit.
AmerisourceBergen and Cardinal Health said that they play no role in prescribing opioids and work diligently to stop diversion of drugs for inappropriate uses. AmerisourceBergen said it intends to defend itself vigorously and Cardinal called the suits “misguided.”
As the numbers of emergency overdose calls mount, Huntington, a city of about 49,000 people in the southwest corner of West Virginia, laid off 18 firefighters and police officers amid an opioid-related budget squeeze, city officials say.
“It’s going to bankrupt the country,” said Jan Rader, Huntington’s fire chief and a member of a local opioid task force.
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Jun 15, 2017 | Riverbender.com
NEW YORK – Simmons Hanly Conroy, one of the nation’s largest law firms focused on consumer protection and mass tort actions, has filed a lawsuit on behalf of New York’s Schenectady County against pharmaceutical companies and physicians over aggressive and fraudulent marketing of prescription opium-like painkillers (opioid) that has led to a drug epidemic in the county.
Schenectady is the eighth New York county to sue over the opioid epidemic. Similar lawsuits filed by Simmons Hanly Conroy are pending on behalf of Seneca and Sullivan (June 7, 2017), Dutchess (June 6, 2017), Orange (May 11, 2017), Broom and Erie (February 2017), and Suffolk (August 2016) counties.
In the complaint filed today in the New York Supreme Court, Schenectady County seeks relief including compensatory and punitive damages for the millions of dollars it spends each year to combat the public nuisance created by the drug companies’ deceptive marketing campaign that misrepresents the safety and efficacy of long-term opioid use.
“We are seeing a groundswell of litigation among jurisdictions around the state that are coming to the same conclusion about the conspiratory and fraudulent actions of drug companies concerning the opioid abuse epidemic,” said Simmons Hanly Conroy Shareholder Paul Hanly, lead counsel for Schenectady and the other New York counties in these cases. “The defendants in these cases for Schenectady and the other New York counties have long known about the addictive qualities and other risks associated with prolonged use of opioids and they must be held accountable for the misrepresentations and the harms to society that have resulted.”
Hanly said he likens these actions 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.
According to the complaint for Schenectady County, the New York State Department of Health recorded 327 opioid-related emergency department admissions in Schenectady County in 2014, which was nearly double the number of similar admissions in 2010. Located in the central eastern portion of the state, Schenectady has a population estimated in 2016 at 154,553, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The lawsuit for the county also points to criminal activity, including murder and drug-trafficking offenses, as well as costs the county has incurred and continues to incur related to opioid addiction and abuse, such as those covering health care, criminal justice and victimization, social aspects and lost productivity.
The lawsuit alleges deceptive acts and practices, false advertising, public nuisance, violation of New York Social Services laws, fraud and unjust enrichment against defendants Purdue Pharma L.P.; 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 Pharmaceutica, Inc. n/k/a Janssen Pharmaceuticals; Endo Health Solutions Inc.; and Endo Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; as well as physicians Russell Portenoy, Perry Fine, Scott Fishman and Lynn Webster, who allegedly were instrumental in promoting opioids for sale and distribution nationally and in Orange County.
Commonly known by brand names including OxyContin and Percocet, opioids are considered an appropriate treatment for certain types of short-term pain and for palliative end-of-life care. Substantial evidence exists that opioid drugs are ineffective to treat chronic pain and actually worsen patients’ health. In addition, opioids are derived from or possess properties similar to opium and heroin and are highly addictive and dangerous, which is why the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulates them as controlled substances.
The lawsuit alleges the defendants sought to create a false perception in the minds of physicians, patients, health care providers and health care payors that using opioids to treat chronic pain was safe for most patients and that the drugs’ benefits outweighed the risks. This was allegedly perpetrated through a civil conspiracy involving a coordinated, sophisticated and highly deceptive promotion and marketing campaign. Beginning in the late 1990s, the campaign remained unbranded to evade the extensive regulatory framework governing branded communications. Around 2006, it became more aggressive and is ongoing. Specifically, the complaint details how the defendants allegedly poured significant financial resources into generating articles, continuing medical education courses and other “educational” materials, conducting sales visits to doctors, and supporting a network of professional societies and advocacy groups. All of these measures were successful in the intended purpose of creating a new and phony “consensus” supporting the long-term use of opioids.
The National Institutes of Health also identifies drug companies’ “aggressive marketing” as a major contributor to the nation’s opioid abuse problem. Despite a lack of scientific evidence that supports the use of opioids for long-term pain management, since 1999, the amount of prescribed opioids in the United States has nearly quadrupled to 254 million prescriptions in 2010 – enough to medicate every U.S. adult around the clock for a month. In 2012, opioids generated $8 billion in revenue for drug companies.
