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Opioid Missouri/NJ
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N.J. joins multi-state probe of drugmakers over opioids, report says
Jun 23, 2017 | NJ.com
By Brent Johnson
Gov. Chris Christie's administration has joined a multi-state investigation into the pharmaceutical industry for the role it may have played in America's opioid abuse crisis, according to a report by The Record. -
N.J. investigating drug makers in multi-state painkiller probe
Jun 22, 2017 | NorthJersey.com
By Dustin Racioppi
As Gov. Chris Christie openly pushes his agenda focusing on treatment and prevention of opioid abuse, his administration is quietly expanding the effort to the legal front. -
Missouri Attorney General Sues Drug Company Over Opioids
Jun 22, 2017 | PPP Focus
By Paul Smedley
On Wednesday, Missouri’s attorney general announced a lawsuit against three major drug manufacturers claiming that they fraudulently misrepresented the inherent risks posed by opioid painkillers. -
Missouri Attorney General Sues Opioid Manufacturers
Jun 23, 2017 | Apps for PC Daily
By Deanna Wagner
Fabick and Hawley stood together in St. Louis as the state's top lawyer announced he was suing three pharmaceutical giants he claims are responsible for a "coordinated campaign of fraud and deception" that has led to Missouri's current opioid crisis. -
Kentucky Joins Multi-State Investigation Into Opioid Manufacturers
Jun 22, 2017 | The Fix
By Kelly Burch
At least 23 states and Washington, D.C. have come together to investigate opioid manufacturers, particularly around deceptive marketing practices that may have overstated the benefits of opioid painkillers while downplaying their addictive qualities. -
New Day With Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota
Jun 23, 2017 | CNN
View clip here: https://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/27948351?token=a72682ae-349e-42a8-9265-e279f3a69e0e
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N.J. joins multi-state probe of drugmakers over opioids, report says
Jun 23, 2017 | NJ.com
By Brent Johnson
Gov. Chris Christie's administration has joined a multi-state investigation into the pharmaceutical industry for the role it may have played in America's opioid abuse crisis, according to a report by The Record.
At the same time, the state Attorney General's Office under Christie has also issued a subpoena to Johnson & Johnson, the New Brunswick-based drug manufacturer, related to the opioid painkiller marketing practices of one of its subsidiaries, Janssen Pharmaceuticals.
The move comes as officials across the U.S. tackle an drug overdose epidemic that killed more than 52,000 people in the county 2015.
Christie, who has long made the issue part of his platform, has spent his final year in office ramping up his focus on the problem, urging New Jersey lawmakers to pass legislation related to the matter and has appeared in an anti-addiction advertising campaign.
The governor was also named by President Donald Trump, a fellow Republican and longtime friend, to chair a federal commission on the epidemic.
New Jersey joins a probe launched by a bipartisan group of state attorneys general looking into the marketing and sales of opioids by drugmakers. The group, which announced the investigation last week, did not identify which companies it is targeted.
State Attorney General Christopher Porrino told The Record that recent studies show eight in 10 heroin addicts became hooked through the use of opioid pain medication "marketed and sold by pharmaceutical companies."
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N.J. investigating drug makers in multi-state painkiller probe
Jun 22, 2017 | NorthJersey.com
By Dustin Racioppi
As Gov. Chris Christie openly pushes his agenda focusing on treatment and prevention of opioid abuse, his administration is quietly expanding the effort to the legal front.
The state Attorney General's Office has joined a multi-state investigation of the pharmaceutical industry for its potential role in the opioid crisis that has swept the state and the country, The Record has learned. Separately, the office has issued a subpoena to Johnson & Johnson, the New Brunswick-based pharmaceutical company, related to the marketing practices for opioids by subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals.
The multiple investigations by the Attorney General's Office are among the latest steps in a growing national legal effort to seek a level of accountability in what has become one of the deadliest public health crises in modern American history. Drug overdoses, fueled mostly by heroin and other opioids, killed more than 52,000 people in 2015, more than the roughly 43,000 who died at the peak of the HIV/AIDS crisis in 1995. And the country appears on track to have exceeded 59,000 drug-related deaths last year, according to preliminary data analyzed by The New York Times.