Simmons Hanly Conroy shareholders Paul Hanly and Jayne Conroy have held court-appointed leadership roles of national scope in litigation against pharmaceutical companies brought by consumers harmed by dangerous drugs. In 2006, Hanly and Conroy successfully resolved litigation against Purdue Pharma LLP and Abbot Laboratories, Inc., alleging that 5,000 clients’ addictions to OxyContin was a result of the manufacturer’s fraudulent marketing campaign that claimed the drug was not as addictive as alternative drugs.
About Simmons Hanly Conroy, LLC
Simmons Hanly Conroy LLC is one of the nation’s largest mass tort law firms. Primary areas of litigation include asbestos and mesothelioma, pharmaceutical, consumer protection, environmental, sexual abuse litigation and personal injury. The firm’s attorneys have been appointed to leadership in numerous national multidistrict litigations, including Vioxx, Toyota Unintended Acceleration, the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, the Volkswagen Emission Scandel and DePuy Pinnacle. The firm also represents small and mid-size corporations, inventors and entrepreneurs in matters involving business litigation. Offices are located in New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, St. Louis, and Alton, Ill. Read more at www.simmonsfirm.com.
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Schenectady County to sue opioid makers
Jun 15, 2017 | Timesunion
By Paul Nelson
SCHENECTADY, NY- In January, the Schenectady County Sheriff's Office expanded its drug unit to seven members to better equip the crimefighters in going after mid- and high-level dealers and suppliers.
Now, through the filing of a lawsuit planned Thursday morning, the county will go after manufacturers of prescription opiates, alleging deceptive practices that have contributed to making the drugs a scourge.
Before that, county legislators are expected to speak in county chambers of the county office building about the epidemic and the monumental toll its taken on people from all walks of life in the region.
In a show of unity, the group will then walk downstairs to the clerk's office to file the civil action.
"The proposed lawsuit would be an effort by Schenectady County to force these opioid manufacturers to change their behavior and be held accountable for it, and to reimburse Schenectady County for the additional costs imposed upon it for medical care, law enforcement and incarceration as a direct and proximate cause of the actions of the opioid manufacturers" states a news release.
Schenectady County joins the parade of government agencies in the state and nationwide that are filing opioid-related lawsuits.
Officials in Sullivan, Seneca, Broome, Dutchess, Erie and Orange counties as well as Nassau and Suffolk on Long Island are already suing drug companies.
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District Attorneys General Sue Opioid Pill Makers
Jun 14, 2017 | Greenville Sun
By Ken Little
JOHNSON CITY — Attorney J. Gerard Stranch IV held up a half-full bottle of pills and shook it.
The sound, reminiscent of a baby rattle, is as close to the real thing as too many children in Greene and surrounding counties ever get to hear.
The action Tuesday at a news conference held at Niswonger Children’s Hospital in Johnson City also provides a glimpse of the motivation behind three district attorneys general from Northeast Tennessee in filing a lawsuit against Purdue Pharma L.P., related companies and other defendants in response to the regional epidemic of addiction to prescription painkillers and the devastation it causes.
Stranch, of the Nashville law firm of Branstetter, Stranch & Jennings PLLC, was among those who explained why the civil action was filed in Sullivan County Circuit Court in Kingsport on behalf of those he claimed are victimized by “fraudulent market campaigns” that convince doctors that drugs like OxyContin are not highly addictive and a safe means of alleviating pain.
The lawsuit alleges Purdue Pharma L.P., related companies, a Kingsport medical clinic and two private individuals convicted of pill sales all contribute to the epidemic that gives Tennessee the dubious distinction of having the second-highest rate of opioid addiction in the U.S.
Those responsible must be called to account, said Barry Staubus, district attorney general of the 2nd Judicial District that covers Sullivan County, “ground zero for opioid addiction in our state.”
The civil action was jointly filed by Staubus, 3rd Judicial District Attorney General Dan Armstrong, whose four-county district includes Greene County, and Tony Clark, 1st Judicial District attorney general in Washington and three surrounding counties.
A fourth plaintiff, Baby Doe, through his Guardian AD Litem, was born addicted to opiates in 2015 at Holston Valley Regional Hospital. Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome is an ever-growing problem that continues to worsen, Niswonger Children’s Hospital CEO Linda Carter said. The children’s hospital recently opened a ward specifically created to treat infants born with NAS because of mothers’ addictions to opiates.
Treating babies with NAS costs 10 times the amount it costs to care for a normal newborn, Carter said.
“We are the epicenter,” she said.
“The opioid crisis is a true crisis,” Stranch said as he rattled the pill bottle. His Nashville law firm is involved in the case.
Carter said since 2000, there has been a 10-fold increase in the number of babies born at the hospital with NAS.
“That’s unacceptable,” Stranch said.
LAWSUIT DETAILS
The Tennessee Drug Dealer Liability Act passed in 2015 gives what prosecutors believe is a firm legal basis for many of the claims made on behalf of plaintiffs like Baby Doe, whose “first days of life were spent in excruciating pain as doctors weaned him from his opioid addiction,” the complaint states.
His mother, called Mary Doe in the lawsuit, “did not start out as an addict.”
“As a result of defendants’ fraudulent scheme, Mary Doe’s community in the Appalachian region of Tennessee was awash in opioids, fueling a dramatic increase in those exposed to and addicted to OxyContin, Roxicodone, Opana and other opioids,” the lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit claims it took a “concerted effort” by Purdue Pharma and other manufacturer defendants “to mislead doctors and the public about the need for, and the addictive nature of, opioid drugs.”
“When it became clear that entire regions of the country were being devastated by addiction to these drugs, the manufacturer defendants turned a blind eye to the problems and collected millions of dollars in ill-gotten profits,” the lawsuit claims.
Also listed as defendants are the Sullivan County-based Center Pointe Medical Clinic LLC, and two convicted opioid dealers, who “contributed to the opioid epidemic by diverting and illegally selling opioids in upper East Tennessee.”
In addition to Purdue Pharma, defendants characterized in the lawsuit as “related companies” include Mallinckrodt PLC and Endo Pharmaceuticals.
The lawsuit states that OxyContin is Purdue’s best-selling opioid, increasing from national sales of $800 million in 2006 to between $2.47 and $2.99 billion annually.
The lawsuit maintains that opioids “have never been proven appropriate for chronic pain and other non-acute medical problems” and carry “a high risk of addiction, serious medical problems and death.”
Unintentional overdose deaths “now account for more early deaths in Tennessee than automobile accidents, suicides or homicides,” the lawsuit states.
Statewide figures range from 342 overdose deaths in 1999 to 1,451 in 2015.
The defendants have 30 days to respond to the filing. With ample resources, the pharmaceutical companies could use legal maneuvering to extend the period of time before the lawsuit reaches a courtroom, Stranch said.
The Tennessee Drug Dealer Liability Act, brought on behalf of plaintiff Baby Doe, provides a civil remedy for “damages to persons in a community as a result of illegal drug use,” according to state law. The alleged activities of the defendants also constitutes a “public nuisance,” according to the lawsuit.
The alleged diversion of opioids into the secondary, criminal market by defendants in the case resulting in the increase of addicts “has placed unnecessary and excessive demands on the medical, public health, law enforcement and financial resources” of what the lawsuit terms “opioid epidemic affected counties.”
Any damages resulting from the lawsuit would be determined by a judge, court officials said.
Citing the Drug Dealer Liability Act, the lawsuit seeks economic damages that include, but are not limited to, “the cost of treatment and rehabilitation, medical expenses, loss of economic and educational potential, loss of productivity, absenteeism, support expenses, accidents or injury, and any other pecuniary loss proximately caused by illegal drug use” described in the complaint.
Opioid epidemic-affected counties have additionally “incurred numerous structural costs” that include increased health care, police services and incarceration service expenses, the lawsuit states.
Addiction has many other victims, Staubus said, leaving “financial, emotional, physical and psychological” scars on those left in its wake.
PURDUE PHARMA
RESPONSE
Purdue Pharma issued a response Tuesday to the lawsuit.
“While we vigorously deny the allegations in the complaint, we share public officials’ concerns about the opioid crisis and we are committed to working collaboratively to find solutions,” it states. “At Purdue, we have dedicated ourselves to working with policymakers, public health officials and law enforcement to address this public health crisis, which include developing abuse-deterrent technology, advocating for the use of prescription drug monitoring programs and supporting access to Naloxone.”
It adds that addiction and drug abuse “are multi-faceted problems that require multi-faceted solutions.”
“Pointing fingers will not solve the problem, nor will it help those who are suffering. We urge all stakeholders to seize the opportunity to work together so that collectively we can address this crisis,” the Purdue Pharma response concludes.
In May, the state of Ohio sued Purdue Pharma and four other pharmaceutical companies in connection with the opiate crisis there. The case is pending.
In 2015, Kentucky settled a similar lawsuit with Purdue Pharma for $24 million.
Oregon reached a settlement in 2015 with opioid painkiller manufacturer Insys for off-label promotion of Subsys, a fentanyl spray more powerful than heroin. It was also among 27 states that reached a settlement with Purdue, the maker of OxyContin, in 2007.
‘A MORAL ISSUE’
“It’s a real issue that is devastating our community, and it’s time that these (companies) pay the cost,” Armstrong said. “This is not a Democratic or Republican issue, it’s a moral issue.”
Greene County native Clark has been district attorney general of the 1st Judicial District for 13 years and has spent 23 years as a prosecutor.
“The drug problem we are dealing with is as extensive as we’ve seen it,” he said.