Attorney General Christopher Porrino said that although the epidemic has many causes, recent studies show that eight in 10 heroin addicts became hooked through the use of opioid pain medication "marketed and sold by pharmaceutical companies."
"New Jersey’s involvement in this multi-state effort is as an essential step toward gaining a complete picture of the roots of this epidemic, and in determining whether and to what extent unlawful conduct by drug makers has been a contributor," Porrino said.
A bipartisan group of attorneys general announced last week that they are investigating the marketing and sales of opioids by drug manufacturers, but the group did not identify its targets. It is not clear when New Jersey joined the investigation, or why it did not announce its involvement.
The multi-state investigation came about two weeks after the Ohio attorney general, Mike DeWine, sued five drug makers for allegedly misrepresenting the risk of opioids. Drug makers, including Johnson & Johnson, are facing lawsuits in counties and cities across the country, including in California, Chicago, Mississippi and New York, according to Reuters, which first reported the subpoena in New Jersey.
On Wednesday, Missouri became the third state to sue drug manufacturers, accusing them of carrying out "a complex, multi-year campaign in which they deliberately misrepresented the addictive risks of opioids," Attorney General Josh Hawley said. That lawsuit includes Janssen, the subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson.
Janssen said it acted appropriately in the Missouri case. The company also confirmed in a statement to The Record that it had been subpoenaed by New Jersey.
"In March we received a subpoena from the NJ Attorney General Division of Consumer Affairs and we’re cooperating with their request," Jessica Castles Smith, a spokeswoman for Janssen, said in an email. "We believe we have 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."
Christie, who appointed Porrino as attorney general, has dedicated his final year in office to fighting the opioid epidemic. He has waged his campaign on multiple fronts: signing legislation to limit painkiller prescriptions, television and radio advertising, and leading a national panel named by President Donald Trump that is charged with making recommendations to curb the abuse. He's also locked in a battle with the state's largest health insurer over coverage for the poor and uninsured. But he has been silent on whether the state would take legal action against the pharmaceutical companies that manufacture the drugs.
The state investigations and legal action may foretell a broader, long-term approach as the nation reckons with the opioid crisis, much in the way of the "Big Tobacco" legal dispute, said Brian Sheppard, a law professor at Seton Hall University. In 1998, attorneys general in 46 states reached an agreement with the four major tobacco companies to secure billions of dollars over many years because of the marketing and sales of cigarettes.
The recent cases from Ohio and other states “tend to focus on the way these products are advertised, so sort of a false-advertising theory," Sheppard said.
“This isn’t exactly the same, of course. We don’t see opioid manufacturers making brazen attempts to use cartoon characters to entice children to take opioids. But we do see some history here of direct advertising and advertising also to doctors, particularly about the effectiveness of the drug with respect to duration and some apparent misinformation potentially about that.”
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Missouri Attorney General Sues Drug Company Over Opioids
Jun 22, 2017 | PPP Focus
By Paul Smedley
On Wednesday, Missouri’s attorney general announced a lawsuit against three major drug manufacturers claiming that they fraudulently misrepresented the inherent risks posed by opioid painkillers.
The suit was filed against Purdue Pharma, Endo Health Solutions and Janssen Pharmaceuticals. As a result, thousands of Missourians dealing with chronic pain were given unnecessary opioid prescriptions.
Hawley’s remarks were an ironic twist from some fellow conservatives in the legislature who, while blocking proposals for an opioid monitoring system, downplayed the effects of the drugs in Missouri vs. other states. If the suit is successful, Hawley says the funds will go towards addiction treatment programs to aid the community and families.
Officials with Janssen and Purdue Pharma said in statements that their companies share concerns about the opioid crisis, but both denied wrongdoing.