Clark said in his four-county district, there were 900 cases prosecuted between 2014 and 2016 involving prescription drugs.
There have been more than 270 drug overdose deaths “directly related to prescription drugs” over the same time frame.
“That’s completely unacceptable,” Clark said.
Greene County Sheriff Pat Hankins and Greeneville police Chief Terry Cannon were among those looking on as Staubus announced the filing of the lawsuit.
“You will be hard-pressed to find a family in Greene County that’s not (been affected),” be it from an addicted relative or being a victim of theft or other crime, Cannon said.
Hankins also supports the lawsuit.
“I’m glad to see them take a hard stand against this and I think this is a great start. I’m 100 percent for it,” he said.
Staubus said his office prosecutes a litany of crimes related to prescription drug abuse.
“Whether it’s assault crimes, whether it’s vehicular homicide by an impaired driver, whether it’s a child neglected by drug-addicted parents, whether it’s a financial or economic crime, theft, domestic violence, we see the effects of opioid addiction on the victims, on the families” and those who seek to hold offenders responsible, Staubus said.
“Many of these problems stem from overprescription of opioids that results in fraudulent claims by opiate manufacturers” who have reaped huge profits, he said.
Prosecutors said more money is needed for treatment centers to help get those addicted to prescription opiates off drugs. They said companies that manufacture the drugs and mislead those who take them about their addictive qualities should be held responsible.
“I think we hold their feet to the fire,” Clark said.
In the counties of Greene, Hawkins, Hamblen and Hancock that comprise District Attorney General Dan Armstrong’s prosecutorial district, 157 autopsies were conducted in 2015. Of those, 31 deaths were directly due to a drug overdose or drugs were a significant factor, according to figures compiled by Armstrong’s office.
Of the 55 autopsies of Greene County residents, 12 deaths were due to a drug overdose.
In 2016, 175 autopsies were conducted among residents of the four-county 3rd Judicial District. Of that total, 42 were caused by a drug overdose or drugs were a significant factor.
Seventy-six autopsies were conducted on Greene County residents, including 21 whose deaths were related to drugs.
Many others who did not have autopsies performed were also likely victims of a drug overdose, Armstrong said.
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Delray Beach to consider holding pharmaceutical companies liable for overdose epidemic with lawsuit
Jun 14, 2017 | WPTV West Palm Beach
By Charlie Keegan
DELRAY BEACH, Fla. - Delray Beach is considering holding big pharma accountable for the opioid epidemic.
The city’s mayor presented the idea of suing the companies that produce painkillers. Many blame Oxycontin and similar drugs for introducing users to heroin.
States like Ohio and Mississippi have made similar moves.
Hardly a day goes by without an overdose in Palm Beach County. Delray Beach seems to be the epicenter.
Tuesday, Mayor Cary Glickstein said each overdose costs the city about $2,000.
But he added there may be a way to recoup that money: file a lawsuit against pharmaceutical companies for deceptive and unfair marketing.
“It’s part of turning the screws in doing what we can to not see the next generation of addicts,” Glickstein said at a city workshop meeting.
Before Glickstein left town Wednesday for a city business trip, he invited attorneys to speak with commissioners about a potential lawsuit. He explained the suit wouldn’t cost the city anything, unless a judge awards the city money.
“The genesis of this thing is difficult to pinpoint,” admitted David Ray, the CEO of Immersion Recovery Center in Delray Beach.
He has seen people become addicted to painkillers and then move on to heroin when pills become too expensive.
“You’re really hooked at that point,” he said, adding the results of that addiction can be fatal.
Ray hopes beyond money, a lawsuit launches a conversation that changes attitudes toward drugs like the way lawsuits against tobacco changed behaviors about smoking.
“Through legislation and litigation, we were able to curb that and socially the norm the idea that smoking is not cool. I think we can begin to try to do the same thing with opioids,” Ray explained.
Glickstein said now is a good time to file a suit because other governments have won similar lawsuits against opioid manufacturers.
There is no scheduled date yet for attorneys to brief city commissioners about their options.
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Tennessee prosecutors sue opioid drug makers
Jun 14, 2017 | AP
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Three Tennessee county prosecutors and the guardian of a baby born dependent on drugs have filed a lawsuit against the makers of several opioid drugs, accusing the companies of unleashing an epidemic by deceptive marketing practices that downplayed the addiction risks with their painkillers.
The suit was filed Tuesday by three conservative district attorneys who represent areas in the mountainous region of upper east Tennessee in Appalachia, which has been the epicenter of the prescription drug epidemic that has ravaged the country. The lawsuit sites research showing that Tennessee has the second highest statewide opioid prescription rate in the country outside West Virginia.
The suit is among a growing number of lawsuits filed against pharmaceutical companies that make opioids that have been filed across the country.
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