“These companies have helped create an epidemic of drug abuse never been seen in Missouri history”, Hawley said.
The case made Missouri the third state to sue drug manufacturers over their opioid marketing and sales practices. 300 more died from heroin, another drug commonly associated with opioid abuse.
Hawley said the drug companies named in the suit “carried out a complex, multi-year campaign of fraud”.
Jessica Castles Smith, the spokeswoman for New Jersey-based Janssen, said in an email that the company 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”.
Endo told the Kansas City Star it would not comment on pending litigation, but Stephen Mock, the vice president for investor relations and corporate affairs wrote in an email that the company’s “top priorities include patient safety and ensuring that patients with chronic pain have access to safe and effective therapeutic options”.
Hawley, who has been rumored to be weighing a run against McCaskill, said he has not spoken to the senator about his parallel efforts to hold the industry accountable. A number the Attorney General, Fabick and others are trying to change.
Similar lawsuits have been filed by local governments, including two California counties; the cities of Chicago and Dayton, Ohio; three Tennessee district attorneys; and nine NY counties.
“Today’s suit is about seeking justice for the victims of this epidemic and their families”, Hawley said. “And they repeatedly lied about the risks and true nature of the drugs they sold”, Hawley said at a news conference.
“We have laws that prohibit exactly the kind of things that these companies are doing, so what we need now is for the law to be enforced”, he said.
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Missouri Attorney General Sues Opioid Manufacturers
Jun 23, 2017 | Apps for PC Daily
By Deanna Wagner
Fabick and Hawley stood together in St. Louis as the state's top lawyer announced he was suing three pharmaceutical giants he claims are responsible for a "coordinated campaign of fraud and deception" that has led to Missouri's current opioid crisis.
Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley speaks at a news conference Wednesday in St. Louis.
The State of Missouri is seeking hundreds of millions of dollars from three pharmaceutical companies that manufacture opioid pain medications, alleging fraud.
The lawsuit filed by Missouri accuses the three companies of violating the state's consumer protection laws as well as its Medicaid statutes.
Other states have also sued pharmaceutical companies over the opioid crisis, starting with MS in 2015.
In Missouri, about 9 out of 100,000 people died from opioid-related causes in 2014, compared with the national average of about 6 per 100,000, according to data from the Missouri Department of Mental Health.
In Missouri, approximately 500 residents have died because of opioid overdose or complications, while 300 residents died because of heroin misuse in 2015, Hawley said. As a result, thousands of Missourians dealing with chronic pain were given unnecessary opioid prescriptions. "They used fraudulent advertising and deceptive trade practices, and they have repeatedly lied about the risks and true nature of the drugs they have sold". A representative of the drug maker previously noted their medication OxyContin accounts for less than 2 percent of the prescription opioid market in the country. "Today, we begin to fight to put an end to this crisis as we fight for the thousands of lives endangered and lost to the opioid epidemic".
"In 2012, physicians wrote some 259 million opiod prescriptions in the United States - that's 10 million more prescriptions than there are adults living in the United States of America", he said.
In fact, in 2015, opioids have killed more than 33,000 people, more than any year on record, the CDC said. Purdue, J&J and Endo were previously sued in OH and Mississippi. The law firm Simmons Hanly Conroy LLC is spearheading cases in NY, as well as two lawsuits in California, two in West Virginia, one in Chicago and one in Washington state.
Janssen said in a statement that it acted appropriately and responsibly, adding that its opioid pain medications were approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and carry mandated warnings about their known risks.
"While we vigorously deny the allegations in the complaint, we share the attorney general's concerns about the opioid crisis and we are committed to working collaboratively to find solutions".
Earlier this month, the FDA asked Endo to withdraw its long-lasting opioid painkiller Opana ER from the market.
Yet Missouri remains the only state that has failed to create a prescription drug monitoring system, a database that allows doctors and pharmacists to keep track of patients' prescriptions.
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Kentucky Joins Multi-State Investigation Into Opioid Manufacturers
Jun 22, 2017 | The Fix
By Kelly Burch
At least 23 states and Washington, D.C. have come together to investigate opioid manufacturers, particularly around deceptive marketing practices that may have overstated the benefits of opioid painkillers while downplaying their addictive qualities.
"The people peddling the drugs ripping apart our towns aren't only on our street corners. Three out of four heroin users started by abusing prescription opioids, and our ongoing investigation is going straight into the boardrooms of pharmaceutical companies. We will follow the evidence to hold every person and every company responsible for this tragedy accountable,” Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said in a statement.
The bipartisan effort includes Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Vermont, Illinois, Texas, Georgia, Connecticut, South Dakota, Rhode Island, Alabama, Virginia, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Colorado, Indiana, Delaware, Iowa, North Carolina, Oklahoma, New York, California, Maine and now, Kentucky.
Kentucky's Attorney General Andy Beshear wrote in a news release, "The single greatest threat to Kentucky is our drug epidemic. The crisis is killing our family and friends—it is the main source of crime in our communities and it is preventing job and economic growth."
There was no information available on which opioid manufacturers may be targeted by the investigation.
“The multi-state effort is months in the making, according to people familiar with the matter, and subpoenas have already been issued against some targets,” The Wall Street Journal reported. “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.”
A lawsuit, however, wouldn’t be surprising. Last year, more than 20 U.S. states, counties and cities sued pharmaceutical companies including Johnson & Johnson, Purdue Pharma, and McKesson, claiming they fueled a public health crisis with misleading marketing and aggressive distribution of opioids, according to Bloomberg News.
Steve Berman is a lawyer aiding the states. He previously helped negotiate a $246 billion tobacco settlement in 1998. He says that a lawsuit is a way for governments to help cover the cost of the opioid epidemic.
“The costs of this opioid crisis are more severe for governmental entities than those posed by tobacco,” said Berman. “States and cities are getting slammed with opioid-dependence costs that are a much more immediate threat than long-term illnesses tied to tobacco.”
Attorney General Shapiro, of Pennsylvania, also hoped that the investigation would be a small step toward healing for people touched by addiction.
“I’ve seen the pain caused by this crisis and heard from families that have been torn apart,” he said. “To everyone touched by this epidemic, who has felt the wave of overdose deaths and dealt with the pain of addiction in your family and in your town: we’re fighting back for you.”
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New Day With Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota
Jun 23, 2017 | CNN
View clip here: https://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/27948351?token=a72682ae-349e-42a8-9265-e279f3a69e0e
Rough transcript:
What exactly is the president doing to fight opioid addiction? several things. here at the white house he has put full force in effect and he and the vice president established the white house commission on opioid addiction and the drug crisis. it is headed by new jersey governor Chris Christie. a bipartisan commission. yes, and that includes form are congressman Patrick Kennedy, a very outspoken recovering addict who fights for mental parity here. we have north Carolina governor, democratic governor. an impressive commission. the reason i ask because this GOP health care new bill actually does nothing to address the opioid. that's not fair. that is so not fair. from all sorts of rehabs saying that they are disheartened what they see in this new bill and it's not helping them. Alison, it actually helps no one to peddle the false rumor that this health care bill does "nothing" to help so beyond the commission. hold on. second of HHS tom price have traveled around talking to law enforcement, first responders, faith-based employers, the families that have suffered. recovery stories of those who have successful undergone treatment and he has given out the grants close to half a billion dollars in assistance to these, these different states. every state received according to their need and population figures. there is funding to help combat this but it has to be a combination of interdiction, prevent and treatment and recovery. you never hear the success stories. you could fill up every seat in Yankee stadium and that approximates the number of american who will succumb to drug addiction. we know. every person knows somebody connected to somebody struggling. there is a tension, a multi-cabinet assault on this. it's DOJ, HHS, d.o.e. so we can educate our youth on this. the opioid addiction is a gateway to heroin use, fentanyl. understood. we're so happy to see that we have bipartisan juice behind this.
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